June 02, 2009

The ABCs of Curling - O

illum_o is for Out-turn. Like any sport or activity, curling has developed its own unique terminology (as touched upon in the previous installment). The terms, out-turn and in-turn are used to describe which direction a curler turns the handle when delivering a rock. On an out-turn, the handle of the rock is turned out from the body of the thrower, and an in-turn is turned in towards the body of the thrower. Of course, that means the terms refer to different directions of spin depending on whether the thrower is right or left-handed. For a righty, the out-turn revolves counter-clockwise, and the in-turn, clockwise. For a lefty it is the opposite.

In-turns and out-turns tend to behave differently, due to differences in the way the rock is released. That means there are sometimes shots that a left-handed curler can make (with his out-turn), but right-handed curler (throwing his in-turn) cannot. And vice-versa, of course.

<- Start at the beginning.


3 comments:

Karen Funk Blocher said...

So if I read all of these, will I have a clue how the sport works? I'm not terribly good at visualizing, and my main visual of this game comes from the film Help!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcGTudP-Q78

Dornbrau said...

I don't get it, why would one want to curl a rock?

By the way, will you please send another friend request? I screwed the first one up trying to accept it on my cell phone.

Cathy said...

The 1st time I saw curling being performed in earnest I didn't appreciate the intricacies of these moves, terms, knowledge. I do now lol.