So here is the Curling Recap post I told you about on Saturday :) I was aiming for Monday, but since the past week-end was so busy and I haven't posted a review in a while, I decided to talk books instead :) But I did not forget about this post, especially since last week, I played well! LOL.
This week, I'm not going to do any Curling 101, because I want to discuss scoring, but I'm missing pictures ^_^; Going to try to snap those during this week's games :) Instead, I'm going to show off my new equipment LOL.
Before my fall, I was already planning to invest in shoes and a broom, but I just didn't have time. Well for last week, I really wanted to be prepared, so I got my own broom and my shoes!! :) Take a look at the broom :) The handle is made of carbon fiber and the whole thing weights less than 400g. The pad is very thin, so the sweeping is more effective, because it has more impact on the ice. When sweeping, you want to put as much weight as possible, so when you sweep, there's actually an effect on the ice. Also, you don't need to make big sweeping movements, just sweep about the rock's diameter. The lighter the broom is, the faster you can broom.
And here, you can see the famous shoes :) If you're right-handed, you want to kick out of the hack with your right leg... which means you slide on your left foot. If you're left-handed, well it's the opposite. So in a pair, one shoe will allow you to slide while the other will grip the ice. Depending on the model, the sliding surface can be two discs like mine or it can be the whole surface or just the outline, etc. In any case, you don't always want to be sliding, so you'll need a gripper which is basically a shoe cover that'll grip the ice. Honestly, I didn't really have to buy the shoes. There are sliders available at the club that you simply slip on... The important part in my opinion is a slider. Even if you're a beginner, you should get one and it can go over sneakers no problem. I was just unlucky because all they have at the club are small or huge sizes. Anyway, now, I'm sure-footed :)
Last week, I got to play three times :) My usual Thursday and Friday games, plus the inter-club tournament. Here's how it went:
Thursday
Thursday was my return on the ice. Everyone asked me how I was doing ^_^; It's nice to see everyone caring, but after a while, repeating yourself ^_^; Also, the word was spread, so pretty much everyone knew.
The game - We lost 7-6 :( We actually started off really well, but one bad end and as a result, we lost. There was a tiny chance to tie in the last end, but that shot was really difficult LOL.
My performance - I started out well, but halfway through the game, I don't know. My rocks were still in play, but it seemed to be they were either curling too much or not enough. I think it was due to my aim. Anyway, on 16 rocks, I think 12-13 of them stayed in play :) There was one pair of rocks that I threw during one end that was perfect... The rest, well they had the right weight or the right position, but not both :( I was also asked to throw a take-out, but I missed ^_^; Right weight, but the aim wasn't good. As I play lead, I'm rarely asked to play take-outs... Gonna have to work on those eventually.
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Friday
Last week's TGIF game was actually a lot of fun :) To mix things up, there was a switch in position. So lead and second switched and so did third and skip. So I got to play second :) When playing second, the shots asked of you is a bit more varied and also, you need a bit more control of your weight. LOL, the first rock I threw, I actually threw the wrong way! I'm so used to being asked to play guards, so I was in the hack, kicked out and released my rock as usual and well, wrong turn LOL. Oups.
The game - We won 11-6!! Yay! It was so funny. We took 1 in the first end which is fine. Then, in the second end, the opponent scored 5!! So it was 5-1 and my teammate and I were like: "Oh boy, we're in trouble!" That is until we scored 5 in the third end! After that, we ruled the game :)
My performance - I played awesome on Friday evening! :) I was making pretty much all my shots. Even the first one where I threw wrong, well it stayed in play at least, so that was good :) There was one other rock that didn't make the call, but it was useful because it showed my teammate what weight was necessary for him to throw. So it turned out good :) It's definitively fun to be on! :)
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Grande Dame
On Saturday, I got to play again because I participated to an inter-club tournament, Grande Dame. Each club had to enter a minimum of 4 women teams I think and we got assigned a match at a club - could be our club or anywhere else. The match was 10 ends with a 15-minute break after 5. That's the usual format in big tournaments. So yeah, I got to play in this very posh golf/curling club. The day before, at the TGIF night, I was warned not to wear jeans and I was also told I would fall in love with the locker room... and people were right LOL. It was soooo nice! Mahogany wood paneling and showers to die for. Oh and it was a lot bigger than ours LOL. Still at the end of the day, I wouldn't switch club. Ours is cozier and more relaxed, I really like the atmosphere there :)
Besides participating to the tournament for fun, we actually had a goal :) See the two ladies in pink in the picture? Well I'm teaming up with them to participate to the Debutante tournament next January which is for curlers of 5 years and under. So we went to practice together and see how good we get along. The answer was very good LOL.
The game - We won!! As you can see from the picture above :) We're Glenmore, by the way. So we won 11-8. It's okay if you can't figure out the score, the way they keep track is really weird and confusing LOL. Anyway, we were really excited and happy! We had a lot of fun and the game was actually close through 9 ends! Our skip (lady with the grey sweater) was very nervous because it was the first time she skipped. She has been playing for 8 years, but mostly lead or second. It's only the past two years that she's moved to third. We kept telling her it was okay, that we were playing for fun, but she was still nervous. It didn't help that the day before, on Friday evening, she had played skip for the TGIF game and lost... against my team! LOL. However, during the game, she was like: "It's not as hard as I thought it'd be!"
My performance - My stellar performance continued on Saturday. Out of 20 rocks, I think I had one that was short and another heavy, but the rest were in play :) I didn't make all the calls though :( I don't know, but my rocks seem to curl too much. Ah well. Anyway, what was challenging in this game was actually the sweeping and calling the weight. Letting our skip know whether the rocks would get there on their own or were too light and therefore needed sweeping. When I play with my regular teams, I'm the newbie, so I let the others call the weight since they have more experience. But on this team, the other two ladies have only played a year more than me, so we're all a bit uncertain LOL. The thing though is that rocks can be deceiving! When you release them, they look like they have the good weight, but suddenly, they'll grab new pebble and die on you! Also, I got to have more input with the skip. All in all, I had a great time :)
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So that was my curling week :) It was a lot of fun, but I'm glad I'm only playing twice this week LOL. On Thursday night, I bumped my knee a little bit and I was like: "Oh, there's a familiar pain. Can't believe I miss it!"
