Unusual Sports: Curling

Curling is one of the "modern" sports. In the year 1924 on first Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix was curling present at first how supplemental sport, but then it is acknowledgement how official discipline. Even thought curling reinvented again till the year 1998 in Nagano.

History of curling - The game is thought to have been invented in late medieval Scotland. Approximetely in the early sixteenth century as evidenced by a curling stone inscribed with the date 1511, uncovered along with another bearing the date 1551, when an old pond was drained at Dunblane, Scotland. Kilsyth Curling Club claims to be the first club in the world, having been formally constituted in 1716 and it still in existence today

In the early history of curling, the rocks were simply flat-bottomed river stones that were sometimes notched or shaped; the thrower had little control over the rock, and relied more on luck than skill to win, unlike today's reliance on skill and strategy. Outdoor curling was very popular in Scotland between the sixteenth and the nineteenth centuries as the climate provided good ice conditions every winter.

Scotland is home to the international governing body for curling, the World Curling Federation, which originated as a committee of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, the mother club of curling. Today the game is most firmly established in Canada, having been taken there by Scottish emigrants. The Royal Montreal Curling Club, the oldest active athletic club of any kind in North America, was established in 1807. The first curling club in the United States began in 1830, and the game was introduced to Switzerland and Sweden before the end of the nineteenth century, also by Scots.

The first world curling championship in the sport was limited to men and was known as the "Scotch Cup" held in Falkirk and Edinburgh in Scotland, in 1959. The first world title was won by the Canadian team from Regina, Saskatchewan, skipped by Ernie Richardson. (Skip - the player who calls the shots and traditionally throws the last two rocks. Typically the best player on the team. As a verb, to "skip" means to lead one's rink).

Today is curling played all over Europe and has spread to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and even the People's Republic of China and Korea.

Playing surface - The curling sheet, by World Curling Federation standards, is an area of ice 146 feet (45.50 m) in length by 14 feet 2 inches (4.32 m) to 16 feet 5 inches (5.00 m) in width,[2] carefully prepared to be as close to level as possible. The ice is most often artificially refrigerated by means of a refrigeration plant. The ice plant cools a brine solution, which runs lengthwise in numerous pipes under the curling sheet. A key part of the preparation of the playing surface is the spraying of water droplets onto the level ice. These water droplets are called pebble. Due to the friction between the stone and pebble, the stone turns to the inside or outside, causing the stone to 'curl'. The amount of curl can change during a game as the pebble wears. The surface of the ice is maintained at a temperature near 23°F (−5°C).

Graphical depiction of a curling sheet. The blue lines are the hog lines, and the tee lines run through each of the targets (the houses).

Players - Curling is played between two teams of four curlers each, with team members named for the usual order in which they play. The lead plays first, then the second, the third (or mate or vice), and finally the fourth; the fourth is typically the skip (team captain) but not always. For example, Canadian skips Randy Ferbey and Russ Howard throw third and second respectively. The position at which the skip (team captain) throws will be renamed with skip. For example, Randy Ferbey's team will be lead, second, skip, fourth, while Russ Howard's 2006 Olympic team will be lead, skip, third, fourth.

Lead - The lead, or first, throws the team's first two stones of an end (round of play), and sweeps for the other team members. Strategically, the lead usually has similar shots from end to end, usually throwing guards or draws.

Second - The Second throws the team's third and fourth stones and sweeps for all other players. The Second's role when shooting is often to remove opposition stones in front of the house, as his or her shots signify the end of the free guard zone.

Third - Also called the vice-skip, vice or mate, the third throws the team's fifth and sixth stones, and usually sweeps for the second and the lead. The third usually assists the skip in his or her duties. When it is the skip's turn to throw, it is usually the third who holds the broom for the skip.

Skip - The skip is the captain of the team and determines strategy. Based on the strategy, the skip holds the broom indicating where the player throwing must aim ("calling the shot"). When it is the skip's turn to throw, the vice-skip (usually the third) holds the broom. The skip usually throws the last two rocks of the end, however some teams have the skip throwing in other positions.

