In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" I welcome back Emily Riley (elite athlete & Certified Mental Performance Consultant). We're going to deal with three topics today, slow starts, distractions and pre-event preparation. This is Emily's sixth visit. Her previous five have been most impactful especially if you're a coach, athlete or parent of young athletes in curling. The chapter markers (above these show notes) will lead to the three topics if you wish to listen over a period of time. These are the episode numbers and dates of Emily's previous episodes.

Mar. 20, '22 (S1E12) Dec. 23, '22 (S1E55) June 2, '23 (S2E16). Jan. 19, '24 (S2E47) Oct. 26, '24 (S3E39) The last episode in the list is for parents!

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In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" I respond to a question sent my way from a coach who asked about curling's signature skill, weight control, how to measure it and more importantly, how to help his athletes develop a feel for it. When I suggested that we chat voice-to-voice, it led to today's episode.

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In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" I pause to make two announcements. The first is about the distribution of my coaching manual, "A Pane In The Glass: A Coach's Companion" and the way listeners to the episodes of the podcast find a link to the most recent episode. If you receive a posting of the most recent episode through your membership in a sports related group on Facebook, this will be the last time you will be able to do so. I describe a new way for you to access the link! I also take the opportunity to thank a group of individuals who have been instrumental in the creation of my coaching manual and the podcast.

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My returning guest today on "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" is Bobby Ray, Senior Manager, Club Development & Member Services for Curling Canada. This is not just any curling season, it's an Olympic curling season. History has demonstrated that those who don't curl but watch the game unfold on its biggest stage every four years, get inspired to contact curling facilities to explore the possibilities of getting involved. Those same curling facilities need to be ready to receive and expand on that potential interest and that's what you'll hear Bobby Ray talk about today. As you'll hear me say in the episode, if you live in one of the many countries that have curlers, coaches & instructors and fans, Bobby Ray and I hope you can gain something from this initiative he'll describe to benefit your curling community!

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In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" we take a look at perhaps the most interesting phenomenon in curling, the "drag effect". I'll explain what it is, why it occurs and how knowledge of the drag effect can win you a game and how a lack of knowledge might lose you a game. To get the most out of this episode you're going to need your powers of visualization and do try to stay awake!

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In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" I take a look at practice from the standpoint of an individual athlete and from a team perspective. It's a continuation of an episode in season three (“Practice - What A Novel Idea”). To conclude this week's episode I use a soundbite from Pete Carroll, coach of the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League. Pete talks about the various types of coaches. If you are a coach, where do you fit into Pete's spectrum of coaches?

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In this pebble water version of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" I deal with an application of "The Aggregation Of Marginal Gains" (from last week's episode) and a topic that almost goes without notice at the start of a curling season, footwear, but not one's curling shoes per se but rather that portion of those shoes that actually touches the ice surface including some sound bites on footwear and brushing by Joanne Courtney. Enjoy!

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In this episode of "A Pane In The Glass Podcast" we go back to Season 2 Episode 49. In that episode I interviewed Chris Karger, the fifth member of Team Denmark at the 2023 European B Men's Curling Championship. Chris had been a professional football player whose career was cut short due to injury. That's when he decided to take up curling, not recreationally, but competitively, really competitively! I was sitting beside Chris behind a pane in the glass at that event when he shared with me, what I called, "The One Percent Solution" but as your will hear Chris describe it, the "Aggregation of Marginal Gains". Don't be deterred by that phrase, it's really about how your team can become greater than the sum of its parts!

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