Technical Articles
Selected technical articles
Blocked, Distributed and Random Practice as it Relates to Skill Acquisition in Curling
An age-old question in sport is what practice structure yields the best results in relation to effective skill acquisition. This article will define three different practice structures that are referred to as Blocked, Distributed and ...
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Setup – the importance of the slide foot position
In curling, as in golf, the hallmark of an accomplished and successful player is consistency: simply the ability to execute repeatedly the act of throwing a curling stone correctly, that is on the line of ...
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The research behind instrumented curling brooms
Author’s note: This is joint work with John Newhook, Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University. Over the past two years I have had the privilege to work on a number of different engineering ...
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The Gauntlet Drill
A long-standing line of delivery (LOD) drill used in curling is one where the athlete delivers a stone by sliding between a series of markers (cones, cups, or stones) to practice line of delivery. We ...
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Dryland Training for Open Brushing Footwork
This article is joint work with Dr. John Newhook, Dean of Engineering, Dalhousie University. In a previous article, entitled “Dryland Training for Closed Brushing Footwork”, we described a simple, wheeled apparatus that an athlete could ...
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On-ice training for brushing footwork
This past June I wrote an article that described the use of a footwork trainer for brushing in the closed position. The trainer permits competitive athletes to train off-ice, on their own time, and I ...
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