I'm not going to say shouldn't do it, but you'll probably find it more difficult to reach the very top of the game if you continue to use the backswing and the longer you leave it the more difficult you'll find it to change.

The real reason most top players don't lift the stone is so that they can keep the stone along the target line during the whole of the delivery.  When swinging the stone you actually end up coming off the target line as you have to swing the stone round your body.  The stone is then coming onto the target line at an angle (rather than straight), which makes it much more difficult to throw it consistently.

The coaches maybe should have explained it a little better, but you'll probably benefit from the change in the long run.

Even if none of the top teams didnt use stopwatches, it is still an enormous tool in actually getting to the top.

Well, what you have to ask yourself is what kind of results do you want to be able to produce in the future.

I am sure you would maybe able to throw 80% consistently with a back swing when you are older. But if you want to be a world champion, being able to throw it exactly the same as the rest of your team becomes more important. If all you want to do is be a consistant club curler then it will be fine. But if you have aspirations of being the best in the world, you are going to have to conform to give yourself the best chance of making that happen.

Ok, thanks a lot. You have given me much to think of. I mean, naturally, I want to go as far as I can, and I suppose if it means changing old habits, then that is what it takes.
Still, it stops the wee ones standing behind the hack when I am delivering.

There has been a move for all coaching to "deliver" no-back-swing to the elite end of Scottish Curling for a variety of reasons, many listed above by some of Scotlands finest!

Looking at the Brier in Canada you'll see a wider variety of deliveries at their top end of the game than in Scotland.....but as to the fact that No Back-Swing is more acurate than Back-Swing I'd say that's rubbish.  In the correct hands its as accurate and its as effective.  All you need is a coach that's willing and able to coach that to you.  As to the toe slide and flat foot arguements I'd again say look at some of the gaes of the toe-sliders in the game and if it suits their knees then go for it!

Too often when coaching the coaches follow a given line from above (RCCC & Institute) and do not allow for differing bodies and techniques and adapt those persons deliveries to suit their physical abilities.  Also the coaching structure currently sufficates invention and ingenuity....I'd say go for whatever works best for you and just work at perfecting it!