{"id":165,"date":"2015-01-29T02:28:02","date_gmt":"2015-01-29T02:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/slidetracker-improve-your-curling-sweeping\/"},"modified":"2024-07-10T14:45:32","modified_gmt":"2024-07-10T14:45:32","slug":"slidetracker-improve-your-curling-sweeping","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/slidetracker-improve-your-curling-sweeping\/","title":{"rendered":"SweepTracker &#8211; Improve your curling sweeping effectiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Update: SweepTracker now has two modes, can be used to measure the effect of sweeping on curl<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Also excellent for matching rocks *<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Curling&#8217;s broom\/sweeping controversy has significantly increased the interest in the effect of sweeping and equipment on the curl of the rock. SweepTracker now has a &#8220;rock launching mode&#8221; which consistently launches rocks at controlled speeds, directions, and rotations to allow for comparison of the effects of different techniques.<\/p>\n<p>This video clip shows a rock number 2 launched after rock number 1, with the second rock following the exact same path (curl and distance) as the first. Click below to play the video:<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><div style=\"width: 720px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-165-1\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/test1.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/test1.mp4\">https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/test1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This second video shows a different set of rock launches. Rocks 1 and 2 were launched, and went down the same paths as in the first video, sitting closer to the button. Rock 3 curled considerably more than Rocks 1 and 2. Rock 4, shown being launched in the video, ends up between the previous rocks. (This illustrates another use for the rock launching mode, to match rocks.*)<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><div style=\"width: 720px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-165-2\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/test2.mp4?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/test2.mp4\">https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/test2.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>With this type of consistency, we can launch a &#8220;reference&#8221; rock, record where it lands, then sweep another rock (or the same rock) and measure the difference in distance and curl.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So what about sweeping? <\/strong>Here are three closely matched rocks, one reference, and two swept with a synthetic head. Note that even though the sweeping is occurring from the high side, the rock does what we used to always used to expect &#8211; it travels straigher and further.<\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><div style=\"width: 720px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-165-3\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/SwT3cca.mp4?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/SwT3cca.mp4\">https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/SwT3cca.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Now with a hair broom&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table style=\"width: 100%; height: auto;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><div style=\"width: 720px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-165-4\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/SwT4cc.mp4?_=4\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/SwT4cc.mp4\">https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/SwT4cc.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We have worked with several teams on evaluating the new sweeping techniques, and can tell you they do make a difference. SweepTracker allows you to see exactly how much difference, and to tune your sweeping style for maximum effectiveness. <a href=\"mailto:info@TrackerCurling.com\">Contact us<\/a> to work with your team.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><em>More videos coming soon&#8230;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>* Matching rocks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em>We now are offering very reasonably priced rock matching services, starting at $479 for four sheets at a club in the Greater Toronto Area. Contact us for a price for your club.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Measuring sweeping effectiveness has been considered from many angles over the years: infrared cameras to measure temperature change and brooms that measure pressure and sweeping speed are two attempts. But up until now, no one has directly measured the change in friction &#8211; something that can only be done by measuring the force required to keep the rock moving at a constant speed. SweepTracker is a motorized, battery powered device that cradles the rock and pushes it over the ice while measuring the force. It has a separate motor to keep the rock rotating. As it runs, it provides both audio and visual feedback of the effect of sweeping. Initial plans &#8211; as SweepTracker is being refined &#8211; is to offer sweeping clinics where teams can bring equipment and try different techniques to find which is their most effective approach. More information as it is available will be posted here.<\/p>\n<div style=\"float: left; padding-right: 5px; width: 30%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-160\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sweep1.png\" alt=\"SweepTracker in action\" width=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sweep1.png 440w, https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sweep1-300x261.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\" \/><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; padding-right: 5px; width: 30%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-161\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sweep2.png\" alt=\"SweepTracker in action\" width=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sweep2.png 443w, https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/sweep2-300x262.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px\" \/><\/div>\n<div style=\"float: left; padding-right: 5px; width: 30%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-162\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/STaloneSm.png\" alt=\"Photo of SweepTracker\" width=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/STaloneSm.png 303w, https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/STaloneSm-300x285.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px\" \/><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><em>Photos taken at K.W. Granite Club, Waterloo, courtesy Jim Waite<\/em><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n<h4>Example display from SweepTracker where two sweepers started sweeping at about 4 seconds, and stopped sweeping at about 13 seconds. Note the significant change in measured friction:<\/h4>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-163\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/plot.png\" alt=\"sweeptracker output plot\" width=\"853\" height=\"521\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/plot.png 853w, https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/plot-300x183.png 300w, https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/plot-768x469.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>SweepTracker undergoing tests with the Ontario Under 21 Men&#8217;s champion team: Morgan Calwell, Kurt Armstrong, and Mac Calwell.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-164\" src=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/guysAndRT-sm.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/guysAndRT-sm.png 792w, https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/guysAndRT-sm-300x252.png 300w, https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/guysAndRT-sm-768x645.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Update: SweepTracker now has two modes, can be used to measure the effect of sweeping on curl Also excellent for matching rocks * Curling&#8217;s broom\/sweeping controversy has significantly increased the interest in the effect of sweeping and equipment on the curl of the rock. SweepTracker now has a &#8220;rock launching mode&#8221; which consistently launches rocks at controlled speeds, directions, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160,"parent":0,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-165","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":283,"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/165\/revisions\/283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightguidesystems.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}