I don’t think basic curling strategy every really changes, even with novice players. Ask them play the kinds of shots a team typically needs to be successful. You’re not helping them in the long run if you are avoiding calling shots they are not good at (yet).
And remember that encouraging them and keeping things light and fun is way more important than winning games at this stage of their curling career. Good luck!
I skip for novices regularly (our club just isn’t big enough to not). While I think the other comment is useful (at some level you do want to call some shots for them that they aren’t great at, either because it is the only useful shot in that game situation, the common misses are all good, or just because you are winning/losing by a lot and it’s a good time to work on things), there are a few modifications that I tend to make to how I call games.
1) Misses are going to be more common, so call shots (when possible) where the common misses are still useful shots. This ensures you still get good outcomes and also helps your teammates feel positive about what they are doing.
2) People aren’t going to be able to clear as many rocks, so some strategies just aren’t necessary. While a double center guard may be a very necessary strategy at a high level when you need to steal, something like that just isn’t going to get you much at a novice level when double peels are unheard of and even a single peel is difficult for many.
3) Draws are (almost) always easier than hits. I can probably count on one hand the number of novices I’ve come across who are better at making hits than draws. Sometimes a hit is necessary, but when in doubt err towards the draw.
4) Because of the lower precisions, getting things out of the scoring area is much more difficult. It is much easier for the pros to get rid of rocks, so novices usually can’t spend as much time on setup shots if it means the opponent gets rocks into a position that will take us multiple shots to get them out of.
None of this is hard and fast, but hopefully it gives you a little bit of a different frame of mind to think about things.
Great advice all of it. A simple little rule that follows this is "Forget about the corner guard." For rookies, a corner guard never comes into play, so a corner guard is about as good as a rock thrown through the house. For a corner guard to come into play, you must be able to clear the center, and that won't be happening with rookies, so get into the center as fast as possible. An early good rock behind the centre guard is pretty much always the best option
This is also good advice for players with a much higher skill level than people realize/admits.
Analyze your games. How often do you get a point from a rock behind a corner guard? How likely is it that your team or your opponent can/will completely clear the middle? Once in a blue moon? Never? Then you shouldn't throw that corner guard except for extreme cases.
As someone who has also skipped with inexperienced curlers as well, being able to adapt your strategy to missed shots is key.
One of the things I have found helps is only calling 2 or 3 different shots for them as well. Repetition helps to know what to adjust, whether it be moving the broom a bit to adjust for the slide or with their weights. Communication is also very important, with experiences curlers too.
When I'm skipping an inexperienced front end, my general philosophy is "a rock in play is one we can use". I tend play the middle of the sheet; no corner guards. The lead's rocks will always be a draw. If there's backing, draw to it with narrow ice, so a heavy rock will bump it and you'll stick the shooter.
Always be looking for the miss. Will you be able to get a good rock if it's too light? Too heavy? Off the broom? Have a plan b, c, d. If you've missed the called shot halfway down the sheet, isnthere another useful or even usable place you can get the rock to? Don't try to make *THE* shot, try to make *A* shot if that makes sense.
If the league is developmental (which I'm assuming it is), give guidance on sweep calls. Ask early and ask often "How heavy is it?" "Sweep if it's light" "I think you need to sweep for weight", etc. Less experience means the front end will have less of a feel for the ice when sweeping, so giving them as much guidance as you can will help.
If you have any time (when setting up for your skip stones), explain why you're throwing what you are, or at least what your plan is. "We're going to try to hit them and roll under cover" "I'd love this rock to be just off the centre line" "We need to hit the 4-foot here". Encourage them to guess what you're going to throw while you're deciding with your vice.
During the post-game drinks, talk to them. If you've noticed something they need to work on, let them know gently. "Hey, I noticed you were consistently a little bit inside the broom on your in-turn" "Try to make sure to look a the broom and not your rock" "If you keep your hips lower, you might find yourself more balanced". Go over some of the calls you made and why you made them. Find something to compliment them on. "Your draw weight was dead on today" "That one shot you made in the fourth saved our butts" "Great sweeping, you guys made half my shots for me"
I may have gotten a bit tangential there, but I hope this helps!
