Physics of Curling

[Speedskater]

I never could understand why a Curling Stone weighs 3 Stone.

 

[attempt5001]

Thanks all. Those are very helpful resources and references. Definitely some more complexity in the mechanisms there than I initially considered. I still feel like if the stone encountered increased friction on the inside edge, it would cause the stone to "dig in" and curl that way. I'm not sure if sweeping the outside edge to reduce friction there would have the same effect, but I'm going to try it out this weekend and see if I can observe any reproducible effect with a few dozen replicates. (Feel like the experts must have tried this already though).

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Just as an aside.

Today is Curling Day in Canada!

https://www.curlingdayincanada.ca/

 

[Steve]

I never could understand why a Curling Stone weighs 3 Stone.

Rocks are heavy.

 

[Myriad]

Having extensive experience with rotary floor polishing machines, I can say with authority that a heavy rotating horizontal disk interacting with a flat smooth surface while translating across said surface will always drift toward a supervisor's feet.

I think that explains all the shouting while each throw is in motion. The players are trying to adjust the course of the stone by acting bossy.

 

[attempt5001]

Just as an aside.

Today is Curling Day in Canada!

https://www.curlingdayincanada.ca/

Happy belated Curling Day in Canada. I celebrated by watching some of the Scotties with the young curlers in my household.

(for those who don't know, the "Scotties Tournament of Hearts" is the annual women's national curling championships in Canada, named after the long-time sponsor, which is a producer of paper products - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotties_Tournament_of_Hearts. The men's event, which starts next week is known as the Brier and is undergoing a re-branding following a shift in sponsorship from Tim Horton's to Montana's (both different sorts of restaurants). As with many Canadian sporting events, the early 80's brought about advertising laws that ended long-standing sponsorships with tobacco companies, and the beer sponsorships that largely followed are also becoming more rare these days).

 

[attempt5001]

Having extensive experience with rotary floor polishing machines, I can say with authority that a heavy rotating horizontal disk interacting with a flat smooth surface while translating across said surface will always drift toward a supervisor's feet.

I think that explains all the shouting while each throw is in motion. The players are trying to adjust the course of the stone by acting bossy.

That could be it. I've played with my daughters a few times and they always get a kick out of yelling at me to sweep harder as much as possible.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Happy belated Curling Day in Canada. I celebrated by watching some of the Scotties with the young curlers in my household.

(for those who don't know, the "Scotties Tournament of Hearts" is the annual women's national curling championships in Canada, named after the long-time sponsor, which is a producer of paper products - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotties_Tournament_of_Hearts. The men's event, which starts next week is known as the Brier and is undergoing a re-branding following a shift in sponsorship from Tim Horton's to Montana's (both different sorts of restaurants). As with many Canadian sporting events, the early 80's brought about advertising laws that ended long-standing sponsorships with tobacco companies, and the beer sponsorships that largely followed are also becoming more rare these days).

On a related note I just heard this morning on CBC Radio that Canadian curling great Jennifer Jones announces retirement from team curling

But, of course, she'll "continue curling in mixed doubles with her husband Brent Laing".

 

[Speedskater]

We don't see curling on US TV anymore. A couple of years ago, they shut-down the networks that carried Olympic type sports.

 

[PitPat]

And yet ESPN covers spelling bees, chess matches and even poker.

Curling is sort of interesting as a really long game of ice shuffleboard. What else do they have to do up there? Australian Rules Football went away too, I kind of miss those badass brutal matches at two in the morning.

 

[Steve]

And yet ESPN covers spelling bees, chess matches and even poker.

Curling is sort of interesting as a really long game of ice shuffleboard. What else do they have to do up there? Australian Rules Football went away too, I kind of miss those badass brutal matches at two in the morning.

Up where? Japan? USA? Italy? South Korea? Turkey? (All countries that have competed at recent world championships).

 

[attempt5001]

On a related note I just heard this morning on CBC Radio that Canadian curling great Jennifer Jones announces retirement from team curling

But, of course, she'll "continue curling in mixed doubles with her husband Brent Laing".

Yes, Jones is a curling great for sure. And as she was nearing the end of her career and her team was re-structuring, she took on a trio of promising young curlers and has helped mentor them for the last several years, resulting in appearances (and very close losses) in the last two Scotties finals. A very cool way to wind down a career in my opinion. Would have been neat to see her win this year, but since the winning team becomes team Canada for international competition for the year ahead, it would have left her team in a challenging position if she had carried through with her planned retirement.

She's been a great figure in Canadian curling for a long time and will be missed. Lots of emotional goodbyes between her and other long-time players throughout the tournament.

 

[attempt5001]

Up where? Japan? USA? Italy? South Korea? Turkey? (All countries that have competed at recent world championships).

Yeah, Canada used to be a gold medal favourite and podium shoe-in in almost every international curling competition, but no longer. The growth of the game (and our exporting of top-end coaches) have really leveled the playing field such that there are at least 6-10 countries with highly competitive teams at international events, especially on the women's side. Harder for my sense of national pride, but more entertaining as a sport for sure.

 

[Speedskater]

Fox Sports and ESPN/ABC still do minor sports.
Fox did a live pre-season Australian Rules Football game this morning.
But NBC has the rights to most Olympic type sports. They are only interested in:
a] sports that attract internet wagering advertisements.
b] main stream sports like swimming, track & field, gymnastics and figure skating.
c] sports that US competitors are doing well.

And when NBC does show a minor sport on its business channel or rerun channel it's often just a highlight show.

 

[attempt5001]

We get pretty good coverage here in Canada, which is nice for fans. Some decent on-line, free or inexpensive streaming of smaller events as well.

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

We get pretty good coverage here in Canada, which is nice for fans. Some decent on-line, free or inexpensive streaming of smaller events as well.

Amusingly, curling does better than our National Sumner Sport, lacrosse. But, obviously not as well as our true National Winter Sport.

A quick Google shows that the number of curlers in Canada approximates the number of those who play ice hockey. About 4.4% of the population (though the number of hockey players includes only hose over 15).

 

[pgwenthold]

Fox Sports and ESPN/ABC still do minor sports.
Fox did a live pre-season Australian Rules Football game this morning.
But NBC has the rights to most Olympic type sports. They are only interested in:
a] sports that attract internet wagering advertisements.
b] main stream sports like swimming, track & field, gymnastics and figure skating.
c] sports that US competitors are doing well.

And when NBC does show a minor sport on its business channel or rerun channel it's often just a highlight show.

One of the channels used to have "Curling Night in America" on Friday nights.

While I think there is a lot to like about curling from a competition standpoint (it's a wonderful mix of strategy and skill), I can see that it became ultimately repetitive, and games kind of all got the same. Kind of like Wipeout.

 

[hecd2]

Hardly ever see curling on English television except during Commonwealth Games and Olympics. Curling almost unknown in England (six clubs or so?) and very popular in Scotland - 539 clubs affiliated to Scottish Curling. But that's where it started after all...

 

[attempt5001]

I definitely find the game more interesting to watch since I've gotten into coaching. Particularly if watching with another knowledgeable person who enjoys discussing the strategy.

And that's quite a difference in engagement between England and Scotland! Not surprised to hear it's so popular in the latter, but I would have thought it would have seeped into British sport culture more generally.