You’ve probably seen curling at the Winter Olympics: People slide heavy stones across ice, as teammates sweep the way toward a target. It’s like bowling mixed with bocce, only on ice. To learn the basics, we took a Learn to Curl class at the St. Louis Curling Club, where the sport is more than a quadrennial curiosity. “Curling is a game where sportsmanship is emphasized above all else,” says club member Darel Shelton. “It typically ends with the winning team buying the losing team a drink.”
• Each team has four curlers, the first (or lead), second, third (or vice-skip), and skip, who calls the shots and throws last.
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• The hack is the launch pad from which the stone is thrown, like a starting block in running.
• The button is the bull’s-eye at the center of the house, which is a set of concentric circles.
• The sheet is longer than you might think, roughly 150 feet from hack to house. It takes quite a bit of thrust to send the stone to the button.
• The game is divided into ends, like innings. Only one team can score in an end, during which each team throws eight stones.
• Whichever team has a stone closest to the button wins the end; it scores one point for each stone that’s closer than the opponent’s nearest stone. So if two red stones are closer to the button than the nearest yellow one is, red scores two.
• While one curler delivers, two teammates sweep in front of the stone. The skip stands near the house, giving instructions.
• The final throw of an end is called the hammer.
• The winning team is the one with the most points after a set number of ends, usually eight.
• The stones, or rocks, each weigh around 30 pounds.
• Modern brooms are fiberglass shafts with pads of fabric on the end. Sweeping in front of the stone turns frost into vapor, which slickens the surface and lets the rock slide further.
• For a left-handed curler, the left shoe, or gripper, provides traction on the ice, while the right is a slider, with a slick Teflon sole. For the delivery of the stone, a left-handed curler puts his left foot in the hack. He crouches down into a squat, grabbing the stone with his left hand and holding a broom in the other hand for balance. He slides his right foot forward gently, then straightens his legs to lift himself. In a fluid rocking motion, he launches his body, leading with his right foot and pushing with his left foot into a lunging position. The curler finishes with his right leg in front, the knee bent at a tight angle, and his left leg extended behind him.
• The stone is thrown with spin, the motion that gives curling its name. The curler starts with the handle turned to a 10 o’clock or 2 o’clock position, depending on the skip’s instructions, then gently rotates it to 12 o’clock upon release.
Sign up: Learn to Curl classes are scheduled for January 10 and 24. Leagues begin January 10.