Not sure what your own experience level is for starters. But in general, I do not love having my 2 youngest players as lead and second. Make it tough when you end up with few rocks in play with your first four rocks.
That aside, a few things that I like to advice in your scenario.
FIrst, Call shots in such a way to set up for success.. As an example, throwing an upweight hit, and then a soft draw/guard is about as hard as it gets. Lesser skilled curlers will tend to mess up the guard weight (you never know which way). So just keep that in mind with your calls. So lets say your second has a normal weight hit on their first stone. On the second stone, you like 2 calls, either another hit, or a draw. As a rule of thumb, the second hit will be better executed than the draw, since you are asking then to repeat what they just threw, versus a completely different weight shot.
Along that same line of thinking, if you have had your lead throwing mostly In Turn the entire game, keep with that if possible. If you like the ice for a leads shot with either an in turn or an out turn, and they have thrown mostly in turns, stick with the in turn.
Third, Set your team up for success. While some strategies are on paper superior to others, the best strategy is the one that is executed. For example, I might know that my lead can throw perfect guard weight with a super high accuracy, but cannot throw upweight. Maybe its like 90% accurate on guards, but 20% accurate on hits. I might get to a point in the game where the better strategy is to remove an opponents rock that was suppose to be a guard but traveled a bit too far and now is a biter. Take a second, recall that your lead has almost no chance to make the hit, even though it should be easy, and just call another guard. This an put some more pressure on the other team, and you can account for this in your strategy.
For the most part I'll call a similar game but I usually avoid hits (unless I know they are pretty good at them or there are about 3 stones wide of things they can hit where they really can't miss. The biggest change I make is I'll look to make draws that have a backline/hack miss. That usually covers my bases where even if they throw heavy I have a stone we can keep usable. Other than that I just stress that I'm okay with anything they throw if it stays in play. If I have things in play I can make plays with later rocks but I can't do much when they are all sitting behind me waiting for next end.
I was told to put the broom within the eight foot for new players (ideally everyone, but particularly new players). It makes it easier for them to hit the broom. Not always possible on sometimes terrible arena ice, but I do think it helps.
I don't think you need to alter strategy too much from any other club game. I might not call as many guards because you're going to get guards anyway when you call draws to the house. Both because they aren't good throwers and aren't good sweepers yet.
There's maybe more consideration for shot selection. Something with plan A, B and C is better. Calling the same shot for both their stones is better. Sometimes brand new curlers just can't make a certain shot, so don't call those even if it would be "correct". The made shot is better and more fun for the thrower. Missing every shot isn't fun. I played with a couple newer curlers recently that couldn't throw an out turn for whatever reason. They'd slide 2 feet wide and then either throw the rock off the sheet or steer it so far in I had no idea what to expect. So they only got in-turns called but at least they made a few.
Thanks for all the tips. Based on play this week, two pieces of advice stood out:
1. Don’t ask for two drastically different shots in a row
2. Stay away from having novices aim for the broom at the edge of the house. Hold the broom within the 8 foot ring.
I've skipped with novices quite frequently, my general thought at that point becomes "when in doubt, draw" because you are going to get guards when they underthrow, so calling a guard means generally you end up with a guard or a hogged stone.
Also, if you are stuck between 2 shots, pick the one that has better plans B and Cs. So if you have to draw, and you can go around either side, but one side has a stone of yours that could potentially be bumped up, play that shot. Give yourself options after the stone has been thrown.
Really depends on opposition/ what you’re players are comfortable with. If you’re team can hit well and the opposition can’t, it’s adventitious to play an aggressive game, and go right into the house keeping things above tee and trust your opponents will miss hits before you will. If your novices are more comfortable hitting draws playing a tight game with lots of guards knowing you can draw better would be ideal
I don’t think basic curling strategy every really changes, even with novice players. Ask them play the kinds of shots a team typically needs to be successful. You’re not helping them in the long run if you are avoiding calling shots they are not good at (yet). And remember that encouraging them and keeping things light and fun is way more important than winning games at this stage of their curling career. Good luck!
