Curling: Shuffleboard On Ice
842010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
With the 2010 Winter Olympics, the world will have another chance to view curling as a winter sport. The Olympiad is the only chance some spectators have to see this lesser-known event, since ice is required for play. However, in 2009, curling (and hockey) championships specifically for the deaf have been instituted and the 2010 Paralymics witll have their second celebration of Wheelchair Curling as a medal event, with co-ed teams.
Curling is expanding in participation and viewership and has no age limit in either.
Movement across ice is always intriguing and eye catching. The elongated lunge of the curling team member in launching the stone down the icy twin of the shuffleboard court is like ballet movements and kungfu stances. The broomers in front of the gliding stone are reminiscent of chickens pecking at a moving corn kernel.
38 Seconds Says It All: Scott Tournament of Hearts 2005
What Is Curling?
Curling is a traditional sport much like shuffleboard played on ice, with specialized sliding shoes and game equipment. In community groups and church youth groups, the game is often played with brooms and a basketball and called “broomball” either on ice or a gymnasium floor. As official broomball with the original equipment, the game resembles hockey, especially in its origin nation of Canada, but has many variations around the USA.
On the ice with traditional equipment, curling somewhat resembles croquet as well as shuffleboard. Curling is a team sport that originated in cold winter climates in the UK and many researchers believe that Scotland in medieval times was the starting point in the first half of the 16th Century - as early as 1511.
OVERVIEW OF CURLING
Two teams, called rinks, of four players each compete in a Bonspiel (match) on a rectangular sheet of bumpy or "pebbled") ice that contains a target and other official demarcations.
The eqipment includes 1) a broom, a pushing device that closely resembles a Swiffer Floor Cleaner or a push-brroom, or even an actual corn broom in the Canadian variation, 2) thinly Teflon®-soled shoes, and 3) a 19-kg/42-pound (Olympic weight) granite stone with a handle rising out of the top, positioned horizontal to the floor. Teams were outfits that may look like bowling slacks and shirts, kilts and blouses, or snowsuits (outdoors).
A team member slides a stone down the ice towards the house, a target much like an archery target. Two sweepers from the same team use brooms in a specific strategy in front of the sliding stone to smooth the way and guide the stone to a specific end point (see the short video above).
Scoring
A game of curling is made up of 10 rounds called ends. each end consists of each of the 4 team members throwing a total of 2 stones, alternately, with the opponent's team members. This is 8 stones per team. One point is scored for each stone that hits the center of the bullseye target or house. The team with the most points after 10 ends in the winner.
See the various rules for tie-breakers in the links to Curling Organizations included in this article.
How to Play
Sweeping
Sweeping is not easy, even though some spectators think it looks silly and unnecessary. The ice lane is pebbled or bumpy and the sweeping smooths the way for a stone to hit its precisely intended target point. In this respect, the game is like pool.
Sweeping takes up a lot of energy as well, because it must be fast and sustained for a short time period, like a sprint. Competitive curling requires a high physical fitness level, especially in endurance for all team members while brooming and in flexibility in all team members that "throw" the stone. Timing and teamwork are especially important as well.
Of the four team members that play in turn in the style of a swimmer's marathon, we have:
- The Lead
- The Second Lead
- The Vice Skip
- The Captain or Skip (Skipper)
All four team members must be able to throw the stone well and to broom well.
The teams alternate their players against each other as in bowling, each throwing a stone - first one lead, then the other, etc. After a stone is thrown, two broomers from the same team must go into action immediately, so teamwork is mandatory. If all three remaining team members try to broom, it is a rule infraction; if only 1 or no broomers act, then the throw is wasted.
Curling Organizations and Rules
- United States Curling Association (USCA)
The motto of the US organization is Curling Rocks! - CCA Rules for General Play
Canadian Curling Association rules. - World Curling Federation
Welcome to the official website of the World Curling Federation, founded 1966. Curling made its Olympic debut at the 1924 Chamonix Winter Games.
Dimensions and Materials
Ice Sheet: The playing lane or rink is 42.07 meters by 4.28 meters wide with a target (house) at either end.
Shoes: Special shows are worn, with a Teflon® coating on the sliding shoe for throwing the stone. An alternative in a slip on layer of Teflon®
Stone: Also called a rock, the Olympic weight is 44 pounds, but some curling clubs use a 42-pound stone. As of this writing, all stones are made from granite (see the video for the process). Olympic stones are made only of granite from Scotland's Ailsa Craig. The sound of the stone hitting ice has led to the nickname "The Roaring Game."
