Curling is an Olympic sport in which two teams of four
players slide heavy granite stones along a length of ice calling a curling
sheet towards a painted, circular target called the house. The house, which
resembles a bullseye, has a center called the button. Points are awarded to the
team whose stones rest closest to the buttons of the houses at each end of the ice.
In curling, a round of play (an "end") is complete when the curlers on both
teams have played ("thrown") all of their stones.
Throwing a curling stone requires a player to wear special
shoes and demonstrate both considerable balance and leg strength. The thrower's
gripper shoe, which has a non-slippery sole, is positioned in a hack, a metal
or wooden plate from which the curler can push-off. The curler's other shoe, which has a slippery
surface, helps the player to slide forward while the forward knee is bent and
the rear leg is extended behind the body.
The thrower maintains control of the stone by gripping its
handle, but must release the rock before reaching a painted boundary called the
hog line. Before releasing the stone, however, the thrower imparts a slight
clockwise or counter-clockwise turn. Players with special curling brooms then
help guide the rock by sweeping the ice and accompanying it as it slides
forward. Strategy, teamwork – and, yes, science – are all part of a curling
team's success.
Meet Dion Warr
Last week, CR4's Steve Melito (Moose) interviewed Dion
Warr, Vice President of the Schenectady (N.Y.) Curling Club, about the science
behind this Olympic sport. "It's a tough game," Warr explained. "I would
compare it to golf. You may pick it up and love it without ever being very good
at it." Upstate New York's
love of the game trumps the sport's difficulty, however, especially if the
recent success of the Schenectady Curling Club's Open House is any guide.
The granite curling stones that Warr uses are rounded and weigh
42 pounds. They have a relatively small running surface, however, so only a
small part of the curling stone comes in contact with the ice. According to
Warr, the bottom of a stone measures just 4 inches in diameter and is 1/2-inch wide. This
small surface area "means more fun", but it also requires "more finesse" - especially
when curlers sweep the ice.
Unlike the ice used in figure skating and hockey, a curling
sheet isn't smooth. Rather, curling ice is prepared by depositing droplets of
water in a process called "pebble". As Warr explains, a person equipped with "what
looks like a backpack full of water with a showerhead upside down" serves as a
type of anti-Zamboni, creating a bumpy surface on the ice. Riding along these
ridges, a curling stone with a small surface area can be moved with relatively minimal
effort. "Otherwise, the friction would be so great you couldn't get it down the
ice".
Editor's Note: Click here for Part 2 of this two-part series.
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Re: The Science of Curling (Part 1)
