Timing

Sections:

Ethics, Equipment and Conduct

Introduction to Sliding

Balance – Part 1

Balance – Part 2

Delivery – Three Step Technique

Delivery – Five Step Technique

Grip, Rotation and Release of a Rock

Position of the Rock for a Three or Five Step Delivery

Delivery with a Stick

Sweeping

Sweepers’ Roles and Responsibilities

Rules

Roles and Communication Between Players

Sliding – Traps to Avoid

Turn and Release of the Stone – Traps to Avoid

Different Shots and Signals

Timing

Strategies

Strategies – Continued

One of the important features of curling is the sweepers’ capacity to quickly judge the weight of the delivered stone and the possible area where it will come to rest. Sweepers shall then communicate their evaluation to the skip and sweep as needed. Timing is one of the techniques used to evaluate the weight of a moving stone.

Timing:

• Measure the time elapsed before the stone travels a fixed distance between two points
• Use benchmarks in the house close to the area where the player starts delivery (ex. back line and tee line, back line and hog line)
• For the same distance, the shorter is the recorded time, the heavier is the weight and the greater is the distance travelled.

Timing Methods:

• With a stop-watch
• By counting in your head
• Any other personal method used by a player

A Few Reasons Why Players Should Time:

• For the sweepers: quickly judge the weight of the stone, communicate the information to the skip and sweep as needed
• For the delivering player: better evaluate the required weight
• For the sweepers and the skip: better judge the weight of the stone throughout the game
• For all players: compare the speed of your club’s ice to that of other clubs

Features to Consider:

• It is useful to exercise judgment regarding the weight of the stone before using a stop-watch
• At the beginning of a game, the ice may be frosty because the pebbles are fresh, therefore the ice is slower
• The pebbles are progressively polished due to sweeping and the ice becomes faster
• If no stone has been delivered in a certain area, the surface will be slower even though you are playing a second end
• The center of the ice always becomes fast because it is used more frequently for delivery and sweeping, but at the end of a game, this area should also be monitored because the stone may come to rest more quickly since the pebbles are worn
• Sweepers are responsible for judging the weight of the stone

Example: Timing between the back line and the hog line:

• The delivering player initiates his or her delivery
• When the stone in the player’s hand touches the back line, sweepers activate their stop-watches
• When the stone touches the hog line (at the delivery end), sweepers stop their stop-watches
• Depending on the time elapsed, sweepers can determine the weight of the stone .