The Utica Slide Delivery
Warning ! This delivery calls for the foot slider to be on the opposite foot as called for in the standard delivery. Therefore experienced curlers that try it will find it uncomfortable if not dangerous since the slider is on the opposite foot. It would be wise to show it to new curlers only.
The standard curling delivery involves two means of support on one side of the body and nothing on the other. This is the reason that it is difficult and awkward for all but the nimble to master. Big people in particular have trouble contorting their leg under them. People with poor balance have trouble too. The right hander has his left leg and left arm for support on the left side and nothing on the right side. The left hander is similarily handicapped.
The reason for this is that until recently the ice was slow and the shooter had to swing the rock up and backwards to get enough force. If they tried to slide on the right foot they would had to have put their left leg in the left hack. But then the swinging rock would have hit their right leg.
That's history. Thanks in part to deionized water we now have fast ice. The No-Lift delivery is now possible. The overweight arthritic fifty year old has struggled long enough. We now have a modern delivery that allows one means of support on each side of the body. This delivery is called The Fast Ice delivery which evolved naturally from The Utica Knee Slide.
This delivery capitalizes on this fast ice in that the rock no longer has to be swung. The following is a brief summary and assumes that the reader is familiar with the game.
The right hander puts the slider on the right foot and places the left foot in the left hack for the case of dual hacks or in the single hack if there is only one hack.
The left arm is outside the left leg, and, as before, on a stabilizer or preferably a broom.The right foot is on the top right side the hack foot. The body weight is centered over the hack foot and the rock is directly in front of the left foot. As in the standard delivery the hips are raised prior to push-off for extra power. As the rock is pushed off, the left leg straighens, the right foot comes forward, and the left arm adds support. The curler slides out with weight on the right foot, left arm, and trailing toes.
The slide will not veer off line as long as the body stays centered over the hack foot at push-off. This slide loads the forward leg with only about 45% of the person's weight compared with 60% on the standard delivery. The difference is taken up by the arm. The young lady demonstrting it uses a stablizer which nessitates the elbow being slightly bent in order for her shoulders to be on a level, It is better to use a broom flat on the ice but with the same teflon as is used on the sliding foot or else there will be a torque component. A straight arm can support alot more weight than is needed for this delivery.
Experienced curlers will find it a quite awkward and even dangerous because they have the slider on the other foot. New prospects will take to it more easily than the standard delivery. Big bodied curlers will find it especially easy.
See another blog on this topic at curldelivery.blogspot.com
The Fast Ice slide meets the letter, the spirit, and intent of the delivery rule. It renders no unfair advantage.
Please add your comments below.
The standard curling delivery involves two means of support on one side of the body and nothing on the other. This is the reason that it is difficult and awkward for all but the nimble to master. Big people in particular have trouble contorting their leg under them. People with poor balance have trouble too. The right hander has his left leg and left arm for support on the left side and nothing on the right side. The left hander is similarily handicapped.
The reason for this is that until recently the ice was slow and the shooter had to swing the rock up and backwards to get enough force. If they tried to slide on the right foot they would had to have put their left leg in the left hack. But then the swinging rock would have hit their right leg.
That's history. Thanks in part to deionized water we now have fast ice. The No-Lift delivery is now possible. The overweight arthritic fifty year old has struggled long enough. We now have a modern delivery that allows one means of support on each side of the body. This delivery is called The Fast Ice delivery which evolved naturally from The Utica Knee Slide.
This delivery capitalizes on this fast ice in that the rock no longer has to be swung. The following is a brief summary and assumes that the reader is familiar with the game.
The right hander puts the slider on the right foot and places the left foot in the left hack for the case of dual hacks or in the single hack if there is only one hack.
The left arm is outside the left leg, and, as before, on a stabilizer or preferably a broom.The right foot is on the top right side the hack foot. The body weight is centered over the hack foot and the rock is directly in front of the left foot. As in the standard delivery the hips are raised prior to push-off for extra power. As the rock is pushed off, the left leg straighens, the right foot comes forward, and the left arm adds support. The curler slides out with weight on the right foot, left arm, and trailing toes.
The slide will not veer off line as long as the body stays centered over the hack foot at push-off. This slide loads the forward leg with only about 45% of the person's weight compared with 60% on the standard delivery. The difference is taken up by the arm. The young lady demonstrting it uses a stablizer which nessitates the elbow being slightly bent in order for her shoulders to be on a level, It is better to use a broom flat on the ice but with the same teflon as is used on the sliding foot or else there will be a torque component. A straight arm can support alot more weight than is needed for this delivery.
Experienced curlers will find it a quite awkward and even dangerous because they have the slider on the other foot. New prospects will take to it more easily than the standard delivery. Big bodied curlers will find it especially easy.
See another blog on this topic at curldelivery.blogspot.com
The Fast Ice slide meets the letter, the spirit, and intent of the delivery rule. It renders no unfair advantage.
