Just to be clear, I’ve watched curling on television enough to understand what’s going on. I’ve even tried it once or twice, but my sport is skeleton. It’s extreme in terms of speed and because you’re flying down a track with your chin only an inch or two off the ice…
Okay here’s the truth. Skeleton might not be for the faint of heart but in all honesty, there are several other sports that I wouldn’t do on a bet. Regardless of the physical risk, success at an Olympic level depends to a large degree on one’s ability to deal with pressure. When you’ve taken a few thousand runs down a skeleton track, for the most part, any fear of crashing or hurting yourself is gone. If there’s any fear at all, it’s the fear of failure. Especially with a home country Olympics, there is a great deal of pressure to perform.
You may look at curling and think it’s nothing like hockey or snowboardcross and that’s true – at least not in physical terms but do you want to hear something crazy? I think the rest of us could learn something from curling. Say what you want about it, you can’t argue that it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of skill to do what they do on a regular basis. At the Olympics, they’re competing for the same prize as the rest of us and the pressure for them is exactly the same. If some of the greatest athletes in the world talk about the Olympics being 90% mental, maybe we should look at a sport that typifies skill and focus.
You may look at curling and think it’s nothing like hockey or snowboardcross and it isn’t – at least not in physical terms but do you want to hear something crazy? I think the rest of us could learn something from the curlers.
The one thing curlers do have working for them is that they have the chance to compete in what is very close to the Olympic environment more often. The Brier, which is the Canadian men’s championships for example, was held at Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome last year and competitors had days of competition in front of a wild sold out crowd. This is an opportunity that athletes in some other sports just don’t get. In skeleton for example, the only other race that had a comparable number of spectators to these Olympic Games was way back at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. If you weren’t competing back then, you literally couldn’t have experienced a skeleton race with a comparable crowd or atmosphere to prepare for these Olympics.
If you can’t exactly replicate the atmosphere then you just have to do the best you can. But doesn’t it make sense to emulate athletes that are more consistently in that high pressure environment? Don’t think for one minute that because curling has a reputation as a social sport that there’s no pressure involved or that the athletes don’t want to win just as much. Curlers have always been very friendly with whomever they are competing with but as with any sport, your opponent serves you best by exposing your weaknesses and challenging you – why not appreciate your opponent while you’re actually competing (see 2. Emulating Gregor Staehli: http://sportatitsbest.com/2009/11/19/2-emulating-gregor-staehli/).
In fact, if you want to hear a story about mental focus how’s this: apparently one of the members of the Canadian team has a 19 month-old daughter that has been in the crowd watching this week when her father is playing. Now depending on what end of the rink they’re curling from, whenever it’s Marc Kennedy’s turn to throw the stone, his daughter says “Bye Daddy!” every time he slides past where she’s sitting! There are athletes that are very easily thrown off their game and athletes that are incredibly relaxed and focused on what they need to do. I think curling has a lot more of the latter.
Even yesterday afternoon as the Canadian skip, Cheryl Bernard missed a chance to win gold, she and her teammates smiled as they shook hands with the victorious Swedes. You never really see someone’s true character until you see them under less than ideal circumstances. The smiles weren’t out of joy or satisfaction but they were out of respect and sportsmanship and thus another lesson for young athletes of all sports.
[...] 20. We Can Learn From Curling « Sport At Its Best [...]
Great post, Duff. I consider curling to be one of the pure sports, like biathlon, that have the most to teach us about dedication and love of sport, because the athletes aren’t going to get much in the way of endorsements or parades regardless of how many medals they win. The best thing about the Olympics is being able to watch these sports, if only once every four years.
There was an article in the New York Times a few days ago about how curling has become something of a fad among Wall Street traders. CNBC has been carrying curling after the markets close. Traders watch CNBC all the time, so they’ve been exposed to curling and they’ve been fascinated by it.
Great Post! The Mondetta team (designers of the Canada Curling Team Uniforms) is ecstatic with the great turn out for the Mens and Ladies Curling Teams.
We present much of our support at our website http://www.mondetta.com and Mondetta fan page.
It would be great to hear comments or questions about the uniforms or simple curling in general! We look forward to hearing from those who are interested on our Facebook Fan Page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mondetta/197767709087
See you there!
Thanks for a great post, Duff. Curling is so often misunderstood and underrated as a sport, and its athletes – make no mistake: the best curlers are committed, hardworking and very skilled athletes – are often overlooked.
All athletes, young and old, grassroots and elite, could learn from curling’s focus on physical skill, mental toughness, and on-ice respect for one’s opponent.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by sportatitsbest: Here’s a skeleton guy’s ode to curling: http://sportatitsbest.com/2010/02/27/20-we-can-learn-from-curling/…
Well said Duff…I also noted the reaction of Cheryl Bernard as she realized her last stone was not going to win the Gold. Her smile was an immediate and genuine reflection of her happiness a talented, deserving and ever so genuine opponent was about to earn a Gold Medal.
