We apply Christ’s method of refinements to the $$\ell ^p$$
ℓ
p
-improving problem for discrete averages $${\mathcal {A}}_N$$
A
N
along polynomial curves in $${\mathbb {Z}}^d$$
Z
d
. Combined with certain elementary estimates for the number of solutions to certain special systems of diophantine equations, we obtain some restricted weak-type $$p \rightarrow p'$$
p
→
p
′
estimates for the averages $${\mathcal {A}}_N$$
A
N
in the subcritical regime. The dependence on N of the constants here obtained is sharp, except maybe for an $$\epsilon $$
ϵ
-loss.