Please add your comments below.
posted by Ed Bonham at 7:38 AM
15 Comments:
people like the dynamics of a long slide because it shortens the distance to the target and offers time to correct accuracy and speed. any one of the 3 will accomplish this. There is an advantage to learn a 3-point slide from day 1, however.
I learned the two point and sometimes using the weight shift back and forth helps me add or subtract speed, but there is no other advantage. You need a champion in the under 5 year ranks.
I'd like to learn it lefty.
I would probably have to try it to really give a true opinion, however, my thoughts are that I would have some concern with too much of a weight shift towards the rock side. In a traditional delivery, the broom on the left takes some weight off the rock when unbalanced.
An experienced curler should have their weight centered either way so there would be no weight distribution advantage for that group.
One other concern I would have is extending the arm and leg forward on the same side of the body may pull the shoulders out of alignment so that you aren't square to the target.
Just some thoughts never having tried it. It may work and could be worth a test to see how it feels.
I'll try it next week and then report. As you know I use the Utica Knee slide for the past 3-4 years. It is now very natural fro me.
Will keep you advised.
Bob Hanna 2/6/06
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well it may work oddly enough... because i can throw left handed from the left hack pushing off with right leg 9that's basically the left handed version of what you are doing... i do think that the shoulders can become misaligned. but i disagree with the traditional slide creating two points of balance on one side. your body should be right over the sliding foot and hence it should really not be on one side.
Necessity is the mother of invention. I have solved the instability and the pain of supporting practically all my weight on my left foot by allowing my dragged right leg to straighten somewhat and provide support by the use of the right knee dragged on the ice. To prevent wear on the right knee pant material, and spinning like a top, I simply use an elastic foot slider on my right knee. So, to find stability and pain relief, I simply had to genuflect. Probably, this is overkill, but I even glued a teflon strip on the toe of my dragged right foot. Now that I have 3 point support(left foot, right knee, right foot), I find that I don't use the broom at all for support, though I do sweep it forward somewhat as a counterbalance to the stone as I leave the hack.
Being a new curler I am willing to try new things to see what feels the most comfortable. I have been using the traditional method and it has been working well for me. At a first read, this method strikes me as unnatural and uncomfortable. In most sports it is natural to lead with the opposite leg of your throwing/swinging arm to maximize strength and stability. My concern with this delivery is that you will become twisted having your right arm and right leg forward. My other concern would be that you may need to favor your stabilizer or broom to stay square. Again, this is just my initial response to this method without yet giving it a try.
On the other hand, if this method meets the delivery requirements/rules and is an alternative that will open this sport to a larger group of people, I think it is a great alternative to use and to teach.
Being a new curler I am willing to try new things to see what feels the most comfortable. I have been using the traditional method and it has been working well for me. At a first read, this method strikes me as unnatural and uncomfortable. In most sports it is natural to lead with the opposite leg of your throwing/swinging arm to maximize strength and stability. My concern with this delivery is that you will become twisted having your right arm and right leg forward. My other concern would be that you may need to favor your stabilizer or broom to stay square. Again, this is just my initial response to this method without yet giving it a try.
On the other hand, if this method meets the delivery requirements/rules and is an alternative that will open this sport to a larger group of people, I think it is a great alternative to use and to teach.
It might help big people.
One wonders why we are doing in such an awkward way now.
As a certified instructor coach in curling as well as other sports, I have learned that anything new should be examined closely before discarding or adopting it.
In this instance I see advantages and disadvantages as well as a few inconsistencies in your methodology. When you show the 'unbalanced' traditional slide you are showing the left, and sliding leg as being balanced at the position of the knee. We all see and realize that that is not correct and is, in fact, misleading. A new idea, correctly explained is always a welcome thing. To incorrectly justify it is not. The balance point of the left foot slide is at the position of the foot, not the knee.
The one fatal draw back to this delivery as I see it will be in a curler travelling from club to club, you will find many delivery hacks that are a one piece hack with a left and right delivery hack mounted on a wooden structure between them. This delivery would not be possible in those rinks, however, for the occasional or one night recreational curler, this deliver does have it's own merits worth examining.
Hi, Are there any updates on the Utica slide? Are many people using it and where? thanks
How do you get around the rules that state that a right handed curler must place their right foot in the left hack and vice versa fro a left hander?
According to the rules of curling for general play "Only right-‐handed deliveries shall be initiated from the hack located
to the left of the centre line
and only left-handed deliveries
shall be initiated from the hack
located to the right of the centre
line."
It says nothing about which foot needs to be in the Hack.
So what is the "Utica Knee Slide" and where can one see it demonstrated? I see that Steve's sells a Utica Knee Slider and I'd like to know how it works.
I just started curling and am over 50, with bad knees, little sense of balance, and a bit larger than average. With all that, I want to have a legal delivery that works for me. I don't want to resort to a delivery stick (but will if I have to!) so I want to see every conceivable option for a "sliding" delivery.
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