Your Holiday Curling Reset

You don’t get stronger while working out, nor while practicing or competing. You get stronger when you give your body time to adapt to the stressors that you apply to it; whether in the gym or on the ice.

If you play in a weekly league, a week or two off from curling will give your mind and body a chance to recover from the many games and practices since your season started. For those on the competitive circuit, regardless of what competition you have scheduled after the holidays you will benefit from some time away from the ice both physically and mentally.

Here are four ways to reframe the holiday season when your club is closed, so you can come back stronger and feeling refreshed.

Rest

Prioritize sleep, time with friends and family, time outdoors and time doing things that bring you joy. The most optimal time for your body to recover from a fall of curling and training is to let it repair itself. So go for it; indulge in naps by the fire, sleep in a couple of days, and take time away from work to just be present with your loved ones (this means time with yourself too!).

Rebalance

Curling is a sport that is easy to promote imbalances in your body. We spend more time on one leg balancing on a slippery surface, more time in a lunge on one side over the other and, for most of us, more time using one arm as a primary sweeping muscle. It can be a good idea to pull out an old workout from the summer to test if you’ve maintained your strength and fitness, or at the very least focus on improving your strength and mobility on the less-used side.

Eat

For a lot of humans, navigating holiday eating can be stressful. However, in the spirit of rest and recovery you can use this time of feasts and brunches to fuel your workouts and aid in recovery from a long curling season. Focus on eating plenty of fruits, vegetables and high protein sources, and give yourself some slack when it comes to the “fun foods.”

Visualize

The mind is an incredibly powerful tool that athletes at all levels can easily neglect. Luckily for you, there is one thing you can do over the holidays to help keep your game sharp: visualization.

Let me tell you a quick story about Major James Nesmith, who was a pretty average  golfer before being captured in Vietnam and held as a U.S. prisoner of war. He spent seven years in a tiny cell. To keep himself occupied, he played a round of golf—in his mind—at his favourite club, every day. He took his time and envisioned the clothes he was wearing, the sound of the wind through the trees, and the feel of the hot sun on his skin. He imagined himself making every shot and every hole perfectly, even taking breaks for water.

Despite not holding a club for seven years and his deteriorated physical condition, when he returned to the U.S. and started playing golf again he shot 20 strokes lower than before he was imprisoned.

What does this matter to you, a curler in the 21st century? Despite the extra time off the ice you can still spend some time practicing your delivery for different shots, or sweeping the draw to the pin for the win. You can use visualization for practicing the game in your mind, or even imaging scenarios that you’d like to handle better next time; like getting frustrated that the other team made yet another accidental wicky-ticky shot, experiencing a rock pick during a crucial end, or managing your nerves before a big game.

How?

The next time you’re waiting in line to buy turkey for your holiday feast, or enjoying a hot cocoa by the fire, you can take yourself back to the ice, back to the hack. Do this with your eyes open or closed. Use all your senses; what do you hear, see, feel, smell?

Imagine yourself getting your rock, crouching into the hack and lining up. Feel your leg muscles as you slide out of the hack with a perfect kick and release that smooth handle right at the target. Watch the rock all the way until the shot is made and you hear a “good shot” call from a teammate.

Visualization is a skill that gets better with practice. Try a shot or two every day, and when you get back to the ice in January it might not feel like you had two weeks away.

How does that sound? Take advantage of a little more time to spend with yourself, the things that bring you joy, and use the extra hours off the ice to recover and refocus.

Need help staying on track? I want to invite you to the third annual Empowered Performance Holiday Reset. What is it? Four days of movement, mindset and curling tips sent to your email every day between Christmas and New Year’s Day, ending with a karma yoga class and a goal-setting party on January 2, 2022. The entire reset is free! Consider it my holiday gift to you for being such a wonderful Empowered Performance athlete. Sign up to get more information. Already a newsletter subscriber? Contact me for more info.

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.