Registered: Feb 2013
Location:
Posts: 812

I have followed the recent brush strategy only from afar, so Watching the National this weekend was the first time that I heard of using only 1 sweeper rather than 2. For instance, I was surprised to see the skip yelling to sweep hard and then see that only 1 teammate was sweeping while the other slid alongside the rock but did not sweep.
So what is this latest sweeping strategy that I apparently missed out on while I enjoyed the fall weather instead of following curling more carefully?
A summary for the unknowing would be appreciated.

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Registered: Feb 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 407

The new high-tech brushes are so advanced that if you sweep from the "wrong side," you can make a rock curl.

On takeouts, one sweeper can keep the rock straight if it's tight, and the other one can make it curl if it's wide. There's no point having them both sweep, because they would cancel each other out.

Draws may be different, because weight may be an issue, but you get the idea.

There's a bit of controversy going on about this.

It's confusing controversy as well, because there's been a lot of talk about "directional fabric," but the high-tech brush heads don't look like "fabric" at all, let alone "directional".

If you wanted to catch up a bit, you could start here:

http://www.curlingzone.com/showthre...adid=11458&tp=0

Welcome to winter.

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Registered: Apr 2005
Location:
Posts: 399

It's becoming increasingly clear that the mechanism by which brushing controls curl is the deposition of angled microscratches in the ice. For this to be most effective you want only one set of scratches. Two sweepers will largely cancel each other out.

For draws (distance) two sweepers are still better than one. For controlling curl, e.g. takeouts, one sweeper is probably better. No matter what the technology.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: London, Ontario
Posts: 4002

This also works with existing (legal) brush pads as well. We're going to see a lot more teams using one sweeper and/or the front sweeper using hair just to clean.

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Registered: Mar 2011
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Posts: 15

The sweeping technique works extremely well at taking skill out of the game on hits that is for sure and it's not really about the fabric at all. I witnessed firsthand this past weekend on Arena ice how 1 sweeper with a HAIR broom can make a rock stay straighter or curl a little more on various hit speeds. We are only talking 2-4 inches perhaps on a hit and maybe 6-8 on a draw but that amount of influence coupled with guys that don't miss the broom by 6-12 inches certainly allows they to make virtually every shot called. 1 sweeper standing behind and over the top of a rock and sweeping in a snowplow fashion (not across the running surface) and towards the intended direction they want the rock to move in can influence where the rock goes. It was blatantly used by a few teams (some much more frequently and more effectively than others) to reshape the direction a rock would go with. The broom of choice to make it dance the most on those hits seemed to be a hair broom. The teams were not doing anything wrong in terms of the rules but they certainly are doing something wrong for the spirit of the game and we need this type of sweeping removed faster than we need anymore discussions about direction fabric. It's more about directional sweeping than anything else. Basically if you are within a few inches of the broom and throw the weight that the ice was taken for you are not likely going to miss many shots once the rocking humping snow plough technique is perfected. It was actually quite sad and silly to watch it unfold against us and there is nothing we can do other than either join the party and start snow ploughing or end up not being able to compete.

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Registered: Apr 2005
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Posts: 399

quote:

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Originally posted by swjones
The sweeping technique works extremely well at taking skill out of the game on hits that is for sure and it's not really about the fabric at all. I witnessed firsthand this past weekend on Arena ice how 1 sweeper with a HAIR broom can make a rock stay straighter or curl a little more on various hit speeds. We are only talking 2-4 inches perhaps on a hit and maybe 6-8 on a draw but that amount of influence coupled with guys that don't miss the broom by 6-12 inches certainly allows they to make virtually every shot called. 1 sweeper standing behind and over the top of a rock and sweeping in a snowplow fashion (not across the running surface) and towards the intended direction they want the rock to move in can influence where the rock goes. It was blatantly used by a few teams (some much more frequently and more effectively than others) to reshape the direction a rock would go with. The broom of choice to make it dance the most on those hits seemed to be a hair broom. The teams were not doing anything wrong in terms of the rules but they certainly are doing something wrong for the spirit of the game and we need this type of sweeping removed faster than we need anymore discussions about direction fabric. It's more about directional sweeping than anything else. Basically if you are within a few inches of the broom and throw the weight that the ice was taken for you are not likely going to miss many shots once the rocking humping snow plough technique is perfected. It was actually quite sad and silly to watch it unfold against us and there is nothing we can do other than either join the party and start snow ploughing or end up not being able to compete.

