The basics

Curling goes back more than 500 years to when medieval Scots decided to slide some boulders across a frozen lake. It arrived in New Zealand in the 1860s with Scottish immigrants and is now played nationwide.

Considered ‘bowls’ or ‘chess on ice’, the sport involves sliding 20kg curling stones down a ‘sheet’ of ice with the intention of getting them to stop as close as possible to the scoring zone, known as ‘the house’.

Four players make up a team, including the captain who influences strategy, the thrower who throws the stone, and sweepers who control the speed and direction of the stone with a broom-squeegee. The team with the closest stones to the centre scores.

For my curling debut, I’m instructed to bring warm, loose clothing and clean, flat-soled shoes.

Giving it a bash

Curling looks relatively simple from afar. It’s not. My coach optimistically suggests that it will take around an hour for me to learn the basics. A fumbling entrance onto the ice suggests that he might actually be referring to the amount of time it takes me to find my feet on frozen water.

Once stable with some non-slip overshoes, we begin with the basics.

The sliding and throwing technique involves an extremely deep lunge, in motion, on ice. Using a starting block that is secured into the ice, the hips and shoulders should be in line with the target. The front leg is then used as an anchor under the body while the back knee is held parallel to the ice.

One hand guides the stone with a tiny Zimmer-style frame in the other as a stabiliser – reassuringly, even the most experienced players use a frame or broom for balance during delivery.

It's a very inclusive sport – on any club night we can have first year curlers playing with Olympic curlers, teenagers with seniors, and we've had wheelchair curlers too.

My first attempt at throwing was more of a bend down and abandon than a controlled lunge to glide the stone down the sheet. You can see why they love new members.

A few more wobbly attempts, a few more rendezvous with the ice, and the process became addictive. By the end