At the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale, you can feel like you are practicing for a Winter Olympic sport.
You’ve probably seen it during the Winter Olympics: people sliding what looks like a 40-pound teapot across the ice while teammates aggressively sweep in front of it.
Welcome to the wild world of curling.
“You see it on the Olympics and you want to just do it in real life,” said Jordin Friedman.
“It gets us really excited to follow it, to really cheer our team on and try to learn the techniques to come out here and bring it ourselves,” said Benton Reynolds.
Trying it is one thing, but mastering it is another.
“It’s not easy to be good. It’s a lot like golf; anybody can go out and shoot 120 around the course, but it really takes somebody really good to break par,” said 2014 Team USA Olympic Curling Coach Bill Todhunter.
The goal of curling is to slide the stone into the bullseye target, known as the “house,” and score points. Every throw involves precision spinning and constant communication.
“You have to be coordinated to throw the stone, you have to be physically fit to sweep, but you also have to have a strategy in mind,” said Todhunter.
Todhunter is helping turn that Olympic buzz into real life action by hosting “Learn to Curl” classes at the Florida Panthers practice facility in Fort Lauderdale.
There’s a lot more to curling than it appears. You’re not just throwing a rock; you’re setting traps, blocking lanes and planning your next move, and the sweeping you see plays a bigger role than you’d think.
“The sweeping is not as easy as you think. It’s definitely hard, our heart rates, our heart pumping, we’re trying our best to get the stone all the way down the ice,” said Friedman.
Players frantically brush the ice to control speed and direction, turning physics into cardio.
“The physicality is all in the sweeping, there’s a real technique to it, you can change the angle and the speed just by sweeping,” said Reynolds.
But once you get the hang of it, curling becomes part strategy session, part team bonding and part full-body workout.
“It’s an activity that pretty much any activity level can do and any age can really do. So I feel like I’ve seen families that come out anywhere from 18 to 70 and the whole family can get out here and have fun,” said Brenna Rich.
If you want to get a shot at this, the Baptist Health IcePlex will host a few more upcoming curling sessions on Feb. 28th, March 7th and 14th. All skill levels are welcome, but you must be 18 years or older to register. For more information, click here.