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Spirit of Curling
Posted in 
Curling
Spirit of Curling
Posted in 
Curling
Spirit of Curling
Many of the players here do not curl in real life and may not understand the traditions of the sport.  Below is an excerpt from the World Curling Federation's Curling Handbook:

Curling is a game of skill and of traditions. A shot well executed is a delight to see and so, too, it is a fine thing to observe the time-honoured traditions of curling being applied in the true spirit of the game. Curlers play to win but never to humble their opponents. A true curler would prefer to lose rather than win unfairly.

A good curler never attempts to distract an opponent or otherwise prevent him from playing his best. No curler ever deliberately breaks a rule of the game or any of its traditions. But, if he should do so inadvertently and be aware of it, he is the first to divulge the breach.

While the main object of the game of curling is to determine the relative skill of the players, the spirit of the game demands good sportsmanship, kindly feeling and honourable conduct. This spirit should influence both the interpretation and application of the rules of the game and also the conduct of all participants on and off the Ice.

I understand that this is a video game, but many players violate the spirit of curling on a regular basis (hopefully out of ignorance).  It would make this game a lot more fun if all players observe these rules of conduct.
bonobo likes to distract his opponents by saying ggs while his opponents are delivering their last shots
I totally agree,there's too many people playing on here that as soon as they are in front they leave, in my books this is cheating....
i agree with all the rules and spirit.

i play for real...but here it is total diffrent, i am sorry for this.

i hope it will be better in the future.

thx for your topic, stoneman
These or similar rules of honour exist in all  kind of sports whatever it is curling, football or dart. Players who break the rules surely know about what good behaviour is, but they have missed to learn respect for other human, maybe because they have been treated too many times with disrespect. So don't judge them too hard, but try to help them become better players by showing them good behaviour and respect.
absolut rigth...i agree with you. lets do this

best regards stoni
This is a game for fun. There is not money to be won. Somebody taking them selfes so serious and bla bla bla.
Its a fun game. Down to earth.
John, you sure got this one right.  The sportsmanship continues to deteriorate around here.  Had a game with a player who constantly criticized my play (obviously a fan of the Clash given his nick).  I urge all players to never play anyone that shows poor sportsmanship.  Maybe if everyone does that, they might disappear and go play on other sites that allow such behavior.
I totally agree too, too much bad sportsmanship here from certain players, either being distracting or not saying gg but when they are winning its a different story. Manners cost nothing.
Yes all good points. Anyone know what everyone has against "bowling"? I mean if they didn't want you to hit they would only give you 2 rocks to be able to do so with. Hitting and peeling is part of the game. It is very odd to say the least.
Trying to get people to understand this sort of thing is a bit tough at times but when the majority are kids, or people who just don't have any experience with the real thing, it's very difficult to get that nuance across. Curling is a game of respect in a lot of ways but on the internet, respect isn't at the forefront of people's minds.
trout what everyone has against bowling is that it can dismantle their efforts of a carefully constructed series of skill shots. tough luck if u are skillful enough a bowler will never be able to dismantle u like that. it is really just a way of showing peak when a bowler gets an advantage over you.bowl or url the winner is the winner end of story.always comments with bowler here when someone gets advantage.it comes close to etiquette bullying.
The game is called curling. Wether you hit, draw, guard, peel, tick-shot, runback, raise-take or freeze you're playing a curling shot. Not bowling.

Take-outs is an extremely natural part of a healthy winning curling strategy. And they are just as much a curling shot as any other.

Accusing your opponent of bad/negative strategy is not just bad etiquette, it's plain ignorant and boarderline stupid. If you feel your opponent is playing a sub-optimal strategy, do you really feel that is such a bad thing? Try to exploit it, not criticize it! And commend your opponent for well played shots.
Try to take out as accurate as you draw and you will see that it is much more difficult.
That’s why the best “bowler” will be the best curler,  it’s last step of your experience: to be "lucky" "bowler".

But… if your strategy is perfect you may leave no chance to even the most accurate "bowler"/curler.
Train yourself. 

I get knocked for bowling so much, but if I just scored two or more points, why would I keep a lot of stones in play? Part of curling is responding to the other player's strategy. If you don't like the fact that I'm bowling, maybe you should put up guards, play freezes, etc. Curling is a two-way street and in my opinion any good player should be able to respond and change strategies according to the situation.
The Spirit of Curling originally posted here should be repeated in several languages. Anybody willing to take this on?

c²
not John, I read that a few months back when I looked up official rules, and I've tried my best to play with good sportsmanship. I've often tried to tell people that it says that in curling rules.I've also have (as best you can in a chat window) tried to help new people on site with how things work and strategy tips, I will give suggestions to opponent all the time at what might help them with next shot or something along those lines.I mean most of us want to win but we want to win against someone that is playing the best they can. I don't get a sense of accomplishment if I end up winning against someone that hasn't really learned game yet. I know most of you feel same way.
 
I wish people would stop using the term "bowling".  They are called "take outs", "hits" or "peels" and if you ever watch real curling (professional or otherwise) you will see that hits are an integral part of the game and if done well can virtually neuter the ability of your opponent to score mutliple point ends.


Hey NotJohnShuster,
I saw what you did there.
Thank you so much for the translations.

c²
When you are down by a good number of shots. Say the score is 5-1 in the last end, and you DONT have hammer, quit. It is the sportsman like thing to do. Go to the practice room if you want to get better.
Choose your opponents wisely. Skillful play requires a variety of tools. Now if the Power bar allowed you to foul if you went past a certain point then it would level the playing field.
except in Curling there is no penalty for throwing it has hard as can. 

So just get over the fact that if you don't utilize guards and the Free Guard Zone, your rocks will be eliminated.
inertia, as silly as that suggestion is,you can still take out with using full power so what good would a foul setting do?? My tactic is whenever playing I always assume that if opponent can get to your rock(s) it's vulnerable to take outs. That is the game.Play accordingly.
My suggestion, for the sake of this discussion, was that throwing too hard could cause a Hog line violation, the same as throwing too soft. Skillful players could still play take-outs but would have to release in time the same as any other shot & not be given 100% automatically. 

In real curling throwing too hard can cause you to lose your balance, miss the broom or not release the rock in time. I have no problem with the style of play implied here but if it required a skillful reflex to execute, the same as all other shots, then players would be on an equal footing.
Wrong. 

The faster you slide out the easier it is to keep your balance.

We hit in real Curling at full blast, not for affect but for accuracy. Sometimes lots of weight is needed to move lots of granite but we peel at high speed because the rock goes straight or at least straighter.

In real curling though when attempting draws/guards, you'd have more time to correct your line a little while you slide, that's true, but you should Not be doing that anyway.
The amount of hogline violations on the release is almost Nil as well. You see it maybe once or twice a year.

I've never released too late in 15 years of Curling.
oh gosh, not this again....

If you don't set the ends to a set amount like 2 or 4, then a player can leave after any end without punishment. Set up your games for 2 ends at least. If your opponent leaves after the first end you'll be awarded free points.

Because there is the option for both, it is NOT cheating when someone leaves.
What IS bad sportsmanship is: say it's the last rock of the last end and you're down 3 or whatever and out of rocks and aren't even sitting shot rock. Now it's your opponents turn and they make you wait there while they try to figure out how to get even more points.

I just throw the rock away in this spot. No risk and I have already won. Should take no more than 5 seconds to do this.