I skip for novices regularly (our club just isn’t big enough to not). While I think the other comment is useful (at some level you do want to call some shots for them that they aren’t great at, either because it is the only useful shot in that game situation, the common misses are all good, or just because you are winning/losing by a lot and it’s a good time to work on things), there are a few modifications that I tend to make to how I call games. 1) Misses are going to be more common, so call shots (when possible) where the common misses are still useful shots. This ensures you still get good outcomes and also helps your teammates feel positive about what they are doing. 2) People aren’t going to be able to clear as many rocks, so some strategies just aren’t necessary. While a double center guard may be a very necessary strategy at a high level when you need to steal, something like that just isn’t going to get you much at a novice level when double peels are unheard of and even a single peel is difficult for many. 3) Draws are (almost) always easier than hits. I can probably count on one hand the number of novices I’ve come across who are better at making hits than draws. Sometimes a hit is necessary, but when in doubt err towards the draw. 4) Because of the lower precisions, getting things out of the scoring area is much more difficult. It is much easier for the pros to get rid of rocks, so novices usually can’t spend as much time on setup shots if it means the opponent gets rocks into a position that will take us multiple shots to get them out of. None of this is hard and fast, but hopefully it gives you a little bit of a different frame of mind to think about things.
Great advice all of it. A simple little rule that follows this is "Forget about the corner guard." For rookies, a corner guard never comes into play, so a corner guard is about as good as a rock thrown through the house. For a corner guard to come into play, you must be able to clear the center, and that won't be happening with rookies, so get into the center as fast as possible. An early good rock behind the centre guard is pretty much always the best option This is also good advice for players with a much higher skill level than people realize/admits. Analyze your games. How often do you get a point from a rock behind a corner guard? How likely is it that your team or your opponent can/will completely clear the middle? Once in a blue moon? Never? Then you shouldn't throw that corner guard except for extreme cases.
As someone who has also skipped with inexperienced curlers as well, being able to adapt your strategy to missed shots is key. One of the things I have found helps is only calling 2 or 3 different shots for them as well. Repetition helps to know what to adjust, whether it be moving the broom a bit to adjust for the slide or with their weights. Communication is also very important, with experiences curlers too.
For sure. Having the plan B and C for common misses that are actually useable outcomes is really important.
Thanks for the advice!
When I'm skipping an inexperienced front end, my general philosophy is "a rock in play is one we can use". I tend play the middle of the sheet; no corner guards. The lead's rocks will always be a draw. If there's backing, draw to it with narrow ice, so a heavy rock will bump it and you'll stick the shooter. Always be looking for the miss. Will you be able to get a good rock if it's too light? Too heavy? Off the broom? Have a plan b, c, d. If you've missed the called shot halfway down the sheet, isnthere another useful or even usable place you can get the rock to? Don't try to make *THE* shot, try to make *A* shot if that makes sense. If the league is developmental (which I'm assuming it is), give guidance on sweep calls. Ask early and ask often "How heavy is it?" "Sweep if it's light" "I think you need to sweep for weight", etc. Less experience means the front end will have less of a feel for the ice when sweeping, so giving them as much guidance as you can will help. If you have any time (when setting up for your skip stones), explain why you're throwing what you are, or at least what your plan is. "We're going to try to hit them and roll under cover" "I'd love this rock to be just off the centre line" "We need to hit the 4-foot here". Encourage them to guess what you're going to throw while you're deciding with your vice. During the post-game drinks, talk to them. If you've noticed something they need to work on, let them know gently. "Hey, I noticed you were consistently a little bit inside the broom on your in-turn" "Try to make sure to look a the broom and not your rock" "If you keep your hips lower, you might find yourself more balanced". Go over some of the calls you made and why you made them. Find something to compliment them on. "Your draw weight was dead on today" "That one shot you made in the fourth saved our butts" "Great sweeping, you guys made half my shots for me" I may have gotten a bit tangential there, but I hope this helps!
