When entering into a new venture or trying to add new skills onto an existing skill base, there is often a period in the early phase where results are worse than the starting point. Then things will bottom out. Then results will start climbing, first back to baseline and then above it. The net result is a gain, but there is short-term pain that must be experienced to get there. This pattern is called a J curve (as it looks a bit like an italicized J when plotted on a graph). I describe the J curve regularly to clients who are acquiring businesses, but it is not a regular feature of my own professional life currently. Recently, I invited the J curve into my personal life.

As longtime readers may recall, curling is one of my regular seasonal recreation activities. Going into this fall season, now about three weeks old, I committed to a significant alteration in my form. Despite what you see in the Olympics, most recreational curlers use a stabilizer to support them during their slide instead of relying on their own balance with a bit of assistance from their brooms. This leads to inconsistencies in the delivery, inconsistencies that I want to eliminate from my game. It is perhaps unfortunate that I learned using a stabilizer in the first place, but doing so makes it easier to get started so I understand why I was taught using that technique. I began practicing the new technique during the spring but did not use it during competition. Now I am using it exclusively.

Results so far are mixed. My teams have been winning consistently, but more in spite of me than because of me. I’ve made a few key shots, but my percentages are lower than in the spring and I’m still falling over on some of my shots (not to mention the other variances that affect my shots that are not as visible). Despite this short-term regression, I remain committed to the change. Once I accumulate sufficient repetitions to overcome my balance issues, something I’m devoting extra practice sessions to achieving as I’m not great at halfway doing things, my delivery will be more consistent and my game will improve. This will be the upswing of the J curve. I’m not there yet, but I expect to be there within a few weeks. In the meantime, I’ll keep practicing and hoping that I don’t cost my teammates too much while I struggle on my climb out of the valley.