Any of you guys ever play that euro game with the sliding weights and the broom guys?

[Lancer]

Why the brooms? If the guy wanted it to go further why not just slide it harder?

I slid one weight in Switzerland but missed terribly.

[Snotty]

Curling? like on ice you mean

The sweeping makes it go straighter when the stone needs it iirc

[Elok]

I thought it was called "curling" because they swept one side of the ice more than the other to make the weight curl to a halt or something?

[Proteus_MST]

Originally posted by Snotty
Curling? like on ice you mean

The sweeping makes it go straighter when the stone needs it iirc

I think it makes the Stone go farther, as the wiping melts a little bit of the ice, producing a small sheet of water, thereby minimizing the friction.
Dunno, but I think therefore the wipers could also control the trajectory of the stone up to a certain amount, for example by wiping one side more intensive than the other (or by stopping the wiping in time, so that the stone decelerates and stops at the right place)

[Chemical Ollie]

This thread is so 6 months ago... The Winter Olympics is over! And the Swedish ladies won Gold! Nice tits too!

[Lancer]

Change the stone's direction...I don't think I buy that. Speed & distance, maybe. The question remains though, why not just slide it harder?

"The Winter Olympics is over! And the Swedish ladies won Gold! Nice tits too!"

Blonds with brooms? I don't think so. Or maybe they hired some Mexicans to do the sweeping?

[Chemical Ollie]

The Swedish ladies didn't need any Mexican brooms! The Canadian men won gold too. But they used their own sticks.

[Zkribbler]

I thought by sweeping (or not sweeping) you could better determine where the stone ended up, which is the object of the game--like shuffleboard. --But what do I know?

[Zkribbler]

BTW: The answer to your question is No. All that sweeping looks too much like housework.

[SpencerH]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
I thought by sweeping (or not sweeping) you could better determine where the stone ended up, which is the object of the game--like shuffleboard. --But what do I know?

Sweeping can alter the path of a curling stone (a stone moving on a curved path) since sweeping will tend to straighten the path of the stone. How effectively the sweeping can alter a path depends on a lot of factors though such as the conditions of the ice, the speed of the stone, how hard it's swept etc.

[Blaupanzer]

Incidentally, curling originated in Canada, a variation of a native American competition. I've seen it played up close, but haven't played. The direction of the stone can be altered by the sweeping.

[Kassiopeia]

Originally posted by Blaupanzer
Incidentally, curling originated in Canada, a variation of a native American competition. I've seen it played up close, but haven't played. The direction of the stone can be altered by the sweeping.

Umm, curling is from Scotland, or possibly the Netherlands.

[Harovan]

The sweeping creates a thin film of water, on which the stone slides better (with less friction) than on the naked ice (on which the stone would have to create the film itself by its weight and friction). This way the player can influence the speed of the stone, or rather the amount of its slowing down. If the player stops sweeping, the friction begins to lessen the speed of the stone, so that it can come to a standstill at the place of its destination.

I'm not sure whether the sweeping can alter the direction. Perhaps a small amout, by one sided sweeping, while the other half of the stone glides over naked ice.

[Peter Triggs]

Curling's Scottish origins can be deduced from this still of Leslie Nielson in that Great Canadian Tribute to Curling Movie, "Men with Brooms":

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
I thought by sweeping (or not sweeping) you could better determine where the stone ended up, which is the object of the game--like shuffleboard. --But what do I know?

You are largely correct.

Sweeping a stone makes it go further and straighter. If a stone is thrown "perfectly", it would not need to be swept at all , but no one has the skills to consistently throw that precisely

Since a swept stone would travel up to 20 feet further than an unswept one that was thrown exactly the same, the best curlers try to judge things so that they are a little short and the sweepers effort makes the rock end up where you want. It is always a judgement thing though since the sweeping needed to get a rock as deep as you want may mean that it curls over less.

Oh and the curl is imparted by the gentle spin you imparton delivery. Even someone new can MAKE the rock curl quite easily. The skill is in not throwing the rock too hard.


If you throw it too hard, there is nothing the sweepers can do to slow the rock down. Oh nand it requires a very gentle touch. The difference in a rock that is way short and way long is very tough to guage