Why Do Athletes Have Stopwatches For Curling?

Curling itself has been a part of the official list of winter sports since 1998, when the International Olympic Committee added the game prior to the Winter Games that year.

So, here’s all the info you need to know.

Why do curlers have stopwatches?

In curling, stopwatches serve three main functions.

Another purpose for the stopwatch is to determine how fast the ice is while the rock is in motion. This is generally between 22-26 seconds, the expert on the site revealed.

The third purpose for the stopwatch is to keep consistency between teammates on how much weight to throw on hits. An average weight is generally 9-10 seconds, with a control weight being 10-11 seconds, the guest explained on the website.

However, for non-competitive curlers, you’ll unlikely benefit from the use of a stopwatch. The guest commentator noted that beginners to the game should “be focussing first on balance, then on hitting the broom and establishing a feel for the weight”, rather than on timings.