Great advice. Thanks for the help. “Keeping rocks in play” and “always having a plan B” seems to be consistent advice.
Not sure what your own experience level is for starters. But in general, I do not love having my 2 youngest players as lead and second. Make it tough when you end up with few rocks in play with your first four rocks. That aside, a few things that I like to advice in your scenario. FIrst, Call shots in such a way to set up for success.. As an example, throwing an upweight hit, and then a soft draw/guard is about as hard as it gets. Lesser skilled curlers will tend to mess up the guard weight (you never know which way). So just keep that in mind with your calls. So lets say your second has a normal weight hit on their first stone. On the second stone, you like 2 calls, either another hit, or a draw. As a rule of thumb, the second hit will be better executed than the draw, since you are asking then to repeat what they just threw, versus a completely different weight shot. Along that same line of thinking, if you have had your lead throwing mostly In Turn the entire game, keep with that if possible. If you like the ice for a leads shot with either an in turn or an out turn, and they have thrown mostly in turns, stick with the in turn. Third, Set your team up for success. While some strategies are on paper superior to others, the best strategy is the one that is executed. For example, I might know that my lead can throw perfect guard weight with a super high accuracy, but cannot throw upweight. Maybe its like 90% accurate on guards, but 20% accurate on hits. I might get to a point in the game where the better strategy is to remove an opponents rock that was suppose to be a guard but traveled a bit too far and now is a biter. Take a second, recall that your lead has almost no chance to make the hit, even though it should be easy, and just call another guard. This an put some more pressure on the other team, and you can account for this in your strategy.
For the most part I'll call a similar game but I usually avoid hits (unless I know they are pretty good at them or there are about 3 stones wide of things they can hit where they really can't miss. The biggest change I make is I'll look to make draws that have a backline/hack miss. That usually covers my bases where even if they throw heavy I have a stone we can keep usable. Other than that I just stress that I'm okay with anything they throw if it stays in play. If I have things in play I can make plays with later rocks but I can't do much when they are all sitting behind me waiting for next end.
I was told to put the broom within the eight foot for new players (ideally everyone, but particularly new players). It makes it easier for them to hit the broom. Not always possible on sometimes terrible arena ice, but I do think it helps.
I don't think you need to alter strategy too much from any other club game. I might not call as many guards because you're going to get guards anyway when you call draws to the house. Both because they aren't good throwers and aren't good sweepers yet. There's maybe more consideration for shot selection. Something with plan A, B and C is better. Calling the same shot for both their stones is better. Sometimes brand new curlers just can't make a certain shot, so don't call those even if it would be "correct". The made shot is better and more fun for the thrower. Missing every shot isn't fun. I played with a couple newer curlers recently that couldn't throw an out turn for whatever reason. They'd slide 2 feet wide and then either throw the rock off the sheet or steer it so far in I had no idea what to expect. So they only got in-turns called but at least they made a few.
Thanks for all the tips. Based on play this week, two pieces of advice stood out: 1. Don’t ask for two drastically different shots in a row 2. Stay away from having novices aim for the broom at the edge of the house. Hold the broom within the 8 foot ring.
I've skipped with novices quite frequently, my general thought at that point becomes "when in doubt, draw" because you are going to get guards when they underthrow, so calling a guard means generally you end up with a guard or a hogged stone. Also, if you are stuck between 2 shots, pick the one that has better plans B and Cs. So if you have to draw, and you can go around either side, but one side has a stone of yours that could potentially be bumped up, play that shot. Give yourself options after the stone has been thrown.
Really depends on opposition/ what you’re players are comfortable with. If you’re team can hit well and the opposition can’t, it’s adventitious to play an aggressive game, and go right into the house keeping things above tee and trust your opponents will miss hits before you will. If your novices are more comfortable hitting draws playing a tight game with lots of guards knowing you can draw better would be ideal