Curling

I

Introduction

Curling, winter sport in which players slide heavy granite stones down a sheet of ice at a circular target area. As the stone slides, teammates can sweep the ice in its path with brooms or brushes. This warms the ice a little, reducing friction and causing the stone to slide farther and straighter. Curling appears to be a simple game, but to master it players must learn complex strategies.

Curling matches, called bonspiels, are played between two teams of four players each. The game is most popular in Canada, where more than 1 million people participate. In more than 30 other countries, an estimated total of 100,000 curlers play the sport.

The origin of the term curling is unclear, but some people believe that it derives from the Scottish term curr, which means “to make a low or hoarse murmuring sound.” As the stone slides down the ice, it makes a rumbling sound. The name also may come from the fact that players release their throws so that the stones curl slightly to the right or left as they slide down the ice.

II

Playing Area

Curling originated as an outdoor game played on frozen lakes and rivers, but today it is played almost exclusively indoors at curling clubs or ice rinks built specifically for the sport. A typical North American club has six to eight playing areas. These playing areas are long and narrow sheets of ice. The club may also include locker rooms, a restaurant, and a viewing area that overlooks the ice.

---

---

A sheet of curling ice is 146 ft (44.5 m) long and 14 ft (4.3 m) wide. Embedded in the ice 4 ft (1.2 m) from the sheet’s end is a foothold called a hack. Each end of the sheet also has a circle 12 ft (3.7 m) in diameter, called the house. The house has three concentric scoring rings of different colors. The center of each circle, called the tee, is 12 ft (3.7 m) from the hack.

Players begin their throws by pushing off from the hack and gliding along with the stone as it slides down the ice. A line called the hog line, 33 ft (10.1 m) down the ice from the hack, marks how far players can glide before releasing the stone. Once released, the stone must pass beyond the hog line at the other end of the ice to remain in play. It also cannot pass beyond the back line directly behind the house at the other end of the ice, or hit the short side walls that serve as sidelines for the playing area. The side walls prevent stones from sliding onto neighboring sheets of ice.

III

Equipment

The curling stone is the game’s most important piece of equipment. The stone is a disk-shaped granite rock, which is 42 lb (19 kg). It has a handle attached to its top side. The bottom side is concave (curving inward), so that only a thin rim of rock is in contact with the ice. Nearly all of the curling stones in use in the world are manufactured in Scotland from rock quarried in Scotland or Wales.

Curlers wear special shoes. One shoe has a rubber sole to grip the ice, while the other has a low-resistance material such as Teflon covering the sole. This allows the curler to slide on the ice when necessary.

Curlers sweep the ice in front of a teammate’s throw with a broom or brush. Players originally used brooms made with stiff corn fibers—similar to common household brooms. However, long-handled brushes have largely replaced brooms because they sweep more effectively. The brush head is usually made of hog hair, horse hair, or a nylon synthetic. Many curlers use a pair of gloves to keep their hands warm while sweeping.

IV

Rules

A curling game consists of ten segments, called ends. During an end, each player on each team slides two stones from one end of the ice to the other. The teams play from the same end of the ice, and a coin flip determines which team throws first in the first end that is played.

The players alternate throwing, between teams. The order in which players throw is determined by their positions. The lead throws first, followed by the second. The third, also called the vice skip, then throws. The skip, who usually serves as the team captain, throws last. When all throws have been completed, the teams move to the other end of the ice and begin a new end from there.

During the other players’ throws, the skip directs the strategy of the game by standing in the house at the far end of the ice and indicating with a broom or brush where the stones should be delivered. The other players then aim for that spot, allowing for the curl of the stone as it travels down the ice. When the skip throws, the third indicates where the stone should go. During a throw, teammates run or slide down the ice in front of the stone as it travels. They are allowed to brush the ice in the stone’s path with their brooms or brushes, but if they touch the stone with their brushes, it is removed from play.

Players aim their stones close to the tee, or they attempt to knock the opposing team's stones away from the tee. The object of the game is to complete each end with as many stones as possible closer to the tee than any of the opponent’s stones. Stones must be in the house to count. Curling games have no referees, and the house’s colored scoring rings help players judge which stones are closer to the center.

Only one team can score in each end, and one point is given for each stone that is closer to the tee than the other team's nearest stone. In most matches, only a few stones remain in play after the final throw. For example, if most of the stones have been knocked out of play during the end, only four stones may remain in the house after all throws have been made. If one team has two stones closest to the center, and the other team has one stone farther out, and the first team has one more stone even farther out, the first team is awarded two points. The points come from the two stones that are closer to the tee than the opponent’s nearest one.

The team that scores in one end throws first in the next end. The team with the most total points after ten ends wins. Ties are broken by playing an extra end. A team can concede a match if it believes it is too far behind in points to catch up.

	More from Encarta
	•  7 tips for funding an online degree •  How to succeed in the fashion industry without being a top designer •  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain