Twenty-four eager curlers responded to the invitation as the Manitoba Stick Curling Association’s first “Advanced Clinic” took place Saturday, November 18 at East St. Paul Curling Club. They were looking for ways to improve their competitive skills for improved results in their club league and/or in bonspiels,

Six of Manitoba’s most experienced stick curlers and instructors provided instruction on the range of skills focused on by elite curlers in their quest for improved results. Key skills discussed and demonstrated included:

* Pre-shot routine and set-up – recognition that starting the delivery in exactly the same way and body position each time is a key to a successful shot
* Pace of walkout or slide (weight) – use of speed-traps to demonstrate consistency (and inconsistency) and to provide a specific target number as a focus
* Release and Line of delivery – recognition that success at the far end of the ice derives from a consistent release on the straight line to the target broom
* Rotation – attention to striving for three rotations between the hoglines

The instructor group included Warren Johnson (current and many times Manitoba Stick Champion), Lynne Rehbein (2023 Canadian Stick Women’s Bronze medallist), Gail Cabana-Coldwell (an experienced 4’s instructor-coach bringing her skills to the clinic for the first time), Fred Spiring (Manitoba Stick Tour organizer and experienced 2-person stick competitor-instructor), and Melanie Shura ( experienced 2-person stick competitor-instructor).

They were led by 2022 Canadian Stick Champion Norm Magnusson who is the MSCA’s new Chief Clinician.

Magnusson’s clinic approach underlines his belief that the game is played for fun but that there is more fun in being able to make the shots successfully. The well structured clinic featured three duplicate ‘skill-stations’ (East St. Paul is a six-sheet club). The participants rotated every half hour in order to experience the discussion & demonstration relating to rotation, weight/timing, line of delivery with one of the two specialist instructors for each skill. The skill sessions were followed by a half-hour game to allow for practice with continuing input from the instructors.

Past MSCA instructional sessions have acknowledged the significance of these skills. However, those past sessions were designed to focus more on the basics of using a delivery stick as non-curlers join the growing 2-person version of the sport or experienced curlers transition from traditional deliveries to using the stick in both 2-person and 4’s curling.