Curling?  Where to start?
85995
Hey there,\nIf you are interested, just call the closest curling club and tell them that you are interested in trying curling out. Usually the club manager is the person who you should ask to talk to. They're usually more than happy to come in and let you try it, and answer any questions. The link below lists the curling clubs for MN :)\n\nhttp://www.goodcurling.net/basics/U.S.%20clubs/minnesota.html
614804
"Curling." for one. All I know is that it involves sweeping the ice with a broom in advance of a large, slow moving, roundish stone...certainly would be unusual here in Texas...
575769
Start with the fastball, and work on placement and control.  Try different grips, holding the ball across two and four seams (two seams is along the stitching, four is across, most basically).  See how the ball moves, and perfect those pitches.\n\nThen work on a circle change.  Hold the ball with your index finger completely curled up so you can't see any light through the center of the curl.  Position you other 3 fingers naturally, and throw like a fastball.  It'll give you screwball action without hurting you arm, and it'll take 12-15 mph off the pitch, too.\n\nOnce you have those mastered, try the other pitches.  Get a good pitching coach to teach you how to grip them best.  A split-finger fastball (a/k/a a forkball) is a great pitch to have; it dives at the last second.  A curve is okay IF you can throw it naturally without anything hurting.  At 13, though, you're too young to be throwing it.  I'd wait at least 3 years, until your arm grows more.\n\nWith respect to one of the other posters, I would NOT learn a slider.  It's hard on your elbow... you don't snap your wrist when you throw it, so you do more of a stiff-arm with it.  Plus, if you throw it poorly, it gets hit about 500 feet.  If you want to try it, learn the curve first and see how it is for you.\n\nThe one pitch I advise against ever throwing is the screwball.  It is the hardest pitch on your elbow and shoulder, because you are throwing against your body and wrenching your arm the wrong way for the spin.  The circle change is better, has similar action, and acts like a reverse slider to a degree.\n\nHope all this helps... oh, and you may want to see how a knuckleball works for you (2- or 3-finger style).  If you can kill all the spin, you have a trick pitch that nobody can hit.  It got Tim Wakefield to the majors when he failed as a 1st baseman... and got Phil Niekro to the Hall of Fame... :)
307045
I love curling and im only 16 i love it.
963955
I am not trying to be a wise apple by saying there must be a ton of them out there, but honestly there are a ton of books written on any area you may need help with, from drills, to how to make a stroke.  Tennis will not be on television until January the season is pretty much over til then, but you can gain a tremendous amount in watching.  Go to your local Borders and have a look in the tennis section I bet you find what you are looking for.  I am sure you will get some posts that will be more helpful then this on where to look on the web.  If you do not just google it as I am sure you have exp. forehand/drills
888639
First of all, hats off to you for acknowledging the superiority of BCA rules.  I wish more people like you lived in my hometown.  Anyway, Tony makes some good points.  The BCA website is always a good starting place.   I also agree that Robert Byrne is a great BCA HOF author.  Phil Cappelle has some great books available on strategies for the various pool games.  Larry Schwartz has a book titled "The 8-ball Handbook for Winners".  Also check out the writings of George Fels.  He has a great book called, "A Smarter Way to Learn Pool".  It may not cover what some would consider "advanced" techniques, but much of what he says is very similar to the way I teach my own students.  We differ on a few points, but then even I differ on a few points with my BCA Master Instructor.  As a BCA instructor myself, of course I'm going to recommend that you find a certified instructor in your area.  I know that you asked for web links, but I'm always a little skeptical of "hints" and "tips" posted on line.  Often the advice given isn't really tested and probably works for only the author and a few other like-minded people.  Best of luck.  M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.
734583
before you ask about curling you should ask about chess. Yes they are both sports... and to be honest if you dont know the rules or you arent playing they turn out to be the most boring sports ever
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The game was probably invented in late medieval Scotland, with the first written reference to a contest using stones on ice coming from the records of Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, in February, 1541. Two paintings (both dated 1565 [1]) by Pieter Brueghel the Elder depict Dutch peasants curling (Scotland and the Low Countries had strong trading and cultural links during this period, which is also evident in the history of golf).\n\nThe word curling first appears in print in 1620 in Perth, Scotland, in the preface and the verses of a poem by Henry Adamson.