Fourth - The "fourth" refers to the thrower of the last two stones in each end for a team if that player is not the skip. That is, if the skip does not play last rocks in each end, the last player to throw is known as Fourth.

Team naming - Except in international or some national and provincial events in Canada and the United States, a team will usually be identified by the last name of the skip. For example, Cassandra Potter's foursome is known as "Team Potter," unless they are representing the United States in the World Championships or the Olympics, in which case they would be known as "Team USA".Gender of players - Teams either comprise four men (a men's team) or four women (a women's team), or two men and two women(a mixed team) as either a man skipping and a man playing second, or a man vicing and a man playing lead. There are world championships contested in men's and women's curling, but not for mixed curling. Canada organizes a mixed national championship that is held early in the season. Most individual clubs that offer mixed leagues for members use them as recreational events, but there are also very competitive mixed teams who aim for high-level tournaments and cashspiels.

Equipment - Curling shoes: The slider shoe (center), with its thin Teflon surface, is worn during delivery to slide on the ice; a slip-on gripper (left) is worn over the slider at other times; the other shoe (right) has a rough surface to give traction on the ice.

When curling, players need to wear specially designed shoes. The sole of one shoe has a thin strip of Teflon or another type of smooth surface, called a slider.

Broom (brush) - The curling broom is used to sweep the ice surface in front of the rock. Aggressive sweeping momentarily melts the ice, which lessens friction, thereby lessening the deceleration of the rock, while straightening the trajectory of the rock. The broom can also be used to clean debris off the ice, although this is often done in vain. The skip will also hold a broom at the opposite end of the rink from the delivering player as a target for the deliverer to aim the rock.

The curling stone or rock is made out of granite.

Curling stone (rock) - The curling stone, or rock, weighs a maximum of 44 lb (20 kg). It has a maximum allowable circumference of 36 inches (0.9 m). A stone may be a maximum of 4.5 inches (11.43 cm) in height not including the handle. The handle is attached to the stone by means of a bolt, which runs vertically through a hole in the center of the stone. The handles are coloured to differentiate the rocks belonging to each team. Two popular colours in major tournaments are red and yellow. However, the most common club rock colours are red and blue, although often they will be the "club colours".

Special needs in curling - Curling has been adapted for wheelchair users and people otherwise unable to throw the rock from the hack. These curlers may use a special device known as a "curler's cue" or "delivery stick". The cue holds on to the handle of the stone and is then pushed along by the curler. At the end of delivery, the curler pulls back on the cue, which releases it from the stone.

Last rock (the "Hammer") - Last rock advantage in an end is called the hammer. Before the game, teams typically decide who gets the hammer in the first end by coin toss or similar method. (In tournaments, this is typically assigned, giving every team the first-end hammer in half their games.) In all subsequent ends, the hammer belongs to the team that did not score in the preceding end. In the event that neither team scores, the hammer remains with the same team. Naturally, it is easier to score points with the hammer than without; in tournament play, the team with the hammer generally tries to score two or more points. If only one point is possible, the skip will often try to avoid scoring at all in order to retain the hammer until the next end, when two or more points may be possible. This is called a blank end. Scoring without the hammer is commonly referred to as stealing, or a steal, and is much more difficult.

Scoring - The score is marked on a scoreboard, of which there are two types. One is the baseball type scoreboard, which is usually used for televised games. On this scoreboard the ends are marked by columns 1 through 10 (or 11 for the possibility of an extra end to break ties) plus an additional column for the total. Below this are two rows — one for each team. The number of points each team gets in an end is marked this way.

The other form of scoreboard is the one used in most curling clubs. It is set up in the same way, except the numbered row indicates a team's progress in scoring points rather than marking ends, and it can be found between the rows for the team. The numbers placed are indicative of the end. If the red team scores 3 points in the first end (called a three-ender), then a one (indicating the first end) is placed beside the number three in the red row.

Linky:

wikipédia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curling