Tom Napier, age 17, of Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, for his question:
WHY IS A BROOM USED IN CURLING?
The interesting game of curling probably originated in Scotland and The Netherlands about 300 years ago. Two four man teams, called rinks, compete on an ice surface 146 feet long and 14 feet wide. The game is structured a bit like shuffleboard: the players slide heavy stones from one end of the playing area to the other.
Curling has become an extremely popular contest of skill in Canada and some parts of the United States. Here’s how the game is played:
A game consists of 10 or 12 ends. Each player slides two stones toward a target that is called the house, a 12¬foot circle at the opposite end of the ice. Each player slides the stones and alternates with his opponent from the other rink. When 16 stones have been delivered, an end has been played. The stones of one rink that are closer to the house center than any stones of the opposing rink score one point each. The opposing rink receives no points in that end. Then the rinks repeat the process, sliding the stones toward the house at the other end of the ice.
The stones are delivered from a foothold called a hack which is exactly 126 feet from the center of the house at the opposite end of the ice. Each stone weighs 42 and a half pounds and has a flat top and bottom as well as a handle on its top.
A player will deliver a stone by first putting the ball of his right foot in the hack. Then crouching with his feet together he will take the handle of the stone in his right hand and slide the stone straight back, rising as he does so.
The stone comes up off the ice at the top of his backswing. Then, as his arm and the stone swing forward, he turns his arm either in or out. The action causes the stone to turn as he releases it, and it curls, or curves, either to the right or left as it slides along. The game’s name comes from this action.
Before the lead player is ready to deliver his stone, the team’s captain will station himself at the opposite end and with a broom will indicate where the stone should be aimed. If, as the stone is delivered, the captain believes it will fall short, he shouts “Sweep” and the two other team members then run ahead of the sliding stone, sweeping the ice vigorously. Sweeping smooths the ice surface and lessens resistance to the stone.
Curling experts believe sweeping can add six to 10 feet to a delivery.
When the skip, as the captain is called, wants the sweepers to stop sweeping, he will shout “Brooms up.” After the lead player has delivered his stones, he joins one of the other players in sweeping and his rinkmates deliver their stones.
The lead player is usually the least experienced curling teammate. Since he delivers first, there are no other stones on the ice and his job is a bit easier than that of the players who deliver later.