Sliding on the Slider: Learn Balance in Curling

Sliding on the slider is technique, not talent: foot position, a carpet drill and milestones for a calm curling delivery, flat and safe on the ice.

Sport: Curling · Level: Beginner

Introduction

The honest answer: sliding on the slider is technique, not talent, so you can learn it. When researchers compared elite curlers (over 7 years of experience) with sub-elite curlers (under 3 years), the gap was not in sliding speed. It was in how steady the body stayed over the sliding foot: the experienced group showed more ankle flexion and more foot area on the ice [1]. Balance comes down to foot area, not bravery.

The slider is the smooth sole on your sliding shoe [9]. After you push out of the hack (the foot block in the ice), it carries you a good way behind the stone, and from the hack to the near hog line that is about 10 metres [9], roughly the length of a city bus.

How hard is it really? The position feels strange: a deep lunge where one foot glides and the other brakes. Expect several ice sessions before it feels calm. That is a rule of thumb, not a promise. This guide covers only the slide. How to aim and control the stone comes in the next guides.

What you need

Slider and gripper. The slider goes on your sliding foot, the gripper (a grippy sole) on your standing foot. Many clubs lend both, so ask before your first session.
A broom or stabilizer as a third support. A broom held at 45° forms a tripod with your sliding foot and trailing toe [7].
Stretchy clothing that lets you lunge deeply. Jeans do not belong here.
A helmet (a bike or ski helmet is fine) for your first sessions. The reason is under Safety.
An entry check you can do at home: can you hold a deep lunge for 20 seconds, steady and without pain? Swedish researchers used exactly this position, on a tilting plate, to measure curling balance [5].
Good to know: standing on one leg is a weak test. In that study, standing balance and curling balance were barely related (correlation 0.21) [5]. You can be a rock on one leg and still wobble on the slider.

Step by step

1. Dry practice: the position on the carpet

Put the sliding foot directly under your body's midline, under the breastbone if your foot is flat [6]. The trailing leg is extended, the toes of the standing foot touch the floor, hips face forward, shoulders are level [6]. The broom stands at 45° as a tripod [7].

Milestone: hold it for 20 seconds without your knee shaking. Only then go to the ice.

2. First metres with support

Push off from the position and glide a few metres, using the broom as support. The goal is not speed but a calm stop in the position.

Milestone: five slides in a row where you support yourself only with the broom and never the hand.

3. No stone, hand off the ice

Slide without a stone and keep your hand off the ice the whole time [7]. This is the most honest balance test: the moment your hand taps down, the foot position is off.

Milestone: five slides in a row with no hand contact.

4. With the stone or a delivery stick

Now add the stone (17 to 20 kilos [9], so feel how it pulls or brakes you). Use the rhythm: stone back, foot back, park, stone forward, foot forward, slide [7]. The stone stays the furthest point forward throughout [6]. If the stone is too much for you, there is the delivery stick: it attaches to the handle and extends your arm [9].

Milestone: three out of five attempts gliding to near the hog line with no hand on the ice and no leaning on the stone.

5. Stay flat

Slide flat on the whole foot at first. The reason is the knee: in a pilot study, toe sliding produced more than double the knee joint force of flat-foot sliding [2]. In professionals, toe contact also increased hip and knee flexion [3]. The Curling Canada model also knows variants with a raised heel or tucked toes [6]. Save those for later.

Common mistakes

The main mistake: leaning on the stone. You spot it by wobbling, a hand tapping the ice, or sliding on your hack knee [7]. The cause is almost always the same: the sliding foot is not under your midline [7].
Fix: put the sliding foot under your chest midline [7], practise without a stone, keep the hand off the ice.
Sliding on the toes. It pushes your weight forward over the knee and makes the position less stable [2].
Too much speed. The experienced curlers did not slide faster, they regulated their speed better [1]. Rushing loses the position.

Safety notes

Falls are the main risk. In a Canadian review of emergency-department cases from recreational curling, over 90% of acute injuries came from a fall and 31.7% were head impacts [4]. Overall it was rare: about 0.17 cases per 1000 participations [4].
Footwear: 41.3% of respondents blamed their fall on unsuitable footwear, and 73.5% saw curling shoes as the best prevention [4]. Mandatory helmets found only 8% agreement [4]. Our advice as a beginner: wear a helmet anyway, since the head was involved in almost one case in three. That is a precaution, not study proof.
Gripper on whenever you do not need the slider. Do not walk across the ice with a bare slider.
Knees and back: in a survey of competitive curlers, 79% reported curling-related musculoskeletal pain, most often in the knee (54%) [8]. Keep your first sessions short.
This guide explains and motivates, it does not replace supervised training. Your first session belongs with a coach or club member.

Pro tip

Do not think "I push the stone", think "the stone pulls me out of the hack" [7]. The image fixes the most common timing mistake: pulling the stone under your body before you leave the hack. Extend your arm before you push off [7].

FAQ

How do I keep my balance on the slider in curling?

Put the sliding foot under your body's midline, trailing leg extended, hips and shoulders square [6]. Practise the position first without a stone and with your hand off the ice [7]. Experienced curlers also keep more foot area on the ice [1]. Balance is trainable.

Why do I fall over or tip sideways when sliding?

Usually the sliding foot is not under your body, you lean on the stone or slide on the hack knee [7]. Speed hurts too: rushing loses the position [1]. Go back to the carpet drill and slide short and without a stone.

Is curling dangerous? Can you get hurt?

Injuries that reach the emergency room are rare: about 0.17 cases per 1000 participations. They are mostly falls, nearly a third with a head impact [4]. Overuse pain in the knee is more common [8]. Suitable shoes, short sessions and instruction keep the risk small.

Do I need to buy my own curling shoes, or does the club lend them?

Many clubs lend sliders and grippers for trying out, so ask before your first session. Your own shoes pay off once you stay with it, since suitable footwear is seen as the key fall prevention [4]. For the first time, clean flat indoor shoes are enough.

Key Takeaways

Sliding is technique, not talent: experienced curlers keep more foot area and more ankle flexion on the ice, not more speed [1].
Sliding foot under your midline, hand off the ice: first on the carpet, then without a stone, then with one [6][7].
Slide flat first: on the ball of the foot knee force is more than double [2]; over 90% of emergency-room cases in recreational curling were falls [4].

Next guide

The Draw in Curling: Playing Into the House and Judging Weight

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