True sportsmanship, more athletic than most realize and truly the spirit of the Games coming to the fore once again. Our country has a lot to be proud of, not just the record breaking medal haul but the manner in which both our athletes and host city conducted themselves. I am a proud Canadian!
You said it all. It’s too bad more people don’t see it this way, but I think curling has made it a long way as far as a spectators sport.
The Canadian women made us all proud last night with not only their great plays but like you said – their sportsmanship.
No matter the outcome of the mens game tonight, our Canadian curlers will have represented us all well!
Go Canada Go!
Excellent post. I was a 2002 Voluteer at the Ice Sheet in Ogden. The Venue for Curling. I’ve never had more fun and gained an interest in a sport that I did with Curling.
Yup, you ought to try it. It’s a lot harder than it looks!
Likewise enjoyed the post. I have argued for curling as well, if you’re interested:
http://pure-sophist-monster.blogspot.com/2010/02/day-16-olympic-redundancies.html
that’s right.
Yes, curling is all that and more. The best are equivalent to chess Masters. These days, the sweepers are very fit along with the strength, balance, and communication skills required. And the accuracy and consistency is acquired with the throwing of thousands of curling stones, each one with it’s own characteristics that you have to figure out on constantly changing ice conditions. And it’s a sport that anyone can play – from children to the elderly. It’s a great way to teach kids about teamwork, politeness and fairness. It’s embedded in the curling culture. Come the Paralympics in March, watch some even more amazing shots made all the more difficult because they won’t have the benefit of the leg thrust from a hack to make the proper weight shot.
I totally agree. I am a curler myself and I know as an experience skip that it takes lots of skills, strtegy, and involves lots of pressure in the last ends. To have a building full of people cheering you on and an alarm goes off in your mind. but really, you just need to stay focussed on the prize. and you have to know how to keep your cool. I am a teen with a dream; to be an Olympic medalist in women’s curling. I am learning a lot and always will be. Then maybe one day, I will be able to pursue my dream.
I love watching curling but I would have a better chance at Skeleton. Curling is way too difficult!
Ouch!
lmao!!! Great article and I’m with Laurie curling is hard. But it’s definitely worth it. When you push that granite and it does exactly what you want, there is no feeling like it.
Curling is awesome and requires so much skill and we get to take home a gold and a silver – wow!
The author, Duff Gibson, has stated the case for curling very well. However the pressure to succeed is evident in every sport. The usual problem is how well the athlete deals with it. Performing is doing what you know how to do, when you have to do it, whether you are curling or sliding.
Thank you for the post. Now that I’ve been watching this Olympic Games, I,finaly, understood Curling, wow!!! is not easy, and I will love to try it, even here in El Paso TX. [USA]. I hope I can find my way to do it, just love it!!!!
Check this out:
http://www.rinktime.com/curling-clubs/state/tx/texas-curling-clubs
Curling is a very different sport. I admire professionals so much every time I watch a game. I have tried curling a few times, but I am no where near what they can do. As a spectator is easy to think that anyone can make those shots, I mean how hard is it to push a rock down the ice or sweeping it? Seriously, it is amazing what curlers can do. I also admire the sportsmanship in the game, whether it be in conceeding a game, moving a rock back that was bumped by a foot accidentally and even when deciding which rock is closest to the button. Mistakes in this game can be huge and they might only miss the shot by inches! I heard someone call it chess on ice and I agree! Curling is amazing and we should stand proud that we have a silver and gold from Vancouver 2010 in this sport that comes down to a hydraulic measuring system.
Ditto:
Great post. I just finished watching the Canadian men win GOLD !!! I didn’t even know until this evening that they curled on ice. Obviously, I’ve learned alot tonight. Go Canada !!!
I just love watching curling, and Duff spoke of it very nicely. I think the pressure is a bit different in Curling because in not many other sports do the athletes have more than an hour per game, when a great deal of the time is spent waiting and watching your competition make you rewrite what you were planning to do next. Time to stress, time to question your decisions, and question them again.
Well said. I was lucky enough to be at last nights game, and while I was sad that we didn’t win, our team displayed sportsmanship rarely seen elsewhere. I wish that everyone who thinks that curling is easy could have a chance to throw a couple of rocks.
