The Curling School

Section Overview

This section will cover some advance sweeping concepts and techniques. Specifically, the areas covered are:

Team Sweeping

Sweeping Communication

Corner Sweeping

Interval (Split) Timing

Judging Weight

Team Sweeping Once the rock has been delivered, the sweepers are responsible for judging the weight. Is it moving too fast, too slow or just right? It is not realistic to expect the skip to judge the weight from 120 feet away. After the rock has been thrown, the sweepers communicate the weight of the rock to the skip. The skip then makes a line sweeping decision based on whether or not the rocks curl needs to be straightened out.

Judging the weight of the rock is very difficult and takes lots of practice. You can increase your ability to judge rocks with a few sweeping techniques.

1. Sweep as upright as possible, this allows you to visualize the entire field of play and judging motion and speed becomes easier. The fluids in the inner ear must remain as stable as possible for accurate motion judgment. By dipping the head down (leaning over too much) you change the orientation of the fluids. This not only decreases motion judgment, it causes a slight bit of vertigo (spatial disorientation) when the head is returned to the upright position.

2. Take a sweeping position that faces the skip. This also helps view the entire field of play and allows you to view the skip at all times. Curling clubs can be very loud at times and visual contact with the skip may be the only means of communication. This can be done by placing the inside hand in the lower position. This will naturally put you in a "facing forward" position.

Team sweeping refers to teams striving for similar sweeping styles. This continuity will make all sweeping calls more consistent. For example, the most effective sweeping is two sweepers sweeping from opposite sides of the rock. This allows the brushes to be as close as possible to each other, limiting the amount of cool down that happens after the brush passes over the surface.

Sweeping Communication For the most part, sweepers judge weight and skips judge line. It is very important for both parties to understand each other. For example, a skip judges line based on how he or she thinks the rocks will curl. Since rocks curl less with more weight, the skip must know any weight deviations as soon as possible.

Try the following:

Before the rock is thrown, make sure the sweepers know the exact shot and weight called. If throwing a draw for example, the sweepers should communicate the weight to the skip at the halfway point. Commit to an area of the house such "top four" or "back twelve". This can be verbal or visual depending on the circumstances. As the rock travels down the ice, the sweepers must continuously report the weight the skip. To simplify matters, only communicate weight if it's different than what the skip expects. Over-communicating such as screaming-out "the weight is good" is not necessary. Effective communication is not necessarily constant communication.

Corner Sweeping In the early 90's, a new sweeping concept became popular called corner sweeping. This refers to sweeping across one side of the running surface instead of sweeping across the entire running surface. This was done in an attempt to have even greater control over the rocks curl. For example, by sweeping the inside edge of a takeout (the slow side), friction is reduced on the slow side only, reducing the pivot action discussed in the Sweeping section. Because of this the rock runs straighter. Sweeping the outside edge of a draw could make it curl more. This results in more manipulative sweeping. There is a down side to corner sweeping however, it is very difficult to be control the consistency of the rock's curl. This could result in less predictable shots. Even though corner sweeping may be more effective, most good teams prefer to concentrate on good overall sweeping skills.

The sweeping of one corner only is a violation of the rules. To conform to WCF rules, the corner must be swept by using differential pressure. The entire brush head will cover the running surface but only the desired edge will receive pressure.

Snow Plowing Snow plowing refers to sweeping without moving the brush head side to side. Snow plowing is also a violation of WCF rules because it allows sweepers to "dump" meaning intentionally leaving debris in front of the rock. It is very controversial due to the difficulty in determining the violation. The sweeping rule is ambiguous enough to allow flexibility in just how much side-to-side action is necessary. The US interpretation of the WCF rule states that the brush head movement must be "clear and visible".

"Split" Timing (Interval Timing) Interval timing is a scientific method that helps sweepers judge weight. A designated sweeper can time a shot between two points usually the back line and nearer hog line. This "split" is the time it takes the rock to travel from back line to hog line and will indicate its ability to make it the rest of the way. This is a relative measurement. The time that is measured cannot be easily calculated into a long time due to the deceleration of the rock. The times can be used as a reference.

Example: If one of your players normally throws a 3.80 second draw split (time from back to hog) and that player throws a rock with a 4.10 second split, it is likely to need sweeping.

This technique works only with players that have consistent, fluid deliveries such as the one described by CurlTech in the Delivery section.

A word of caution. Don't rely on the clock as your sole judge of sweeping. As you develop, you will be able to judge rocks without the use of clocks. Great teams use a combination of judgment and clock speeds.

Suggestion:

Appoint one sweeper as the split timer and the other as the weight judger based on perception alone. As the timer, don't tell the other sweeper the slit time. Let the two methods work together.

"Finishing" the Draw

Most curlers associate sweeping with rocks traveling farther and straighter. This is true for most shots. There is a case though when sweeping will cause a rock to appear to curl more. As a draw is coming to rest, many newer curlers continue to sweep the rock in an attempt to keep it straight. Sweeping will keep the rock moving, which means it continues on its path. Imagine the arc of a rock that is curling. It begins straight then starts to curl. The rock is now pointing in a different direction. If the rock could move forever, it would eventually leave the sheet of ice across the sideline. Sweeping rocks after the curl begins does two things:

1. It reduces the amount of additional curl.

2. It keeps the rock moving on its current path.

Finishing the rock refers to keeping it moving on its arc. This pulls the rock even deeper behind a guard because the rock is still moving on its new path. This is important to know since many come-around shots can be "finished", meaning the rocks can be swept under the guard. The mistake many new skips and vices make is to stop sweeping. This only makes the rock stop short and not continue to curl under. On the other hand, if a rock is curling too much at the end, stop sweeping. Additional sweeping here will only continue the rocks path.

Sweeping Systems A sweeping system is an interrelated group of sweeping activities. Teams should design their own system by compiling known and proven components. In any sweeping system, you will have the following components:

Equipment type

Sweeping Style

Positioning

Communication

Weight Judging Techniques

Equipment Type. The best team brooms are the ones that create the most friction with the least effort and allow the two sweepers to sweep in close proximity. For team sweeping, where the players are in fixed positions for each shot, angles brooms provide the best coverage. Fixed angle brooms allow for differential pressure if desired.

If using fixed angles, it will be necessary to switch brooms for different players. A team can own four broom types for efficiency. A straight broom for sliding and skipping and angles for sweeping.

CurlTech Choice for team sweeping:

#1 Brownie 8" or 10"fixed angle

#2 Hammer XL adjustable (semi-fixed swivel)

#3 Eight-Ender hard adjustable angle

#4 Any swivel type

Sweeping Style

The same sweeping style described in the Sweeping Section should be used by the advanced players. The sweeping stroke must be short, vigorous and with as much pressure as possible.

Positioning

Positioning refers to where and when each team members place themselves during the game. Competitive games are timed and effective positioning helps play quickly without rushing. Select a position for each player that can be replicated each end.