Curling Entrepreneur keeps on going

by Bob Garvin

Lino Di Iorio is not your average curler.  If anything, he's more passionate than most.  And he's using that passion, and his natural inclination towards research and development, to enhance our sport.

He's the man behind, for example, the enormously popular BalancePlus slider.  Di Iorio also created a rock throwing machine a few years back that tosses 8 stones at the same time.  And he's created a unique video system for analyzing and (hopefully) resolving delivery faults.

What is it about his systems that are unique?  Space limitations prevent us from detailing it here, especially since we don't really understand the technical aspects of it anyway.

But top curlers from around the world, including four-time World Champion Elisabet Gustafson and Olympic gold medalist Patrick Hurlimann, have trained with Di Iorio and will be back in 2001 for more.  Scotland's national program has hired him to help with their entire development program (based on this year's results we'd say there's definite work needed there).

Beginning this fall, BalancePlus will open Canada's first International Technical Training and Research & Development Centre at a club in Toronto.  In addition to the training and on-ice practice, strategy seminars will be presented, headed up by hall-of-famers Ed Werenich and Neil Harrison.  Already teams from Norway, Sweden and Scotland have booked time for October.  Who wouldn't want to see how the Wrench explains strategy to European curlers?

If you're interested in learning more about how to improve your game, just contact BalancePlus at 1-800-715-1715 or 705-725-0080 or check out their website.