Curling has been described as chess on ice,
but with more shouting!
Think Wall Street traders... ..but more slippery.
One of the world's oldest team sports, curling,
originated in the 16th century in Scotland,
where games were played on frozen ponds and lochs.
Scottish immigrants brought the game to Canada
in the 18th century, where curling fever
quickly swept the nation.
(BURNING QUESTIONS WINTER GAMES EDITION)
(WHY SO MUCH SHOUTING IN CURLING?)
Today, one million Canadians play regularly
with millions more watching major tournaments,
or bonspiels, on television.
To the casual observer, it may look like
it requires little skill apart from
Herculean sweeping ability.
But, in reality, curling is one the
most tactical, intricate sports around.
What is really going on between the sheets -
that's actually what they call the playing surface,
I'm not being weird - and how do you know your
back line from your biter?
Here's how the magic happens.
Teams of four all play sliding a 20kg stone from one end
of the sheet to the other.
20kg, that's like 1,000 pieces of sushi
or 6,400 teabags, if you're from the UK.
Scoring is simple - you get a point with
each stone closer to the bull's-eye or bottom
than any of the other teams' stones.
Kind of like bowls, but on ice and without old people.
By the way, did you know that almost all curling stones
come from an island off the coast of Ayrshire in Scotland
called Ailsa Craig?
The 240-acre craig is home to the blue-honed granite,
which is used in the stones.
So far, so simple, right?
Now... the strategy comes in.
There are three main types of shot -
guards, draws and takeouts.
Guards block the house, or scoring zone.
Draws are designed to get around the guards
and land in the house, often using physics-defying
curling moves.
Takeouts are hard shots that knock
the other stones out of play.
Teams have to plot how to get their stones into the house
while maintaining a line of defence
so the other team can't pull off a takeout.
And they say chess is hard!
I mean, to be fair, I find snap hard.
To guide the stones across the ice, curlers use brooms.
But these are no ordinary brooms.
They're made from fibreglass or carbon fibre
and a hollow to allow for faster sweeping.
Ow!
Sorry!
I thought he was still there.
Curling is a vocal sport because the captains
have to shout instructions to their sweepers
as they help the stone travel.
While it all might seem like white noise,
there are, in fact, some specific commands the
skippers employ.
If you've ever wondered what they're actually saying,
fear not.
Just for you, we have put together
the Burning Questions Curling Glossary.
Let's start with the basics.
"Hurry!" - this means sweep as fast as you can.
"Hurry hard!" - sweep as fast as you can
with downward pressure.
Yeah, got it?
"Clean!" - not, no, go clean your room,
but an instruction to keep the broom down on the ice
without much pressure to clear away
anything that could disrupt the momentum of the stone.
And finally...
"Die!"
If you hear the skipper shout this, do not panic.
They're not challenging the other team
to a fight to the death.
It simply means they want the sweepers
to stop sweeping a rock.
Clear?
The good news is, while it is extremely skilled,
curlers come in all shapes, sizes, and ages,
so who knows?
Maybe it's not too late for me.
Die!
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