Return to Curling II—Got Goals?

Return to Curling is a three-part series for recreational curlers, dedicated to safely and effectively returning you to the curling ice. Part one is here. This is part two.

Whether your “off-ice season” was merely four months or 15-plus months, taking the time to prepare to step back on the ice after a break from the sport can help improve performance, enjoyment and decrease chance of injury.

Give us a follow and don’t miss part three, coming soon at The Curling News.

Perhaps you’ll need a strong step-by-step guide to help prepare you mentally and physically for your return …? That’s where the Back to Curling Kickstarter comes in.

The Kickstarter is a toolbox of strength, cardio, brushing and yoga specifically for curling, and it’s been assembled to help you fill in any gaps in how you are moving.

PART TWO: Got Goals?

Goal setting isn’t just a thing for the curlers competing on the world stage. You should set goals as an athlete throughout your entire curling career, be it your second year on the ice or your 32nd.

Whether your performance goal is better balance, brushing, weight control, power or an increased ability to rebound between shots, you can use the concept of “reverse engineering” to set a plan of action for the next couple of months.

Reverse engineering our goals means we look at where we want to go, where we are now, build a plan in the middle and prepare to transfer new skills and fitness onto the ice.

Below I’ve listed a few questions to help you with your goal setting. If you want more assistance make sure you check out episode nine of the Empowered Performance for Curlers podcast, where we dive deeper into this subject and touch on what to do about your worries around returning to curling post/mid-COVID.

A) Reflect: Identify two or three things to work on or improve.

These are called “performance gaps.” We can use our past or present performance to give us an idea of where we struggle most on the ice, or even in what ways we can make small efficiency improvements. Examples:

• Balance on hit weights

• Hitting the broom more often

• Keeping high energy during a game

• Getting more weight over the brush head while sweeping

Whatever your performance or skill goal is, we can look at ways to make focused adjustments in our on- and off-ice training—and when we get back on the ice we’re in a space to make some lasting and effective changes to our technique and performance.

B) Look ahead: Where do you want to be in a year? A week? Six months?

Instead of thinking about what’s not working, we can look at how we want things to look, feel and perform.

Perhaps you’re gearing up for a big tournament or regional playdown and you want to feel stronger and more energized as you head into playoffs. Maybe you want to be so fit and injury free that your focus is 100% on the game and being the best teammate—without worry about possible pain or missed shots due of lack of fitness. Sometimes your goal can be as simple as wanting more confidence or consistency. Examples:

• Feel strong and stable during slide

• Throw accurate hit weight without pushing the rock at the end

• Rebound quickly between shots

• Compete pain free so that your mind can be focused on being a productive teammate

C) Make sure your goals are SMART.

Your goals need to be specific. This is why figuring out both your pain points and your dream can give you a clear idea of what to work on and achieve.

Your goals need to be measurable—you need some way to measure your performance.

On the ice this might be a certain statistic you track, or smart broom number. Maybe it’s hitting a certain hit weight time, or taking a subjective quiz after each practice and game to measure your comfort, confidence and mindset throughout a season.

Off ice, this is where we look at what fitness and movement metrics we can track to set you up for success on the ice. If your goal is cardio or endurance based on the ice, set training goals that will help you with this—like a certain beep test number, resting heart rate, or maximum number of reps in a certain exercise. If it’s strength-based, maybe it’s reaching a certain trap bar squat or chin-up personal record.

Your goals need to be attainable and realistic.

• Narrowing your focus to the specific training helps bridge that gap between off ice and on ice performance improvements.

• Don’t make your goal a double body weight goblet split squat if you struggle to complete bodyweight reps properly. Don’t make your goal a 6 second peel one month from now if your current hit weight is hack weight.

• Seeking advice from a strength coach or performance coach can help to make sure your goals are attainable and realistic, and that the plan you’ve chosen to achieve them is appropriate.

Finally, your goals need to be time-oriented. Set benchmarks and mini goals with a specific date on your journey to your overall goal. Examples:

• Increase hit weight from 11 seconds hog-to-hog, to nine seconds hog-to-hog in 3 months.

• In practice, aim for 10 to 10.5 seconds in month one, 9.5 to 10.5 seconds in month two, and push for nine seconds in month three.

• Off-ice, you might have set a goal to increase how much weight you can hold during a split squat. In month one you could hold 10 pounds, in month two you could hold 15 pounds, and month three you could hold 20 pounds.

SMART goals allow us to keep our goals realistic. If you’ve got this idea that an elite curling athlete can complete 20 chin-ups and 100 push-ups in a row, maybe that goal isn’t attainable for this year … but you can make that a five-year goal and plan accordingly each offseason to get a little stronger and fitter.

D) Where are you now?

Some form of on-ice evaluation and off-ice movement screen or fitness assessment needs to be done to see what your starting point is.

My free DIY movement and fitness assessment is linked in the show notes for episode nine.

Once we know where we are now, and what we want to achieve, we can start filling in the gaps.

Why do I love including off-ice work to the routine of someone looking for on-ice improvements? It’s simple: “Those who can practice and play more with less pain and more fitness are going to be able to get the most out of their efforts in practice and improve their performance.”

All the best, and watch for step three coming in another day or so!

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article and accompanying resources is intended for educational purposes only. Please seek out the assistance of a Regulated Health Care Practitioner if you have any questions or concerns.