80188
No it isnt.\n\nBut we do play Lawn Bowls wich is about as close as you can get to Curling without having ice or sweepers.  \n\nTo see Lawn Bowels played try to catch it on broadcasts of the upcoming Commonwealth games mid MARCH from Melbourne.
199448
the butterfly!\n\nit takes alot of streching and hard work...\nwhat you want 2 do is put on your hockey pants, skates, and your goalie pads in your house{like in your living room} strech out every part of your legs, do your butterfly and try to get {from toe to toe} as atright as a bord...bring your legs together closing the five hole...but it dosen't have to be all tight & locked up\nwhen your on the ice rember to use your stick. your stick and both of your arms should remain in the same spot at all times as you are droping into your butterfly. you will need to pratice staying in your butterfly for at least ten mins at a time then when you are on the ice your mussles will have "Mussle Memory" and will be relaxed. when going into your butterfly make your pads 'slam' on to the ice...the butterfly is hard to perfect but is do able and will be very useful if done correctly!
279958
The game was probably invented in late medieval Scotland, with the first written reference to a contest using stones on ice coming from the records of Paisley Abbey, Renfrew, in February, 1541. Two paintings (both dated 1565 [1]) by Pieter Brueghel the Elder depict Dutch peasants curling (Scotland and the Low Countries had strong trading and cultural links during this period, which is also evident in the history of golf).\n\nThe word curling first appears in print in 1620 in Perth, Scotland, in the preface and the verses of a poem by Henry Adamson. The game was (and still is, in Scotland) also known as "the roaring game" because of the sound the stones make while travelling over the pebble (droplets of water applied to the playing surface). The word derives from the Scots language verb curr [2] which describes a low rumble (a cognate of the English language verb purr). The word does not take its name from the motion of the stones, which due to their deviation from a straight-line trajectory are said to curl.
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Curling made its Olympic debut at the original Olympic Games in 1924. It came back in the 1932 Lake Placid Games as a demonstration sport, but then went on a 56-year Olympic hiatus, until it returned as a demonstration sport at the 1988  and 1992 Games. Curling was brought back again as an official medal sport at the 1998 Nagano Games and has been an official sport in the Winter Olympics ever since.
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http://www.icerinksupply.com/\n\nhttp://www.icerer.com/\n\nTHOSE ARE 2 GOOD SPOTS TO START.\n\nCHEERS AND HAPPY SKATING!\nKC
370915
I love watching curling on TV - I even taped it during the Olympics so I could watch the US in their bronze medal match.  I've never played it, the nearest place to play is like 200 miles away, but I find the game really interesting in a quirky way.  It seems like bowling on ice - the kind of game that you could still play even after a couple of beers!!!
124808
See what we Americans have been missing. I wonder if Curling will become more mainstream now as it is in Canada! It is a fascinating concept not only because of the skill, but because of the physics of it as well! lol.....and not to mention the men like the girls that are easy on the eyes. lol :P
245646
Okay, first of all, a lot of these answers are silly. I play, and honestly, it mostly comes down to how polite you really are. There is a lot of politeness involved. You should always shake hands before and after the games, compliment each other's shots, be a team player, and be curtious. You can be disqualified if you don't have four players for the open draw of the bonspeil though. I guess, it's more if people don't want you to play, they'll just ask you to leave, there is hardly any disqualification. \n\nAs to touching a rock after you release it, it isn't as much of a disqualification of the player, but of the Rock. If you touch it (burn as it is known in curling jargon) then you simply take it out of play.
1081052
The hacks are put in temprarily, and either frozen in, or drilled in. When the curling is done, they take them out and re-freeze the ice. Hockey ice is also very different from curling ice and has to be treated differently anyway...\n\nSkating rink ice is generally pretty awful by curling-club standards, and is usually quite a bit harder to play on.