I fell in love with curling during these Olympics. I noticed in a couple of the events, the emphasis on good sportsmanship and respect for your opponent (and for your own team as well as for the tradition and culture of the sport) was mentioned when an inappropriate suggestion to extend the time-out at one point was quickly squelched and today when someone blew a horn just as someone was getting ready to release his stone. I think that might be a Canadian trait, which I love, but I really loved that this was the thinking person’s sport. Brute force, breakneck speed, 40 foot flips off the half-pipe, and downhill skiing in the fog were not involved, but it was still exciting and in some cases, breath-taking. There was a lot about the scoring that i was not able to figure out, and some of the skills and strategies and techniques were just so fascinating to watch. Yes, the other sports have these same attributes. I think that curling can stand tall along with skeleton, bobsled, snow-boarding, all those skiing events, as well as the events that take place on other ice–hockey and figure skating in all its permutations. I hope that curling will be covered more often throughout the year, and that the scoring and some of the techniques can be explained to those of us who will never see a curling event in person but who enjoy them on TV.
Thanks for all the posts Duff… It’s nice to see an athlete’s perspective….
Just a thought for your next post – what have we learned as a nation??? I think we can learn from all the athletes and all the sports, but what do you think will be the lasting legacy from these games – to all of Canada???
Just as you were an Olympian, I’d be curious to see what you think is the most important lesson…
From a “blue jacket” volunteer that is really sad to see it all end tomorrow….
Yep. Gotta love a sport that starts and ends with a handshake, doesn’t require an ambulance waiting on the sidelines “just in case”, and expects that the athletes will play fairly and, therefor, are able to officiate themselves.
Great post and could not agree more with said!
Also, congratulations to the Canadian ladies on silver and man on gold from someone who grew up on soccer and basketball in Europe and now, after 15 years in Canada, finally gave chance to curling!
So many armchair athletes love to trash a sport like curling that they know basically NOTHING about. Here, we have what I would consider an extreme athlete (Hurtling down a hill at triple digit speeds with little more than a skate keeping you off the ice! Thats NUTS) and in his mind there is no question about the games status as a SPORT.
Yes it is a game that some can play well into their old age, but I’ve also known some 80 year old tennis players, some 70 year old skiers, and more over the hill, overweight, chain smoking, beer swizeling golfers than I care to think of… No, they do not diminish those sports status, they just play it at another level.
Curling is a game of skill… 90% brains, yes like chess… but it probably requires more absolute control over your entire body than anything else… To be able to push yourself and a 44 pound stone 30 feet out in a specific line holding your balance while sliding on ice with a shoe having a teflon sole, and controling the speed with which you pushed off so that the stone travels about 90 feet to come to rest hopefully within 2 to 10 INCHES of the ideal location is incredibly difficult. Add to that skill, being able to “READ” the ice, map in your mind it’s ruts, falls, curls, drags, and understand how they migrate throughout the game as the players moving across it change the contours.
Curling is skill, precision, strategy, and more. It’s Chess where you are never certain that the move you perform will actually go as you planned. It is pressure and nerves of steel.
I love that the sport has made it to the olympics and is gaining in popularity, and I think that the post above was a WONDERFUL example of mainstream athletes proving it.
If anyone doubts this… try signing up for a funspiel next year and tell me about it after!
Thanks for the great post!
Right on Randy. Curling is chess played on ice. Russ Howard turned me on to the sport – the Canadian Men’s and Women’s team has kept the spirit alive. Well done Canada. Well done World
I can’t add much to what has already been said. A great series of posts.
If you’d like to try curling, call your neighborhood club and ask if they have a “learn to curl” program. Most do and anyone is welcome.
What other sport does the winner buy the first round and loser buys the second. I’d like to know if that rule applied to the Olympic curlers also.
As a long-time curler and volunteer at my home club, I am as proud of the Canadian team’s accomplishments on the ice as I am the focus on the culture of the sport of curling. I am always amazed at the great life skills that the young kids at our club learn from a simple game. Start with a handshake, end with a handshake, police your own game (no referrees required), compliment the other team on a well made shot, so grace in defeat and humility in victory. These traits will take you far in life. At our club, from the youngest litle-rocker to the most experienced senior will pick up the microphone after winning a bonspiel and thank the organizers, the competitors and their own team for their contributions. It is amazing to be part of. Everyone should visit their local curling club at some point to enjoy the experience, and maybe even throw their first stone.
Besides being a sport that you can quickly loose dignity, as you try to slide beautifully towards your desired shot…and can easily land on your butt on any given day in any given game….and while I have curled against some 80 year olds they usually are no longer doing a proper slide. They in later life usually have to resort to the stick as the skill becomes too taxing on the body to do the proper delivery from the hack. Unfortunately their years of experience combined with that stick can be quite a deadly combination. We often joke in bonspeils about beware of the old chicks with sticks….they will take you to the cleaners with their experience and increase consistency with their stick delivery. Also wanted to note the other aspect of the game that sometimes gets over looked…that is the need for all four members of the team to be curling at the same level, on the same day consistently. It really is a team sport, while the most pressure does fall on the last shots of an end, that shot will be made based on the plays that the other team members have made prior. Then add that the other team members can truly impact and change the destiny of a given stone thrown…this would be from determining the ice needed to the sweeping required. I love the game and it is so great to see other athletes recognize the skill and aspects of the game that makes curling a true winter team sport!
