Curling4Life
What is Curling
Curling is a popular Olympic sport that is played on ice. The point of the game is to get all of your rocks into the big target at the end of the sheet of ice. Imagine you’re on a sheet of ice about to throw the final stone. You slide down the ice with the rock and, at the right point, releasing the rock, you let it rumble towards the target, the house. The two sweepers sweep the ice in front of the stone to speed it up but then… “Woah!” They stop sweeping and allow the stone to rumble to a halt right in the middle ring of the house. Your team has scored the final point and won the game!
Curling History
Curling is a game of Scottish backgrounds that originated in the 16th century. The nickname of the sport is The Roaring Game because of the sounds the 44 lb stones make as they rumble across the ice. Curling has improved greatly from when it first emerged as a sport. We now have indoor rinks as opposed to the frozen ponds and lochs that curlers originally played on and the development of a slide delivery was also beneficial. The first curling club was the Grand Caledonian Curling Club formed in Scotland in 1838, but now, there are over 160 curling clubs in the US alone! Men’s curling was introduced to the Olympic Games in 1924, but was then dropped. It was then re-introduced as a demonstration sport in 1932. Curling was fully accepted into the Olympics in 1998 and has grown as a sport, adding women’s and mixed doubles curling to the previous “men’s sport” as well.
Science Behind the Spin
The stones may seem to spin on their own, but in reality, lots of science is involved. The spinning of the stones all depends on sweeping, the amount the handle is turned, and the "pebble" of the ice, which is when little droplets of water are sprayed onto the ice before games. I found some fasciniating videos about the physics of curling, so I've linked them here.
Terminology
To fully understand this complex sport, you’ll definitely need to know the lingo. Here are some terms that are useful for any curler
- Stone or Rock- the rock used to play the game
- Draw Weight- enough weight for the stone to go into the house
- Draw (ie. first draw)- game
- End- a round of curling, generally when all stones are shot down to one end of the ice
- Bonspiel- a curling competition
- Spiel- short for bonspiel
- “Slow” Ice- when the stone moves slower than usual across the ice
- “Fast” Ice- when the stone moves faster than usual across the ice
- Takeout Weight- generally used to take another stone out, although this weight can sometimes be used for promotions
- Promote- to bump a stone slightly further back
- Guard Weight- used to put up “guards” for stones that are in the house, generally before the house
- House- the target at the end of the ice
- Pebble- little beads of water frozen onto the ice to help the stone curl
- Spin or Curl- how a stone turns across the ice
- Hog Line- the line you must release the stone by and also the line a stone must cross to be in play
- Tee Line- the horizontal line that passed through the center of the house
- Hack- the foothold that you push out from to release the stone
- Weight- how heavy the stone is pushed
- Yes! or Hard!- generally shouted by the person calling the shots to tell the sweepers to sweep
- Woah! or Never!- generally shouted by the person calling the shots to tell the sweepers not to sweep
- Broomstacking- a common curling tradition during which the curlers stack their brooms and the winning team buys the losing team drinks
- Lead- the first person to throw two rocks, sweeps for the other curlers
- Second- the second person to throw two rocks, sweeps for other curlers
- Vice (Vice Skip)- third person to throw two rocks, sweeps for front end and calls shots for skip
- Skip- final person to throw two rocks, calls shots for other curlers
- Front End- referring to the Lead and Second
- Sheet- refers to the sheet of ice played on during curling
- Half Sheet- refers to half of the sheet of ice played on during curling, usually for people who are just starting the sport
- Line- how the stone is coming towards the house depending on where the broom is held
- 8 Ender- when a team finishes an end with all 8 stones not only in the house, but scoring
- Biting- when a stone is just barely in the house
- Wick Off- when a stone hits the side of another stone in its path
- Lazy Handle- when the stone is curling extremely slowly
- No Handle- when no spin is put on the stone
- Reverse Handle- when the spin of the stone is opposite of what the skip called for
- Extra End- when the score is tied and the teams must play a tiebreaker round
- Hog It- said when the stone doesn’t make it past the far hog line
- Sit On the Rock- when your stone stops directly in front of another stone
- Double- when your stone takes out two other stones
- Blow Up The House- when your stone takes out all other stones in the house, generally thrown very hard
- Blanking an End- when neither team scores any points in an end
- Ailsa Craig- island in Scotland that supplies the waterproof granite of curling stones
- Burning a Rock- occurs when a player touches a rock as it travels down the ice
Rules
The rules of curling seem complicated, but in reality they are more simple than people would think.
- Each team generally has four people, but the rules for most bonspiels state that each team must have at least three players.
- The five rock free guard zone: the five rock free guard zone rule simply states that guards may only be taken out after five rocks have been thrown. That means that if a team wants to take out a guard, they must wait until the sixth rock of the game or later has been thrown. If a guard is taken out illegally, the guard is replaced and the rock that took it out is removed.
- A skip or a vice skip may sweep an opponent’s stone out the back of the house, but only after the tee line. Additionally, only one person per team may sweep stones past the tee line.
- No releasing stones past the near hog line.
- If a stone doesn’t make it past the far hog line, it is out of play.
- Curlers must be respectful at all times.
- If a game is tied and the end is supposed to over, there are a few ways to resolve the tie. Teams either play another end or throw skips’ stones.
- Skips’ stones: Each skip throws one stone. The stones are measured and whoever’s stone was closer to the button wins. This is sometimes done in the beginning of a bonspiel to tell ahead of time how a tie may be resolved.
Strategies
Curling is a game of strategy, so you'll need to know what to do in certain situations. For example, if there's a guard, you can choose to draw around it, place another guard, take it out, or choose somewhere else to place your stone. If the other team has a stone in the house, you could guard it (although that wouldn't be a good idea), you could draw around it, you could take it out, or you could ignore it. Curling is a game where you have to think ahead, and strategy is a big component.
What You'll Need
To play curling, some specific equipment is necessary. First and foremost, curling shoes are very important. Curling shoes are special shoes with a sliding sole on the non dominant foot and a gripping sole on the dominant foot. Along with the curling shoes, a gripper is used to put over your sliding foot and make sure you don’t slip when you’re not throwing your stone. You’ll also need a broom for stabilization, sweeping, and if you’re a skip or vice, calling shots. Additionally, you may need a flexible pair of gloves so that your hands don’t get cold. You may also want some things that weren’t mentioned on the list, like a stabilizer or a padded hat or helmet, but that’s up to you.
Bonspiel 101
In curling language, bonspiels are simply competitions. There are two basic ways of playing bonspiels; round robin where each team plays the others at least once or tournament style where the winners advance. Teams are either all together or put in divisions. Bonspiels are generally multi day and when you and your team sign up ahead of time, you don’t even know who you’re playing until registration has closed. Once registration closes, you find out when and who you play and also who the other teams are. There are bonspiels for all levels of curling, from junior to adult. I personally have participated in the Potomac Junior Bonspiel (Potomac Curling Club), the Plainfield Junior Bonspiel (Plainfield Curling Club), the Philadelphia Junior Bonspiel (Philadelphia Curling Club), The Nutmeg Neon Junior Bonspiel (Nutmeg Curling Club), and the Schenectady Green Junior Bonspiel (Schenectady Curling Club). I prefer round robin style, but all of the bonspiels I’ve played have been incredibly fun.