1 of 4

Write now Article Tools

During the long winter months here in Canada or in other country that experiences a deep freeze, you'll find numerous sports enthusiasts engaging in a simple but strategic game called Curling. The premise of the game is simple - there is a target at the far end of the playing rink where teams push a number of round rocks towards. The team's Curling rocks that are the closest to the center of the target score 1 point each. This may sound simple, but there is a lot of strategy involved in order to play the game effectively - even if the game is for fun.

Curling is played on a sheet of ice that is approximately 150 feet in length. There are two targets painted at both ends of the rink. They are comprised of 3 concentric circles (one blue ring, one white ring, and one red ring with a white circle in the center.) This target is known in Curling as 'the house.' The rink also has two boundary lines after the first target where the Curling rocks are thrown and before the rocks reach the house on the opposing side. This line is known as the hog line.

The hog line is an important boundary for the team that is playing their Curling rock towards the house. The Curler who is throwing the rock down the length of the ice may gather as much momentum as he/she can pushing forward from foot blocks at the edge of the rink known as a 'hack.' The player must release the rock prior to reaching the hog line in order to avoid a penalty and the rock being disqualified from play.

Once it is released, players on the same team may sweep the ice in front of the rock to brush away any possible debris or to create friction and melt the ice slightly to improve its speed. You will find the rock thrower yelling for more pressure to be applied to the sweeping or less pressure based on his/her timing and judgment of the speed of the rock. Other factors influence the speed and movement of the rock being thrown. Each rock has a handle which can be turned slightly to initiate centrifugal movement while it moves forward on the ice. This spinning causes the rock to 'curl' depending on the speed of the throw and the strength of the spin. This allows rocks to squeeze past opponent's rocks that have been set up in guard positions or carom off of placed stones and create additional momentum to carry the thrown stone into a better position. These physics based effects are similar to strategies employed in billiards.

The goal is to have the rock that is closest to the center of the house as possible. On a

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about The joys of curling?
We want to hear your view. Write now!