Learning to curl

One of the most difficult aspects to running a successful Little Rock or Junior Curling program is to finding the right balance between fun and structure.  A Junior Curling program needs to be fun for the participants so that they’ll fall in love with the sport and want to continue (and invite their friends!)  However, in order to really enjoy a sport, the curlers need to see that they’re making progress and feel like they’re truly developing skills.

The way our program is adding structure to the lessons is through levels designed to reinforce the skill sets needed to be successful in the sport of curling.   Each level has a number of tasks that need to be mastered and attested to by a coach before the curler can move on to the next level.  In order to avoid the danger of curlers getting too focused on the levels and trying to progress too quickly, we limit the number of coach signatures a curler can receive in a day.   This lets us get the repetition required for skill development, and we make sure the fun aspect stays with the program by giving stickers for each of the signatures earned by the curlers.  At the end of year party, each curler will get a certificate congratulating them on their level achievement.  The nice thing about the certificates is that each curler will receive one, and there’s no need to mention the levels during the actual awards ceremony. 

Please feel free to make use of any of the skill sheets posted on this site.  Each skill level is meant to be printed in booklet form, with two pages to a sheet, double-sided.  These sheets can be used as a guideline for adult learn-to-curl programs as well, though I've found that adults can take a little more structure and skills practice without requiring stickers!

Level 1 - Ice Safety & Sliding (53.51 KB)
Level 2 - Sweeping & Advanced Sliding (96.64 KB)
Level 3 - Delivering the Stone & Game Etiquette (67.71 KB)