For additional information, dimensions, and digarams, see the links to the right. Canadian rules differ somewhat from world rules.
First World Deaf Games
First Deaf Games, 2009
Curling and ice hockey celebrated their first events for the deaf community of athletes in mid-April 2009 at the First World Deaf Ice Hockey and Curling Championships at the MTS Centre in Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada with Walter Gretsky (see video below).
Production of Curling Stones
20th Century Developments
Men's Curling was an Olympic Winter Event in 1924, was dropped, and was brought back in 1932 as a demonstration sport for men. It reappeared again in 1988 and 1992 as a demonstration sport for men and women.
Curling was added as a medal sport at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, with both men and women participating in 8-team events.
In 2010, men and women compete in 10-team events for medals. Recreational curling contains a division for mixed doubles (co-ed) teams, but that division is not represented at the Olympics. Curling is also a medal events in the Paralympics and Wheelchair Curling has become popular. Dear curling has gained recogniiton as well, as mentioned above.
The Simpsons
Homer and Marge Simpson celebrate the show's 20th anniversary with an episode airing during 2010 Winter Games. In this episode, Homer and Marge represent the United States on the Olympic curling team.
Curling Resources
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Curling Medals of the 2006 Games
The 2006 Winter Olympics Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in curling were won in men's and women's events as follows:
Mens Curling
- Canada
- Finland
- USA
Womens Curling
- Sweden
- Germany
- France
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.
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Team USA Curling Photo Gallery
- Debbie McCormick - Captain
- Allison Pottinger
- Nicole Joraanstad
- Natalie Nicholson
- Tracy Sachtjen
- Wally Henry - Coach
Both Men's and Women's Teams have one alternate. Womens Team on Facebook: TEAM USA Women.
CURLING TEAMS USA 2010
- John Shuster - Captain
- John Benton
- Jeff Isaacson
- Jason Smith
- Chris Plys
- Phill Drobnick - Coach. Age 28, he has curled for 22 years, since age 6.
The Men's team is considerably better publicized than the Women's team. See the Men's team of FACEBOOK.
2010 USA Wheelchair Team
- Augusto Perez - Captain - A cancer survivor, this is his second Paralympics.
- James Pierce - Several year of experience and several wins.
- Patrick McDonald - US Army Veteran
- Jacqui Kapinowski - She has completed 45 marathons in different ways - running, with a walker, and with a wheelchair.
- James Joseph - Owns his own business, Jimmy Jam Snowplowing.
Canadian Curling Photo Gallery
- Cheryl Bernard - Captain
- Susan O'Connor
- Carolyn Darbyshire
- Cori Bartel
- Kristie Moore
- Dennis Balderston - Coach
CURLING CANADA 2010
- Kevin Martin - Captain
- John Morris
- Marc Kennedy
- Ben Hebert
- Adam Enright
- Jules Owchar - Coach
Paralympics
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2010 Canada Wheelchair Team
- Jim Armstrong - Captain - Begfan curling at age 8 and switched to Paralympics after back and knee injuries in life. A several-time award winner.
- Darryl Neighbour - Injured in his construction job, he plays several wheelchair sports and is a public speaker.
- Ina Forrest - Owns a business with her husband and is a parent and foster parent,
- Chris Sobkowicz - 35 years in wheelchair sports.
- Sonja Gaudet - Certified Teachers Assistant nd member of the 2006 Torino Canadian Olympic Team Gold Medal Winners.
- Jacqueline Roy - 30 years of wheelchair sports and a Baby Boomer from Canada, winner of the 2009 British Columbia Premier’s Sport Award.
- Bruno Yizek - Project Manager for the Hendrix Foodservice Equipment Company.
- Joe Rea - Coach
Comments and AdditionsLoading...
Believe it or not I have tried this game once or twice. In the small town where I grew up there was an arena where there was an ice rink in the winter and there was the curling club across the street. Thanks for the fond memory you stirred up.
Firstly as a Canadian I love the Olympics are going to be in Vancouver and this sport looks so difficult and to have to be so precise and have the ability to judge movement in that way-incredible. Now I'll look forward to watching it with a new perspective. Thanks for that. Great Hub. Looks like a ton of work. xo
I really appreciate the broad variety of your hubs, Patty, this was very informative.
