WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Curling did not get its name because the rocks arc as they travel down the ice. That’s known because the sport was called curling long before there was any intentional turn applied to the stone. The name “curling” is believed to come from an old Scottish word, “curr,” which refers to the roaring sound the stones made as they slid over the frozen lochs.

In-turns and out-turns came much later. In the book The History of Curling by Reverend John Kerr, published in 1890, the author details what was called the Twist:

“…to be able by a turn of the wrist to give the stone a rotary motion which shall make it run against the bias of the ice, or to transform an object of offence into one of defence by making the stone curve round the right or left side of a guard by an elbow-out or an elbow-in delivery, is one of the highest accomplishments in the art of curling and greatly increases the interest and skill of the player.”

Kerr also referred to this type of shot as the Fenwick Twist because it was a group of curlers from a village of the same name who were the first to purposely utilize this type of shot.