Juniors During his junior career, Waddell played
second for the
Kyle Smith rink. The team represented Scotland at three
World Junior Curling Championships from 2012 to 2014. In , the team, consisting of
Thomas Muirhead,
Kerr Drummond and
Hammy McMillan Jr. went 7–2 through the round robin before losing the 3 vs. 4 page playoff game to Norway's
Markus Høiberg. However, they avenged this loss in the bronze medal game when they defeated the same Norwegian team to finish third. In , the team, now with
Cammy Smith playing lead instead of Drummond, topped the round robin with an 8–1 record. They then beat Canada's
Matt Dunstone in the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game and then defeated Russia's
Evgeny Arkhipov to secure the gold medal. It was Scotland's first time winning the event since 1996. At the
2014 World Junior Curling Championships, the team, now with
Duncan Menzies at alternate instead of McMillan went 6–3 in the round robin, but were able to defeat Norway in the 1 vs. 2 game to once again qualify for the final. There, they were bested by Switzerland's
Yannick Schwaller, settling for silver. Waddell was also part of the Smith rink that earned a silver medal for Great Britain at the
2013 Winter Universiade. After a 6–3 record in the round robin, they lost to Sweden's
Oskar Eriksson in the final.
Men's Following juniors, Waddell continued to curl with the Smith rink. The team immediately found success on the
World Curling Tour, reaching the finals of the
Dumfries Curling Challenge, the
Mercure Perth Masters and the
European Masters during the
2014–15 season. Team Smith competed in their first
Grand Slam of Curling event at the
2015 GSOC Tour Challenge Tier 2 where they reached the semifinals. They also made the semifinals of the
Swiss Cup Basel before being eliminated by the
Brad Gushue rink. In October, the team won the qualifier for the
2015 European Curling Championships, defeating the
Tom Brewster rink in the best-of-three final. They would go on to miss the playoffs at the Europeans after losing in a tiebreaker to Sweden's
Niklas Edin. The
2015–16 season also marked Team Smith's first tour win together at the
Edinburgh International where they defeated
Jaap van Dorp to claim the title. The
2016–17 season was a breakthrough season for the Smith rink, beginning at the
Oakville Fall Classic where they captured the event title. They also reached the semifinals at the
Stu Sells Oakville Tankard, the Swiss Cup Basel and the
Red Deer Curling Classic. In Grand Slam play, the team in four events. The team's best finish came at the
2016 GSOC Tour Challenge where they made it all the way to the final before being defeated by the Edin rink. They also made the semifinals at the
2017 Players' Championship but were again eliminated by Team Edin. At the
Scottish Men's Curling Championship, they finished third after losing both the 1 vs. 2 page playoff game and semifinal to the
David Murdoch and
Bruce Mouat rinks respectively. They ended their season at the
2017 Euronics European Masters where they beat the Edin rink in the final. In June 2017, it was announced that British Curling had selected the Smith rink to represent Great Britain at the
2018 Winter Olympics in
PyeongChang,
South Korea. The team were chosen as they were the top ranked British team on the
2016–17 World Curling Tour rankings, despite having never won the Scottish Men's Championship. They were also chosen over the Murdoch, Mouat and
Tom Brewster rinks, which caused controversy due to the Murdoch rink winning the 2017 Scottish Championship. However, because they missed out on the playoffs at the
2017 World Men's Curling Championship, the advantage was ultimately handed to the Smith rink. Before the Games, they played in three more tour events, with their best finish coming at the
German Masters where they lost in the final to
Marc Pfister. At the Olympics, the team had mixed results throughout the round robin, ultimately finishing tied for third with a 5–4 record. This put them into a tiebreaker against the Swiss de Cruz rink, which they lost 9–5, eliminating them from contention. Immediately following the Games, the team played in a best-of-three playoff against the Mouat rink to determine who would represent Scotland at the
2018 World Men's Curling Championship, which the Mouat rink won two games to one. In their final event of the season, Team Smith reached the quarterfinals of the
2018 Players' Championship, where they once again were defeated by the Edin rink. Following the season, Waddell left the Smith rink and joined the newly formed
Ross Paterson rink at third for the
2018–19 season. The team also included second
Duncan Menzies and lead
Michael Goodfellow. The Paterson rink had a successful first season on tour. In their first few events together, they reached the semifinals of the
AMJ Campbell Shorty Jenkins Classic and the
Red Deer Curling Classic as well as the final of the
Ashley HomeStore Curling Classic where they were defeated by the
Glen Muirhead rink in an all-Scottish final. Team Paterson played in six of the seven Grand Slam events during the season, finding the most success at the
2018 National where they defeated Team Bruce Mouat in the final, in the first all-Scotland Grand Slam final. They also made the playoffs at two other Slams, reaching the semifinals of the
2019 Players' Championship and the quarterfinals of the
2018 Masters. At the Scottish Championship, the team finished in third place after losing in the semifinal to the Muirhead rink. Team Paterson were selected to represented Scotland at the
third leg of the
2018–19 Curling World Cup. There, they finished in third place after finishing the round robin with a 5–1 record. They also qualified for the
grand final of the Curling World Cup, where they again finished in third. In their second season together, the Paterson rink found more success on tour, making the finals of both the
Swiss Cup Basel and the
Aberdeen International Curling Championship. In October, they defeated both the Mouat and Muirhead rinks to earn the right to represent Scotland at the
2019 European Curling Championships. There, the team finished with a 5–4 round robin record, enough to qualify for the playoffs. They then lost to Sweden in the semifinal before defeating Denmark to claim the bronze medal. In Grand Slam play, the team played in three events, only making the playoffs at the
2019 Masters. They finished third at the Scottish championship. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, there were a limited number of tour events held during the
2020–21 season. Team Paterson did play in a series of domestic events put on by the British Curling Association, finishing third at all three events hosted. After the season, Michael Goodfellow retired from competitive curling and Waddell's brother,
Craig Waddell, joined the team as their new lead. During the
2021–22 season, Team Paterson reached the finals of the
KW Fall Classic where they were beaten by the
Ross Whyte rink. They played in two Grand Slams, finishing winless at both the
2021 Masters and the
2021 National. In February, the team went 8–2 during the round robin at the
2022 Scottish Curling Championships and later defeated the Whyte rink in the championship final. They were also picked to represent Scotland at the
2022 World Men's Curling Championship after being selected over the Bruce Mouat rink that won silver at the
2022 Winter Olympics, a decision that caused controversy due to how it was handled. For the championship, the team altered their lineup, with Waddell being named as the team's skip while Paterson continued to throw fourth stones. At the Worlds, the team qualified for the playoffs with a 7–5 record. They then lost in the qualification game to the United States'
Korey Dropkin, settling for fifth place. In June 2022, both Paterson and Menzies announced their retirement from elite level curling. Waddell then formed his own team with third Craig Waddell, second
Mark Taylor and lead
Gavin Barr for the
2022–23 season. As an alternate for
Bruce Mouat's team, Waddell won the
2025 World Curling Championship. In the off season, British Curling shuffled around their men's lineups, announcing that Waddell would now be skipping a new team with
Mark Watt,
Angus Bryce, and
Blair Haswell for the
2025–26 season. The team had a strong start together, qualifying for the
Grand Slam of Curling's
2025 Tour Challenge, where they would lose in the quarterfinals 6–5 to
John Epping. ==Personal life==