I learned a lot about curling myself, BDazzler and hope to see it on TV.
I love this sport, I think it's the most interesting of all the Olympic sports. Thanks for clearing up some of the questions I had about this excellent sport.
I've never witnessed Curling but I have a neice in Minnesota who used to participate in broomball.
fishtiger58 - Watch the curling on tv if you get a chance. I hoope NBC has it scheduled.
dahoglund - I've only known a few people that did broomball, but they loved it.
Great explanation of the game! I've seen it on TV. Now that I understand it better, I'll watch it a little more carefully.
I love this sport and enjoyed watching McCormick's team win the right to represent the US at the Olympics. I look forward to viewing it later this month.
Curling may be shown on cable channels, I don't know about NBC local broadcasts.
Jen - Good for you. It was exciting, wasn't it?
Yes it was. And NBC shows it on their digital channel, Universal Sports.
Unfortunately, we don't get Universal Sports. I'll look for the DVD after the games!
I just saw curling on Jay Leno last night. Never heard of it before. Very confusing sport.
Well, I unfortunately missed it! I was wathcing a PBS special on the origins of the Olympics and how there were very few rules. Lots of blood and guts and fights to the death, actually.
I MUST get that Olympics DVD after the Games.
My area recently gained three - low wattage TV broadcast channels that had special Olympics Trials on them and then they went dark. No fair!
Yes, even after the the guy from Minnesota (forgot his name) explained it, I still don't quite understand it but it sure was interesting to watch the tape.
Follow the link on the front page of wheelchaircurling.com for a demonstration of wheelchair curling. You can also see lots of pictures on thr blog http://wheelchaircurlingblog.blogspot.com/
I've always wanted to play curling!
This is really popular in Scotland my husband tells me and is usually the UK's best chance of a medal at the winter olympics.
It looks like it would be fun to play!
Excellent Hub!!!!
I enjoy the game at its total peak. Now once again we will get the opportunity to explore the event. The game is immensely popular for the reason that other with special ability does participate in the game. This makes the whole scenario the more adventurous. However, in 2009, curling (and hockey) championships specifically for the deaf have been instituted and the 2010 Paralympics with have their second celebration of Wheelchair Curling as a medal event, with co-ed teams. Thanks for sharing.
Keep on Hubbing
What a coincidence, I was just asking my husband the other day about curling (saw and olympic article headline on it)...I had no knowledge of it at all. I didn't know it's history dates as far back as 1924! A great and very thorough hub, I've learned lots thanks.
It is great game!
HEADS UP
----base ball is traveling close to 100 MPH it is in fact in free fall and----
I learned this in the early sixties from a Water Resources crew boss.
When we would have a new employee on board he would turn and ask if anyone would like a cigarette. That was my cue to slow the aircraft and as the cigarette was lit I would gently drop the nose, he would then release it and it, with the smoke would slowly drift to the back.
I soon learned that one should have the ashtrays closed and the floor clean as coming out of free fall this stuff was also floating and made one H of a mess.
Now if I was telling you this back in the fifties you would not have a clue to what I was talking about. Now of course you have seen it many times where large aircraft create orbital free fall and have people floating around.
Since Sputnik we have understood the high speed required to maintain orbital free fall. So when I mention that a base ball is traveling close to 100 MPH it is in fact in free fall and torque as we know it does not exist, about half of you will get it!
As the ball slowes torque comes into play and the ball will react to the spin or torque and will dip curve etc.
The spinning bowling ball traveling a little slower with such little surface contact!
Now, the year 2010 I walk into the curling rink and try and explain that the rock that was just thrown and that's now hurtling down the ice at 00point something miles per hour is in free fall. That as it slowes it is not rock and ice contact that is creating the curl but in fact its the force of torque. The game should be called TORQUEING. Just a little bitterness as when I advised that the broom sweeping happening is creating a force that interacts with torque causing ---!
Last night watching CBC the National
I just about fell off my chair as it was being explained that what has been taught about the how and why of ice and rock in Curling is wrong.
The people funding this investigation have had confidentiality papers signed to not fully disclose this, giving Canadian Olympic Curling contenders a slight edge!
Google - CBC NEWS - click SPORTS - click Curling - click All curling vidio - click The secret Science of Curling
An engineering professor dispels a curling myth.
