The curlers in the Royal Club's Regional Academy Squad were at the Braehead Curling Rink this weekend. These athletes are selected individually for support. The full list is on the RCCC website here. How many of the curlers, and coaches, can you identify in this photo? (Click on the pic to see a larger size.)
The weekend followed the now familiar mix of on-ice exercises and drills, as well as off-ice classroom sessions. Here Logan Gray is testing out sweepers' communication. That's Ruaraidh Whyte and Fraser Thomson doing the sweeping on Iain Wilson's stone.
Simon from Elite Sports Analysis was making sure all had their deliveries analysed.
The curlers moved around a variety of activities.
Some of the curlers had experienced the activities before. For others, such as Lorna Shaw (above), it was a first experience of a Regional Academy Squad weekend. Lorna is the first Regional Academy athlete from the Borders Rink in Kelso.
Sport psychologist, Laura Carey, gets underway with a classroom session for half the squad. Find out some more about Laura here.
Of course, at these weekends, it's not all work. There's always time for some fun activities. This year it was across to Xscape's snow zone. I was rather jealous!
Kyle Smith demonstrates an 'alternative' way of descending the slope, on his helmet rather than on the sled.
RCCC Performance Development Coach Rhona Martin was in charge, and the Braehead staff made sure that everyone knew that when she asked for a coffee!
And here Brad Askew, Rhona's assistant, surprised three of the group who have birthdays this weekend. L-R: Lauren Baxter, James Carswell, Katy Richardson. Competition time - one of the group is 19, one 17 and one 15. Match the ages to the curlers!Pics © Skip Cottage
