tannerall 25,935 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Saw during the week a member of the Winter Olympic Russian Curling team received a drugs ban. Having watched Curling can't see how drugs would improve performance. Basically just a game where you bowl a stone, then walk alongside till it reaches or misses target. Am I missing an athletic point ? Maybe drugs help with the brush strokes per minute ? https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/22/russian-curler-alexander-krushelnitsky-stripped-of-winter-olympics-medal-after-admitting-doping Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangersMedia 35,961 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I used to play curling to a national level at my age group. The sport is more physical than most realise, you will cover a good few miles per match, however its steady, moderate excercise . Ultimately, the game is about tactics and delivery. A man who has been injecting anabolic steroids for years and can sweep like fuck, gives no real advantage over a skinny wee guy. So long as you can sweep faster than the stone is travelling, which every able bodied person can do. Sweeping too much actually is counter productive. You just want to melt the ice slightly, to make the stone curl less and travel farther. Too much, smooths the pebble on the ice and will actually slow the ice down, particularly as the game goes on - slow ice, or rapidly evolving ice, is very hard to achieve consistency on. I would liken it to playing a round of golf, with every green having a different speed and firmness - you'd struggle with putting/approach. Unless the drugs helped nerves, concentration or judgement/feel, I don't know what advantage they would offer. It very much a sport where practice, composure and judgement win over athleticism. You can play to high level well into your 50s, even 60s. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyaleastend 3,260 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Very informative reply, thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangersMedia 35,961 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 A big part of the problem with drugs is that it is still largely an amatuer sport. Most players, certainly at national level, don't have easy access to sports nutritionalists and expert advice on foods, medicines, etc - although Olympic teams will have this. Lottery funding enables the olympic team to more or less do it full time, and that in itself is a big bone of contention as many feel the game has put its eggs in 1 basket with a very small group of people. The nature of Curling is, at the better levels, anybody could beat anybody. Even the olympic teams, a good regional level rink, could easily give them a game in a one off. Although over a series of games the better teams will always win out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyinroyalblue 16,478 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 His mrs though Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
orange&blue92 1,284 Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Bet they were good at polishing off some ice Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band of Brothers 10,303 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Bonus point who can tell me where the stones are from...................... Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeWallace5 222 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 On 24/02/2018 at 18:07, Badger said: I used to play curling to a national level at my age group. The sport is more physical than most realise, you will cover a good few miles per match, however its steady, moderate excercise . Ultimately, the game is about tactics and delivery. A man who has been injecting anabolic steroids for years and can sweep like fuck, gives no real advantage over a skinny wee guy. So long as you can sweep faster than the stone is travelling, which every able bodied person can do. Sweeping too much actually is counter productive. You just want to melt the ice slightly, to make the stone curl less and travel farther. Too much, smooths the pebble on the ice and will actually slow the ice down, particularly as the game goes on - slow ice, or rapidly evolving ice, is very hard to achieve consistency on. I would liken it to playing a round of golf, with every green having a different speed and firmness - you'd struggle with putting/approach. Unless the drugs helped nerves, concentration or judgement/feel, I don't know what advantage they would offer. It very much a sport where practice, composure and judgement win over athleticism. You can play to high level well into your 50s, even 60s. "I used to play curling to a national level at my age group" ?????????? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
big blue Fin 3,724 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 On 24/02/2018 at 14:43, tannerall said: Saw during the week a member of the Winter Olympic Russian Curling team received a drugs ban. Having watched Curling can't see how drugs would improve performance. Basically just a game where you bowl a stone, then walk alongside till it reaches or misses target. Am I missing an athletic point ? Maybe drugs help with the brush strokes per minute ? https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/22/russian-curler-alexander-krushelnitsky-stripped-of-winter-olympics-medal-after-admitting-doping Or maybe it's just the Russians can't play fair at anything. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
big blue Fin 3,724 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 17 hours ago, Band of Brothers said: Bonus point who can tell me where the stones are from...................... Ooh ooh me miss ah know!! The Ailsa Craig, but not sure that the South Koreans bothered to get them there. Probably got them made cheap in China or North Korea. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLUEDIGNITY 33,647 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Our curling teams play as if they are fuckin stoned! Pure shite like the winter olympics! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.T.G 10,773 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 You’d need to be on drugs to play that shite Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malkster 4,878 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 On 25/02/2018 at 02:19, Band of Brothers said: Bonus point who can tell me where the stones are from...................... Ailsa Craig Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mongoose 1,007 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 He is on the slippery slope! Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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