Bruce Voigt Discoverer
We recorded the Olympics today, and decided to watch the Curling. We then decided to put it on pause to read your hub!
Curling is definitely a precision sport! Takes control.
Excellent hub Patty.
Its probably the one sport that us Brits are actually good at...lol
I never thought I'd enjoy reading a hub on curling but there you go...a credit to your writing!
I grew up with curling, and though it looks a bit like shuffleboard, it's more like chess on ice, to me. It's a great sport to watch and play ;)
Thanks for this informative hub! My hubby and I watched curling tonight (Chinese versus Canadians) and were completely lost. We just couldn't figure out the rules of the game to save our lives. I will forward this onto him.
What a great overview of curling. I've seen this sport a few times (mainly during the winter Olympics), but have never fully understood what was going on.
Thanks for sharing this information!
WOW, so many posts that are great! Thanks to eacg and every one of you for reading and commenting.
rmcrayne! - I do hope the hub helped with some good links and info. I missed the curling, but heard some people discussing it at the car repair place today - I will definitely get the DVD!
wordscribe41 - I didn't know China had a team. That should have been very interesting. Hop your hubby likes the Hub as well. :)
Yes, the Chinese team is coached by a Canadian. He he he. He has to have a Chinese translator to communicate with his team. They were great, beat those Canadians. I couldn't believe it. Wish I would have read this hub before watching the game. Sigh.
I did not know a lot about Curling except that I always enjoy watching it. This hub has explained a lot about the sport that I did not know before Thank-you
Thanks for the explanation, that was the only olympic sport I just couldn't understand for the life of me!
Thanks for this article. My brother and I were just trying to figure it all out, and this helps. I still don't understand the scoring, though. From watching I got the idea it depended on who's stone(s) were left after the end, or who's was closetst to the center.
This hub on Curling is very detailed and very informative.
Lena
Thanks to everyone that has read about curling and made comments. I am glad the Hub has helped to make curling more enjoyable. Harder than it looks, I think - I saw some of the NBC reporters try it and slip around a lot, and that stone is heavy. Congratulations to all the athletes!
Very interesting hub. I have been watching curling in the Olympics and became interested in the topic. Glad to find this hub.
What a great hub! I've been really enjoying watching curling on the Olympics this year and was looking for more info about the sport.
Thanks so much!
I always wondered why they would be sweeping the brooms back and forth while the stone was sliding down the ice, thanks for the explanation.
Yes - I did not quite understand the roughness of the ice until I read more about the sport. Always wondered about the sweeping; it's very precision oriented I think.
Hard, hard Cheryl Bernard ! She is tops! I loved to watch her playing this game
I was watching curling in a bar without any sound and had no clue how the scoring worked, but I was a bit fascinated. Do you only get points for getting the stone in the bulls eye?
I love watching curling during the olympics!
Thanks for the explanation! Never knew what it was!
Patty Inglish, MS says: Always wondered about the sweeping; it's very precision oriented I think.
------------------
Canada's Own the Podium Program has had 22 million at their disposal to figure this out and they did. For now this secret is only shared with Canadian Olympic coaches and participants. Public disclosure will be this June.
PAUL - It must have looked like the Keystone Cops silent films! I think yes, only 1 point for each stone in the bullsye.
Bruce - That is very interesting and we look forward to the release of that information. But then, why would they give it away :)
Thanks for all the comments, friends!
This certainly explained a lot to me. I just don't really see it as a necessary sport for the winter olympics. Snowball fights would be a great winter olympics sport.
As always, you have done a great job in writing.
Snowball fights - that's funny, but it could be done. Snowball fights in the ski cross event - more dangerous and more fun for some. Snowball fights in the ice dance competition - the spoil-sports deserve a barrage of it this year :)
Wow, what an awesome and complete resource!
I was disappointed in how poorly the US curling teams did this Olympics. Still, it is a great sport to watch.
Weirdness Winter Olympic sport ever...IMO
But it's fun to watch!
I never liked watching curling and I thought it was a stupid sport, but then when I tried it the other day it was harder than I thought and it takes a lot of skill.
Patty Inglish, MS says: Bruce - That is very interesting and we look forward to the release of that information. But then, why would they give it away :)
--------------------------
Because we are Canadian!
