One article that Bill Tschirhart left out of the book “A Pane in the Glass” is this one, entitled “The Physicist, the Exercise Physiologist, and the Coach“. In it, Bob Comartin of the CCA Performance Enhancement team discusses the physiology and technical mechanics of the delivery with Jerome Gazdewich, a Level 3 CCA-certified instructor from the Pointe Claire Curling Club in Pointe Claire, Quebec (a suburb of Montreal). The article is a great read and gives some interesting insight into the mechanics of adapting a delivery to take-out weight, particularly with junior girls, since Jerome’s frame of reference involves his high-performance coaching of a junior girls’ rink in Pointe Claire. The bulk of the material concerns precisely how additional force is generated out of the hack to deliver a stone with take-out weight, and provides some solid evidence for why it is important to keep the toe of the hack foot from contacting the surface of the ice prior to starting the delivery motion.
The “small world story” is that Jerome and I worked together at the Canadian Tire store in Yorkton, Saskatchewan when we were in high school. It’s been wonderful to reconnect with Jerome this past weekend after all this time (34 years). Jerome holds degrees in Engineering Physics, with Great Distinction, from the University of Saskatchewan, a Masters Degree in Engineering Physics, from McMaster University, specializing in lasers and optical communications, and an MBA from Concordia University. Professionally, he has over 19 years of experience in aerospace and high technology, in both engineering and management positions, working mostly on space-related programs.