They are used to control the motion of the rock - the granite stone that is 'thrown' down the ice surface. A game of curling is not played on smooth ice, as used for skating, but a pebbled surface. The ice surface is first cleaned and smoothed, then a fine spray of water droplets is sprayed over the ice. The droplets freeze to the ice surface, producing a slightly rough or 'pebbled' surface. The stone is thrown with a slight rotation either clockwise or counter-clockwise depending on the path the skip decides it should take - the name 'curling' refers to the curl of the stone as it slides down the ice. Stones are usually made of granite and are highly polished. The underside of the stone is machined slightly concave, which produces a fairly sharp edge where it contacts the ice. As the games progresses and the pebbling is worn away, the ice becomes faster and the stones curl less. Brooms are used to sweep the ice in front of the stone to affect its motion. Hard sweeping makes the stone carry further and reduces the amount it curls. Light sweeping does the same, but to a lesser extent. The sweeping action causes the ice to melt slightly, producing a thin film of water on the surface of the ice. This reduces the friction of the stone, as it does not cut into the ice as much. Sweeping with the old corn brooms hard enough to make a loud slapping sound took a a fair effort on the part of the sweeper. Some brooms would have a strip of leather inside to make them more effective. Older curlers would use brushes, because they required less effort to sweep. However, brushes have replaced the brooms almost completely over the past couple of decades
Yep, I get sucked into it every four years. It was so bad during the last Olympics that I tried to get a club organized at our rink (I need another excuse of a sport to drink beer). That lasted until I found out that a basic set of stones cost about 10K.
Make it go faster, and straighter. As the stone slows down it starts to curl. So there is a fine line between speed and curl that they are trying to get. That is why the "weight" of the throw is so important too. If you start wrong, it is hard to get it back right
Watching the curling girls in tight pants is okay. Some of you are pushing the "you know how I know you're gay" envelope.
Any of you clowns that watch this crap then claim not to watch NASCAR, well, I'm not prepared to call you liars, but yer hide'n somthun. Liars. (now I'm prepared.)
I watch NASCAR and I am not afraid to admit it. Well, at least until I fall asleep. My wife comes down stairs at some point and asks "Were you taking a NASCAR nap?"
Anyone see tonight's match of USA vs Denmark who were wearing pleated skirts? Just keeps getting better...
Curling rocks! It is the ONLY Olympic sport that my whole family watches with bated breath, and nobody in our families have EVER been to a curling match or ever even known anybody who does curling competitively. Odd... We make a little homemade curling stone from a plastic container of pennies and have matches on the kitchen floor. Pretty pathetic, but I cherish the time spent laughing with my college-age kids as we always go totally out of control with the stone. Go USA Mens Curling Team!
My head shipper broke his leg curling and the skip of our company curling team fell and separated his shoulder last month. It's worse than roadracing! Plus they serve beer while you play in non olympic events.
