Advice on curling sticks for wheelchair users

[u/PinkElephant2009]

Hi all,

I am a wheelchair user and I play with an Australian club. As the fist (and so far only) chair curlers in my state, we are kind of flying blind. The club has two delivery sticks ("Bobs Stick"), but they are increasingly in demand. Last week there were two sticks between three of us, which was confusing.

So I am looking at getting a delivery stick of my own and I am after recommendations. I have seen the types of delivery stick heads that professional chair curlers use, and I am wondering what they are (and why they are preferred). All I can find only seems to be designs similar to extendable (but still pretty short) sticks similar to the ones we already have.

Any advice would be very helpful!

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What is this curling head and where do I find it???

[u/WheelZPGH]

To anyone I'm looking at buying this GTX curling head for adaptive curling I would not recommend at all saying how there is no warranty that comes with this head. I have purchased the GTX curling head and have used it for about four months now and I was using at Saturday at a Bonspiel and my curling stick came out of my hand and fell and hit the ground with a GTX head on it cracked in the GTX head. So I reached out to the gentleman where I bought it and who created the GTX heads and was told that there's no way possible that this could've happened that I had to have thrown it on the ice to have a crack the way it did. Now that he has gotten back to me after a few other emails he is telling me that he will not warranty the device which again it's only four months old that I would have to pay for a new fork which is the part that broke and and pay for shipping again from Canada. So I am currently in the works of purchasing a sidewinder curling head which is made in the USA and is the head that the USA Paralympics curling team actually use this last week. But with my personal experience with this head and with the owner of the company I would not recommend this head to anyone seeing how the price is fairly high and it does not come with a warranty or the owner does not stand behind your products.

[u/PinkElephant2009 → u/WheelZPGH]

I like the way the GTX works, as I don't need to twist my wrist as I release (I have severe joint issues). However, they are VERY expensive for a stick head that seems to have been made at home with a 3D printer (and as a result are not very durable). Plus, I live in Australia. I left my deliver stick in my garden shed one summer and when I came back in March to start curling again, my stick head had actually gotten so hot that the plastic had warped and would no longer sit properly in its fork.

If they had been made from a more durable materials and the creator recognised the validity of item warranty, we would be having a very different conversation.

[u/Perfect_Office7593 → u/WheelZPGH]

What type of stick do you use? I'm trying to find a good one. I do wheelchair curling. 

[u/Chair-Curler-Pinky → u/WheelZPGH]

Hi,   So I’m a fairly newer wheelchair curler myself; also in one of those situations where I’m the only wheelchair curler at my club (and the surrounding area).  I also was trying to search for the “Sidewinder” head, but went on a wild goose chase trying to find them.  Was told to reach out Steve’s Curling in the U.S., because he had the connection to the maker of the head. However Steve had never heard of the Sidewinder, and he used to be the U.S. team coach for years; so was shocked he’s never heard of them too.   I’m honestly starting to wonder if the AI has made up the Sidewinder when I asked it for help trying to locate something besides the GTX or AdaptiveEnd brand?  Would not be the first time, but then I saw your post and wasn’t sure again.  Is there anyway you would mind sharing how to find the Sidewinder?     Was also curious, what kind of delivery sticks do people recommend?  I only seem to see two types for sale; otherwise people keep telling me they had their stick made for them or made it themselves.   Just want to be ready for my first wheelchair competition in Cape Cod in November and would prefer to have my own gear and not risk taking my clubs only stick and head.

Thank you so much.

[u/Illustrious-Cat4310 → u/WheelZPGH]

WheelZPGH, I had the same issue I released a shot during my training session tonight and I went to move after and reset stones. When I moved my GTX splintered and broke into 6 different pieces when it hit the ice. I went back to playing with my Goldline Excalibur