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Does A Rock Have A Gender?

Does A Rock Have A Gender?

Can someone explain to me why there needs to be men’s, women’s, and mixed curling teams? This isn’t hockey or wrestling. What is the gender connection with sliding a rock on ice?

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Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker, and author of over 60 books. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients from over 500 leading organizations around the world.

Comments: 10

  • Chris Law

    February 26, 2018

    I curled for a couple of seasons for fun, so don’t take this as fact… but I believe the reason for it was the difference in the amount of force you can exert on the broom head. I’ve seen the difference first hand, and it really changes the level of control you have over the rock. (There’s no difference in the force you can throw the rock, because the rock is always thrown maybe half as light as you could possibly throw it, even in fast take-out shots.)

    BTW, where’s the womens’ 4-person bobsled?

      • Chris Law

        February 27, 2018

        It does seem counterintuitive, given the cultural stereotypes.

        So we know that what makes the rock go straighter and faster is the sweeping. Sweeping adds heat, turning the surface from frozen to liquid. The more liquid, the straigher and faster the rock goes. The harder you can apply force (in the very short amount of time you have the broom contacting the surface about 6 inches in front of the stone, typically much less than a second) the faster you turn the surface to liquid, and the better control you have over the stone.

        So it doesn’t show well on the TV, but sweepers lean their whole body into the broom (while staying balanced on slippery ice while moving down the ice with the rock, which is very demanding). They also use their upper body and arm muscles to exert huge amounts of pressure on the broom head. If you did a side by side comparison of men vs women, on average the men are going to have more body weight and more muscle strength.

        So in answer to your question… in the Curling world. 🙂

          • Chris Law

            February 28, 2018

            If it wasn’t extremely difficult to master, it wouldn’t be in the olympics. You’ll have to give it a try and let us know if it’s as easy as it looks. There’s a club near you. Let us all know how you get on 😉

  • Peter McLean

    March 1, 2018

    Curiously enough, wikipedia says bowling was demonstrated at the Olympics in 1988, included in 2015 for the 2020 Summer Olympics … and then promptly withdrawn that same year (2015) due to lack of youth appeal 🙂

    • Justin Megawarne

      March 2, 2018

      That would be solved by compulsory viewings of “The Big Lebowski” to all youths prior to every Olympic exhibition.

  • Alan Weiss

    March 2, 2018

    Well said!

  • Gebrauchte Spritzgie?maschine

    June 7, 2018

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