Good Curling!!
Nice post Duff! There are different kinds of athletes and different kinds of sports. Did you ever consider curling in your quest for Olympic involvement? It took you some time to find skeleton and you may have made a pretty fine curler. You may not be done yet??
Ted
Hi Ted, thanks for the comment. I think the odds are against me on the curling front just from a depth of field perspective but at least I’d be in a sport where I wasn’t the oldest, which would be nice!
Great article except for the ignorant comment about not needing much skill to curl at this level. Sure people can curl from 5 to 90, but you have to be in shape and have a lot of skill to do it properly . It is a sport.
[...] 3. Who anticipated that Curling would be the event that everyone talked about? (We Can Learn from Curling–Sports At Its Best) [...]
Thanks so much for this article. I’ve been curling for a few years now and get a lot of derision from other people, especially people my age. A lot of people don’t realize how much skill and training it takes to be even half decent at this sport. Even though it may not be as fast-paced or enthralling as hockey or many other sports, curling – and its athletes – deserve a lot of respect for their dedication, sportsmanship, and talent. Thanks again for the article!
Love the article. Love curling. Have ever since as a child watching it on TV. Got a chance to finally try it when my children took up the sport. It’s like making a puzzle or creating a piece of artwork, as much as it is like chess. It’s good to see curling getting the attention and respect it deserves as a sport. You make a great point about atheletes that practice and participate in relative obscurity and compete mainly in front of a few family and friends – seldom getting the chance or thrill of performing before crowds of rabid fans, particularly in your home country. I was disappointed in reading some blogs and comments on sport pages ridiculing Cheryl Bernard as a chocker. Thankfully, the posts here are more appreciative of her skill and sportsmanship and what a wonderful representative she and her team were for Canada. She was off by millimeters and that my friends is curling. All our hearts sank a little when it was not to be. Great to see her big smile in the closing ceramonies.
Excellent article, thanks for reminding us that sport is more than simply a physical challenge. As a novice curler, I watched as many of the Olympic round robin games as I could. The men and women were inspiring not only for their skilled shots and uncanny ability to read the ice, but for their grace under pressure, and their never-ending determination.
Like you’ve said, they all could teach us a lesson or two in staying calm and focused, and above all, being positive. Cheryl Bernard said something to her teammates between the tenth and eleventh end of the gold game that went a bit like this: “it’s been a great game and it’s a riot, so just keep playing it”. And you know, regardless of the outcome, that attitude is simply incredible. Those smiles, the overall collegial attitude between teams, and the determined play all throughout the tournament definitely set the Olympic curlers up as great sport (and life) role models.
I think curling at this level might actually be 99% mental. If you’ve taken a thousand runs down a skeleton track, curlers have thrown tens of thousands of draws to the rings.
But consider this analogy. Take a 15 foot putt in golf. Practice it for as long as you want. When you feel like you’ve practiced enough, the terms are this: make it, and you get a million. Miss it, and you owe me 500K. Oh, and we’ll film your putt on National TV in front of a live audience of all your friends, family, and random fans who are invested in the outcome.
Anyone who misses does so not because of their inability to putt, but because of their inability to handle pressure.
That’s pretty much curling.
I’d like to see anyone keep up with the excercise program the Olympic curlers had this past yr. They work hrs. on cardio, check out the life of Ben Hebert on youtube. Not only do they work out everyday but they also spend several hrs. a day on the ice. The dedication and work they have to put into being the best is unbelievable. These guys have to be so in shape to sweep that many rocks day after day game after game. They play so many that the physical and mental pressure is nuts. Martin team you are simply the BEST IN THE WORLD!. Way to go you have made us all so very proud. I have followed this game since I was a little girl and mom dragged all six of us kids to the rink to watch our dad. Our dad is Ben Heberts Grandpa!!
I loved the curling. Never, ever did I expect the National anthem to break out in an event like this.
There in the 10th end against the Brits, Jon Morris waits till the anthem is finished before throwing his rock. He looked overwhelmed by it all. I still get goose bumps.
You are so right about the game. It was a great lesson in learning this sport and as Gretsky said, it was explained so well by the broadcasters, specially linda moore.
[...] 20. We Can Learn From Curling Just to be clear, I’ve watched curling on television enough to understand what’s going on. I’ve even tried it [...] [...]