Curling Winter Sport

At the Olympic Winter Games, curling consists of two events: a women's tournament and a men's tournament. Each tournament starts with 10 curling teams. Two teams play against each other at a time. The game is played on ice, and the two teams take turns pushing 19.1-kilogram stones towards a series of concentric rings or circles. The object is to get the stones as close to the centre of the rings as possible.

One game consists of 10 "ends" (similar to innings in baseball). During each end, each four-person team "throws" (in fact, slides along the ice) eight stones - two stones per person and 16 altogether. Team members sweep the ice clean in front of each stone to control the stone's direction, known as its "curl," and the stone's speed. The team with the most points - more stones closer to the centre of the rings - at the conclusion of 10 ends, is the winner. It is skillful game the Curling Sport.

After both teams have delivered eight rocks, the team with the stone closest to the centre is awarded one point for each of its own stone that is closer than the opponent's closest stone. Stones that are not in outer circle of the 12-foot (3.7 m) ring) do not score even if no opponent's stone is closer. What a curling sport...

Shoes
Broom (brush)
Curling stone (rock)

Other types of equipment a curler may utilize include:

1. Curling pants, made to be stretchy to accommodate the curling delivery.
2. A stopwatch to time the stones whilst sweeping to get a feel of the speed of the stone. Stopwatches can be attached either to clothing or the broom itself.
3. Curling gloves and mittens, to keep the hands warm and improve grip on the broom.

A special handle for stones, called "Eye on the Hog," which integrates electronics to ensure stone release before crossing the hog line, has recently been developed. The handle is coated in metallic paint, and the electronics detects the charge of the thrower's hand to determine if his or her hand is in contact, and an electric field at the hog line detects it. Lights at the base of the handle indicate whether contact was maintained past the line. This eliminates the chance of human error (eliminating the game's most frequent cause of controversy).

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 its wearer traction on the ice. Higher-end shoes are often made of leather, while lower-end shoes are often made of vinyl, or canvas.

A casual player may wear running shoes and improvise a slider by applying electrical tape (or something similar) to his or her off foot. Step-on or slip-on Teflon sliders are also available.

The curling broom is used to sweep the ice surface in front of the stone, melting the ice and reducing friction, this keeps the stone moving and on a straight trajectory. Studies have just been completed that show that instead of melting the ice completely, sweeping momentarily raises the temperature of the ice by one degree to two degrees, but no ice melting occurs[citation needed]. The broom also cleans debris off the ice, which is important to keep a throw from "picking" . The skip will also hold a broom at the end of the rink opposite from the delivering player as a target for the deliverer to aim for.

In earlier days, brooms were made of corn strands and were similar to household brooms. Today, brushes have replaced traditional corn brooms at every level of curling, but are universally referred to as brooms. Curling brushes may have fabric, hog hair, or horsehair heads. Most top quality modern broomsticks are now made of materials such as carbon fiber, allowing faster sweeping; lower-end brooms are often made of fiberglass. Brooms are also used by most curlers as a balancing aid during delivery of the stone.

In the early history of curling, the playing stones (or rocks) were flat-bottomed river stones that were sometimes notched or shaped; the thrower had little control over the stone, and relied more on luck than skill to win.
Today is circular in shape and weighs between 38 and 44 pounds (17 and 20 kg) with a handle and bolt attached.The stone has a maximum allowable circumference of 36 inches (910 mm).[8] A stone must be a minimum of 4.5 inches (110 mm) in height.The Scots, in particular, believe that the best-quality curling stones are made from a specific type of granite called "ailsite," found on the Ailsa Craig, an island off the Ayrshire coast. According to the Scottish Curling Stone Company, Ailsite has very low water absorption, which prevents the action of freezing and melting water from eroding the stone.