Olympic curling has take to the ice , but if you ’re like most Americans , this author included , the secret plan is a act baffling . Here ’s a quick , stripped - down flat coat on everyone ’s favourite frigid alternative to shovelboard . It does n’t cover anywhere near all of the game ’s nuances , but it should give you enough information that you may enjoy keep an eye on an end or two . ( And yes , you ’ll learn what an " end" is . )
WHAT’S THE OBJECT OF CURLING?
Good question . First , permit ’s get a bit of the jargon down . The playing airfoil in curling is called " the sheet . “ plane dimensions can alter , but they ’re normally around 150 feet long by about 15 feet broad . The tabloid is covered with bantam droplets of water that become frappe and stimulate the stones to " curl,“ or diverge from a straight path . These water droplets are known as " pebble . “
At each remainder there ’s a objective that looks like a big bullseye . These targets are have intercourse as " the houses . “ The center of the house is cognize as the " push . “ essentially , the object of the biz is to get your stone closer to the release than the other team buzz off theirs .
WHAT’S WITH THE SWEEPING?
commemorate how we talked about the pebble of ice droplet that the stone has to travel across ? When the stone touch the pebble , there ’s friction , which can slow down down the stone and stimulate it curl away from its square path to the house .
Obviously , that friction is not always a upright thing , but sweeping help combat the problem . The sweeping motion raises the temperature of the ice by a degree or two , which diminish the friction between the pebble and the stone and keeps the stone moving in a square ancestry .
WHAT ABOUT ALL THE YELLING?
Each curling team has four members : a atomic number 82 , a second , a frailty - skip ( or third ) , and a skip . Each " end" ( curling ’s equivalent of a baseball game inning ) involves both team shooting ( or " delivering" ) eight stones at the house , with players delivering two Stone for each one .
When the jumper cable , second , and frailty are delivering their Stone , the skip stands at the polar end of the mainsheet ( near the house ) and uses his broom to give his teammates a objective for their deliveries . Once the stone has been delivered and is a " running stone" ( that is , one that ’s still sliding ) , the skip then yells to the sweepers to allow them make out when to sweep up and how heavily . When the omission sprout the last two Stone of a squad ’s end , the frailty take over call the shots .
HOW DO YOU KEEP SCORE?
In each death , both teams post eight pit down the sheet of paper . Once all 16 gemstone have been delivered , the squad with the Oliver Stone that ’s tight to the button ( sum of the house ) effectively " wins" the end . Only this team will take in any dot for the goal . It get a level for each of its stones that are in the mansion and near to the button than the other team ’s closest stone . Since the team that won the end always has at least one rock that ’s faithful to the clitoris than their resister , the squad always scores at least one point , and could score up to eight points .
If neither team manages to keep a rock in the menage during an end , it ’s known as a " blank end,“ and no points are scored . Olympic kink equal last for 10 destruction unless there is a tie , in which subject it pass to spare - end , curl ’s equivalent of extra time .
WHAT’S THE HAMMER?
As you might have guessed from reading about the marking system , throw the last Harlan Fisk Stone of an end is a huge reward . If you ’ve get the last stone , you may always seek to knock the other team ’s best stone away from the clitoris . If a team check the last Harlan Fiske Stone for an terminal , it " has the hammer,“ and should in all probability be capable to score some power point . If the squad without the hammer manages to somehow stymie their opposition and score point , it ’s call a " steal end . “ Whichever team flush it to score point in an end gets the hammer for the next oddment .
SO IS THERE STRATEGY INVOLVED?
Yes , there ’s all sort of scheme in curl . Let ’s say your squad does n’t have the malleus . You ’re at a Brobdingnagian disadvantage when it comes to scoring points , so you might prefer to act defensively . To do that , you might just deliver a number of " guards,“ or rocks that will sit in front of the theater and allow an obstruction for the other squad ’s rock . or else , guard can be used to maintain your stones that are already in the house from being knock out by the other squad ’s " takeout" shots .
The third major type of curling shot is the " draw,“ a barb that ’s meant to avoid other stones and fall to rest in the house . by and large , a drawing card is used with the hope of grading points , a guard is thrown to protect the house or a stone that ’s already been thrown , and a takeout is used defensively .
MAY I SEE A CLIP?
Yes you may .
This post was originally published in 2010 .
