Curling coaches say experience key for Chinese athletes to improve

LAUSANNE - The performance of four Chinese youth curlers has caught the eye of some international curling coaches' since the start of curling events at Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne.

"Chinese players are really good at techniques, better than some of my players. But they are sometimes not doing well in tactics," said 52-year-old German coach Andy Kapp.

For Kapp, passing on experience to the next generation is key. "I have played curling for more than 30 years. As the coach of German youth curling team, I give my experience to the next generation; my son is the skip of German youth curling team for Winter YOG."

"Germany has traditions of curling families which pass on experience. The kids won't make the mistakes that we have made," he said.

Andy also thinks the experience of the players in tournament settings matters. "The experience of championship events can help athletes keep a calm attitude during the competitions."

"Being mentally strong and play hard since curling is a completely mental game," is key, Kapp said.

Dane Lars Vilandt has coached a Chinese and Denmark mixed doubles pair. He said that Chinese athletes should improve their tactic abilities. "Our country has a long history of winter sports. We start playing early and we learned tactics the right way."

"Play a lot of games against good teams where you can learn how to use tactics. So go to Canada, Europe and play a lot of games," Lars said. "It's easier for us. It's all there. If we travel it through Switzerland, it's only about two hours by plane for us. So it's easy to come here and play and go back again. "

"Play as much as possible. Every time you play a game, you learn something new that you can use in the future," he concluded.