You have no idea.
Last week Ann Swisshelm (left), the 2014 U.S. women's Olympic curling team's "lead," and newcomer Sarah Anderson (right), an alternate for the 2014 squad, visited the BuzzFeed office and took us to a local curling club to teach us more about the sport. Like many casual fans, we assumed we could immediately pick it up and dominate. We were very wrong.
Macey J. Foronda / BuzzFeed
To begin with, curling is a deceptively athletically demanding sport. Since it relies so heavily on balance, players must have complete control of their body, along with a strong core and great flexibility. This lunge, which none of us could do, is just a warm-up.
After stretching, we learned how to push off the blocks with the curling equivalent of training wheels to help with balance.
For right-handed curlers, the right foot is used to push off and the left foot is used to slide and guide the body down the ice. Ideally, this is accomplished in one powerful fluid motion.
