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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Review
article
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THE SPORTS SCIENCE OF CURLING: A PRACTICAL REVIEW |
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John L. Bradley  |
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Department of Education, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland . |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2009) 8, 495 - 500 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Curling is a sport played on ice in which two teams each deliver
8 granite stones towards a target, or 'house'. It is the only sport in which
the trajectory of the projectile can be influenced after it has been released
by the athlete. This is achieved by sweeping the ice in front of the stone
to change the stone-ice friction and thereby enable to stone to travel further,
curl more or stay straight. Hard sweeping is physically demanding. Different
techniques of sweeping can also have different effects on the stone. This
paper will review the current research behind sweeping a curling stone,
outline the physiological demands of sweeping, the associated performance
effects and suggest potential strategies of sweeping that can be used by
both coaches and curling teams.
Key words: Sweeping, winter sports, physiological demands, sweep strategy, training. |
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