The curling delivery for beginners: how to balance deep and flat on the slider, glide safely and send the stone cleanly onto the line to the skip.
The curling delivery is not a feat of strength but a balance exercise: you push off from the starting block and glide calmly behind the stone — and the whole trick is deep, flat and balanced [1]. It isn't force that carries the stone into the house, but a clean, controlled glide toward the target.
And the honest reason you tip to the side at the start: balance on the slider — the smooth Teflon sole under your sliding foot — is a trainable technique, not a talent. Studies of elite curlers show the best do nothing magical: they simply control speed and balance better, with more ankle bend (dorsiflexion) and a larger contact area of the sliding foot on the ice [2]. More foot on the ice, more stability. Balance is not a gift, it is foot surface.
And the good news for knees and nerves: as a beginner you glide flat on the whole foot (flatfoot), not on the toes. That is not only more stable but also healthier — when gliding on the ball of the foot (toe slide) the knee joint force is more than twice as high [3], because your weight tips forward over the knee. Gliding flat means standing more securely and sparing the knee.
Quickly the tools, so the terms stick: you push off from the hack (the starting block set into the ice), glide on the slider, the other shoe carries a grippy gripper, and a stabiliser (or the broom) serves as a balance aid like an outrigger [1]. The target is the skip's broom at the far end — it shows you the line (the aiming line), and you meter the weight (the force, that is, how far the stone travels) [1].
Set the sliding foot in the hack, sink deep into hips and knees, upper body upright, eyes on the skip's broom [1]. This calm, deep position is the starting point of every good delivery — stability comes from here, not from tension.
Draw the stone slightly back, then push yourself out of the hack under control and let the stone glide ahead of you. Don't shove, don't throw — the weight comes from the push-off, not from the arm [1]. The stone runs, you only accompany it.
Glide flat on the whole foot (flatfoot), not on the toes [3]. Deliberately push the ankle into flexion so that as much foot surface as possible touches the ice — that is exactly what makes elite curlers stable [2]. The stabiliser lies to the side on the ice like a training wheel.
Keep your eyes on the skip's broom (your aiming line) and let the stone run precisely toward it [1]. The weight — how far the stone rolls — you steer through the length and force of your push-off, not through a shove at the end.
Just before you let go, you give the handle a gentle quarter turn — that is the in-turn or out-turn, which later makes the stone run its curve (the "curl") [5]. Turn softly, don't crank: the curl arises from the rotation, not from force.
The delivery is the moment when the typical curling complaints arise: because you sink deep into a squat and bend the back, the knee and back are the most common zones [6]. Two things protect you reliably: gliding flat instead of on the toes (half the knee load [3]) and a straight, long back rather than a rounded hump. And because the delivery works strongly from the hips and knees [4], targeted strength and balance training for exactly these joints pays off.
Before every session: a short dynamic warm-up for hips, legs and trunk. And as always, this guide explains the technique and motivates — it never replaces the supervised course in which a coach corrects your gliding position in real time and spares you the first hard fall.
Practise the balance first entirely without a stone: set yourself in the hack, push off gently and glide as long as possible flat on the slider, the stabiliser as an outrigger. Count the seconds in your head. Whoever first tames pure gliding balance and then adds the stone saves themselves weeks of tipping sideways — because the stone forgives only what your balance already can do.
You set the sliding foot in the hack (starting block), sink deep into hips and knees and push off under control while the stone glides ahead of you [1]. The gaze rests on the skip's broom as the aiming line, the weight (how far the stone travels) comes from the push-off [1]. As a beginner you glide flat on the whole foot and use a stabiliser as a balance aid.
Through foot surface, not through tension. Elite curlers are more stable because they bend the ankle more and so bring more sliding-foot area onto the ice [2]. Glide flat (flatfoot), not on the toes, hold the stabiliser to the side as an outrigger and start slow — speed is the biggest balance killer at the start.
Usually because you stand too tall, push off too fast or glide on your toes. The fix is deep, flat and slow: more ankle flexion for more foot contact [2], flat gliding on the whole foot [3] and the stabiliser as a side support. Practise the gliding balance first without a stone, then it transfers almost by itself.
They are the two directions of rotation you give the stone just before release with a gentle quarter turn of the handle [5]. They make the stone run a curve — the eponymous "curl". For right-handers the in-turn rotates clockwise, the out-turn the other way. Important: turn softly, the curl comes from the rotation, not from force.
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