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Registered: Mar 2011
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Posts: 15

Its way beyond angled sweeping. It's full on stand behind the rock and sweep in the direct it is travelling in (North / South so to speak) and slightly east or west depending on where you really want the rock to go. That technique was also blatantly used to try and slow rocks down by putting the broom briefly on the ice for a quick North South sweep and lift that seemed to slow stones down. Certain fabrics perhaps could make it go even crazier but I saw teams with EQ, Hardline and hair heads in play this weekend. They chose to use the hair a lot more when using the directional sweeping techniques. If we don't address the sweeping technique all this BS about brooms and fabrics is just noise that gets way too much attention. Every table at some point after a game all weekend talked about something related to the brooms, fabric, sweeping techniques, player conflicts etc. It's flat out silly and embarrassing for our sport. The fact that 1 very high profile and highly ranked player's request to take a look at the issues this summer was seemingly ignored speaks to how mishandled this whole thing has become. It then results in 1 broom manufacturer being labelled the Black Sheep by players sponsored by competing product and they have been forced to try and figure out solutions for it's competitive players around the World who had already been equipped for the season.

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Registered: Apr 2009
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Posts: 25

This "new technique" has been around since the introduction of hair and synthetic brooms many moons ago...

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340

Oh, so now we suddenly realize that it's not the equipment it's the return of snowplowing, dumping and corner sweeping? Something that we all knew back in the 1980s when there were rules put in place to stop it? Remember? Your brushing motion was supposed to be side to side, across the running surface of the stone?

Somewhere, Paul Gowsell and Kelly Sterne are laughing their heads off at this.

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Registered: Apr 2005
Location:
Posts: 399

quote:

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Originally posted by jamcan
Oh, so now we suddenly realize that it's not the equipment it's the return of snowplowing, dumping and corner sweeping? Something that we all knew back in the 1980s when there were rules put in place to stop it? Remember? Your brushing motion was supposed to be side to side, across the running surface of the stone?

Somewhere, Paul Gowsell and Kelly Sterne are laughing their heads off at this.

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Registered: Sep 2002
Location: vernon bc
Posts: 2340

Sorry rocdoc, but leaning hard to one corner of a hair brush while snowplowing does affect curl. I know, I was able to do exactly as advertised back when we all plowed in the 80's. I've even witnessed guys reversing the turn on a slow rotation. Proper cornering most likely causes the microscratches you and others refer to.

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Registered: Jan 2005
Location: the Banana Belt
Posts: 990

The best way to combat this is to call the rules against the people sweeping " north -south" (snowplowing). the rules state that the final sweeping motion shall finish outside the path of the stone. Umpires, or opposing teams just need to start calling this violation ( stringently)and pulling rocks. Teams start losing rocks in a game and things will change quickly.

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Registered: Apr 2005
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Posts: 399

quote:

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Originally posted by jamcan
Sorry rocdoc, but leaning hard to one corner of a hair brush while snowplowing does affect curl. I know, I was able to do exactly as advertised back when we all plowed in the 80's. I've even witnessed guys reversing the turn on a slow rotation. Proper cornering most likely causes the microscratches you and others refer to.

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Registered: Feb 2015
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Posts: 98

As with most things in life, I believe it's the combination of technique and the quality of the modern broom and broom head fabric. We played on ice that didn't have much curl on it and one particular junior team---with one guy with a hair brush using the snowplow method---was able to make a rock curl 2 feet from the biting guard to ours that was perfectly located on the button. In other words, we basicly couldn't compete. You bury a rock that should elicit a runback and the other team says i don't think so. IF that is what you guys think the game should come to tell the kids now. No use in getting those 10,000 hours of practice sliding from the hack when all you have to do is recruit an athletic kid and buy him a hair broom.

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Registered: Nov 2022
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the one sweeper strategy is a variation on the traditional two sweeper approach and can be effective in certain situations. However, Pizza Tower it requires precise communication and coordination between the teammates to execute successfully.

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Registered: Apr 2023
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Developers rely on user feedback to chess online identify and address compatibility issues, ensuring a smoother experience for future users.

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Registered: Apr 2023
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wordle is a fantastic way to build and expand your vocabulary

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Play the famous mobile snake game online for free. Consum the food but avoid hitting the walls or your own tail!

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