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I'm interested to see how the curling federation handles this - the last I heard they banned brooms with directional bristles as they provided too much of an ad

I'm interested to see how the curling federation handles this - the last I heard they banned brooms with directional bristles as they provided too much of an advantage. I can see this being an invaluable training tool, but ultimately banned in competition

thinkloop 9y ago
From my reading it is only meant as a training tool.
- masklinn 9y ago
  That is also my understanding. In fact the end of the article states they'd like to get the > hardware light enough to embed in brooms used in competition so that real-time statistics can be broadcast on television. but currently it's solely a training tool.
  - jonwachob91 9y ago
    Using those sensors in competition wouldn't alter the skill/athleticism required of the athletes like the directional bristle broom. It would simply increase the amount of data that broadcasters / journalists have to work with, increasing the visibility of the sport.
    - masklinn 9y ago
      Yes.
lawlessone 9y ago
> last I heard they banned brooms with directional bristles as they provided too much of an advantage. Odd, could they not just give everyone brooms with directional bristles? then it would no longer be an advantage.
- evgen 9y ago
  If it makes things too easy then it can compress results to the point where the luck vs. skill balance in any sport is tilted too heavily towards luck. A lot of these improvements also have an impact downstream from the top-tier competitors; a $2000 broom may be nothing compared to the cost of fielding a top team, but can become pay-to-win at amateur levels and be something the governing bodies of a sport may want to avoid.
- jdietrich 9y ago
  The new brooms fundamentally changed the nature of the game, greatly diminishing the importance of the skill of the thrower and the strength and athleticism of the sweepers. The cat is now out of the bag. The techniques learned from using directional brooms have now created a completely different style of sweeping, based mainly on manipulating scratches in the ice rather than heating it. Directional fabric broom heads are banned, but the directional sweeping technique they spawned is here to stay. Not everyone in curling is happy about that. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/curling/curling-s-broom-controversy-can-t-be-swept-aside-1.3448870 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/curling/curling-s-broom-co...
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    If a sport or activity can be undermined by learning more about it, maybe it’s not much of a sport.
    - ta11ey 9y ago
      Yup
    - andrewla 9y ago
      A sport is defined by the artificial limitations placed on it. I could break the world record for the mile run if I were allowed to drive a car or use a bicycle instead of my legs. At some level there is a subjective evaluation of what the sport is about, and an evolving attempt to allow technological improvements to enter where they are in the spirit of the sport (like grippier gloves in football) and ban them when they change the nature of the sport too much (like superchargers in F1).

thinkloop 9y ago

From my reading it is only meant as a training tool.

masklinn 9y ago
That is also my understanding. In fact the end of the article states they'd like to get the > hardware light enough to embed in brooms used in competition so that real-time statistics can be broadcast on television. but currently it's solely a training tool.
- jonwachob91 9y ago
  Using those sensors in competition wouldn't alter the skill/athleticism required of the athletes like the directional bristle broom. It would simply increase the amount of data that broadcasters / journalists have to work with, increasing the visibility of the sport.
  - masklinn 9y ago
    Yes.

lawlessone 9y ago

> last I heard they banned brooms with directional bristles as they provided too much of an advantage. Odd, could they not just give everyone brooms with directional bristles? then it would no longer be an advantage.

evgen 9y ago
If it makes things too easy then it can compress results to the point where the luck vs. skill balance in any sport is tilted too heavily towards luck. A lot of these improvements also have an impact downstream from the top-tier competitors; a $2000 broom may be nothing compared to the cost of fielding a top team, but can become pay-to-win at amateur levels and be something the governing bodies of a sport may want to avoid.
jdietrich 9y ago
The new brooms fundamentally changed the nature of the game, greatly diminishing the importance of the skill of the thrower and the strength and athleticism of the sweepers. The cat is now out of the bag. The techniques learned from using directional brooms have now created a completely different style of sweeping, based mainly on manipulating scratches in the ice rather than heating it. Directional fabric broom heads are banned, but the directional sweeping technique they spawned is here to stay. Not everyone in curling is happy about that. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/curling/curling-s-broom-controversy-can-t-be-swept-aside-1.3448870 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/curling/curling-s-broom-co...
- IntronExon 9y ago
  If a sport or activity can be undermined by learning more about it, maybe it’s not much of a sport.
  - ta11ey 9y ago
    Yup
  - andrewla 9y ago
    A sport is defined by the artificial limitations placed on it. I could break the world record for the mile run if I were allowed to drive a car or use a bicycle instead of my legs. At some level there is a subjective evaluation of what the sport is about, and an evolving attempt to allow technological improvements to enter where they are in the spirit of the sport (like grippier gloves in football) and ban them when they change the nature of the sport too much (like superchargers in F1).