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Curling doesn't get much airtime outside of the Olympics, but every four years it becomes fans' sports obsession.
It looks like something anyone can do, a merging of shuffleboard with ice, but there is much more to the game than sliding a stone down a long stretch of ice.
Curling is a skill mixed with science. There is a lot of physics involved in measuring a stone's curl over roughly 90 feet of ice. Once the stone is released, it is allowed to be swept down the ice with a broom. While it looks like they are just clearing a path, there is plenty of method to the madness when it comes to sweeping, and good sweeping can save a bad shot and bad sweeping can ruin the line of a good shot.
Here is more on the broom's impact in curling and how sweeping is an essential part of the game.
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Why do they sweep in curling?
Sweeping is done in curling to help influence the travel path of the released stone as it heads toward the house in an attempt to score points. The simple reasoning behind the motion is that sweeping helps reduce the friction between the ice and the stone. It helps curlers to "control the stone's speed, trajectory and curl," per the Olympics.
In order to really see the impact of sweeping in curling, you have to first look at the ice. Many may assume it is the same kind of ice used for a hockey rink, but it isn't. Hockey ice is solid, but a curling sheet is "pebbled" by tiny droplets of frozen water, which help create friction.
Sweeping heats the ice, melts the pebbles and creates a very thin layer of water, which allows the stone to more easily glide. This makes it seem like the stone is speeding up to viewers, but the lower friction just helps it glide more.
Sweeping not only helps extend a throw but also improves the stone's ability to curl. Since sweeping extends the stone's path, it actually helps reduce the curl the stone had from the shooter.
MORE: How does scoring in curling work?
What does the broom do in curling?
The curling broom has taken many forms. It started out as a corn-straw broom that you may see for household cleaning and was used in curling competitions until the mid-1950s.
This transitioned into teams using brushes made from artificial materials. Push brooms were "lighter, easier to handle and more effective than corn-straw brooms."
Brooms in today's game are made from carbon fiber or fiberglass with brush heads that meet World Curling standards that were last updated in 2025.
The brooms in curling are used to directly influence the path of the stone after it is thrown. Sweeping can help to extend a stone's run, and also lessen the curl, so teams can do their best to place them right where they want them, despite the stone having to run over 90 feet down the ice.
MORE: USA Olympic curling medal history
Does sweeping in curling slow it down?
No. Sweeping in curling does not slow the stone down. In fact, it also doesn't speed the stone up. Sweeping in the sport helps to influence the path of a stone once it is thrown. Sweeping will heat up the ice and create less friction between the stone and the surface, allowing it to glide further which will make it appear like it is speeding up, when it really isn't. Sweeping can also lower the stone's curve so that teams can more accurately try and place them in the house for points.
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