Spent a winter in Inuvik, with 24 hours of darkness thought Curling would be a good thing to learn. Geraldine and I arrived at the packed Curling Rink to find every one drunk!
Years later, watching my son play this seemingly stupid boring game, to pass the time decided to scientificly figure out such things as ice, rock and broom interaction. Some where along the way I learned that there is much more to this game and now find it as exciting to watch as any other sport.
Entering a rink you may wonder why there are many not watching and cheering a game in progress. I think it's because they don't want to spill their drink!
It's the first year I actually watched curling (as I was laying on the couch sick, not knowing where the remote was and not caring either) I found it quite interesting, enough so that eventually I checked out the rules of the game on the internet. I missed that you had a hub about it and I should have checked out your hub first Patty (it would have saved a lot of time) as you got it all perfectly explained.
Thanks for sharing, as always a fabulous hub
hope you're well Zsuzsy
Thanks for all the information and good discussion! I saw some folks attempt curling for the first time and they were pretty wobbly on the rice in casting the stone. I imagine bowling with a 40-pound ball and see the difficulties.
It has been an Olympics of strange events, certainly, and some strange behaviors by some athletes - skaters drinking on the ice, a USA medalist asked to leave for doing something weird, maybe obscene, with his medal in a bar; Russians bad-mouthing other skaters and one cheering when another country's bobsled crashed; speed skaters pushing others on the track and being disqualified, fake Aboriginal outfits and movement on ice that severely diminished all native peoples everywhere.
Curling seems to be more of a game of chance than skill. That curling disk, seems to go wherever it wants to, no matter how hard they scrub! LOL
Zsuzsy - Glad you're feeling better!
2besure - Curlers seem to say that they control how hard and fast they broom, and how they direct the stone, so it must be a matter of huge, intense concentration on very tiny bits of information - movements and target places the rest of us cannot even see because we don't use them daily. I wonder if eyesight is affected after a while?
A little Pun;
Most everything including eyesight has been covered here, one exception being the slippery shoe. Traditionally this was introduced to sharpen balance (just in case stopped on the way home) you could easily walk the line. :)
Looks a lot like broom hockey to me, I have never seen curling till you videos, but it looks like a puck that I can actually follow during a game. LOL
Thanks for the smiles first thing in the morning, Bruce :)
abigail33 - Yeah, the stone is larger and a little slower lol. I think maybe we have some curling going on at the Chiller Ice Arena in the north end of the county; I'll go have a look. It would be fun to see up close.
Just back from Victoria after watching my son get creamed in a curling competition. Ten minutes later I watched Canada get the Gold. I am so proud! :)
I have always wanted to know this, thanks for the information! Great Hub!
Bruce - A happy time seeing Canada win so many medlas and the gold! I love Victoria and have visited three times.
I love curling. It really is a thinking game.
The concentration and strategy are most impressive, to be sure.
Patty -- I don't know if your Hub had anything to do with it or not but New York middle age Wall Street executives are now at this moment, taking up Curling in droves!
You're kidding!? - They must have seen something they liked at the Olympics. Perhaps we will see a Wall Street Team in Winter Games of Sochi 2014, the warmest place place in Russia. lol
With the intricate science of Curling now being disclosed I would also like to give a heads up on the relationship of "sound energy" that inhibits this sport.
If you have watched a game on TV you will have noticed the loud sound of HARD HARD HARD. Some where along the way the curler unbenounced to them is in fact having a slight difference in manipulating the rock thinking its all to do with the sweeping!
The real Science of sound in Curling though is the energy of sound created when the stone moves across the pebbly ice surface. I also will wait till June to explain this phenomenon.
Bruce Voigt Science
quote
New brooms sweeping the nation - The Globe and Mail
Technological advancements in curling are about as rare as an eight-ender.
But thanks to some research done ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics, a new brush head is causing a stir at both the elite and grassroots level of the game. While it’s proved exceptionally effective,
“Our first discovery was that no one is actually melting the ice when they sweep,” he said. “That sort of changed all our thinking.”
For decades, perhaps centuries, curlers believed when they swept, they melted the ice ever so slightly and that allowed the rocks to travel farther and curl less---------
google; cbc.ca bruce voigt
Melting? I thought they were smoothing it by sweeping away particles and slightly gouging out a shallow track of sorts for the stone to follow. wrong wornger wrongest
Hello, hello, 2 years ago
Well done; a great hub