Curling, the strange winter sport characterised by frantic sweeping, obtains cult status every four years as an Olympic event because it baffles the public.
There is the weird terminology, from bonspiel (a competition) to skip (team captain) to sheet (a piece of paper used to keep score) (the rectangular ice where games are played.)
Is The Actual Hamer Involved in the Curling?
There are no physical hammers used in this process. However, the proverbial “hammer” symbolises authority.
This is due to the fact that in each end, the team with the hammer gets to throw the last stone. If neither team scores during an end, the hammer will be given to the other team in the next round. In the event of a scoreless draw, the team that currently has the hammer keeps it. For this reason, if just one point may be scored at the end of a round.
The side holding the hammer may choose to hold off on scoring in order to preserve their advantage.
What Does It Mean To Have The Hammer In Curling?
When one has the hammer, one can toss the dying stone. Last-stone scoring is a synonym for this.
When a player has a clear image of how the end has played out and what they need to do to win, they have an advantage over their opponents. The first event of a game is the “draw to the button,” in which one team is given the hammer.
Each team has two players, one sliding the stone clockwise and the other anti-clockwise, with the goal of getting it as close as possible to the centre of the house.
The team with the most votes gets to throw the first punch. After then, the previous round’s loser always gets the hammer. When there is no winner after a round, the hammer remains in play.
What is a Curling Hammer Used For?
Curling relies heavily on the hammer. The hammer team has the benefit of throwing the last stone in each end, often known as the “Last Stone Advantage” (LSD).
This gives them the ability to throw the last stone of an end, giving them the upper hand in terms of scoring and potentially winning that end. Since the team that doesn’t score in an end is awarded the hammer in the next round.
Skips may be tempted to avoid scoring a single point so that their team can keep the hammer and perhaps rack up more points in the next end.
If neither team scores, the hammer remains with the defence. To determine who gets the hammer in a curling tournament.
Two players from each team draw to the button and try to get their stone as close to the centre of the house as they can.
Conclusion
Players in the sport of curling slide stones over a sheet of ice in the direction of a target area made up of four concentric circles.
It is a cousin of bowling, boules, and shuffleboard. Four players on each of two teams take turns guiding large, smooth granite stones, known as rocks.
Across a sheet of ice toward a circular goal called the house. Each participant on a team can throw two stones, for a total of eight.