Clogs and Curlers: A Match Made In Olympic Heaven?

Was it just me, or did the curling teams at the Olympics wear clogs. They weren’t like wooden clogs or medical clogs, but they were more like a dress clog. Like they almost looked like dress shoes but at the same time they were clogs. I’d never seen those before. I never would have guessed curlers wore any type of special footwear, though I’m guessing that when your playing a sport where you’re sliding on the ice with precision you would need something special.

This got me thinking about what kind of shoes you would need to best maneuver on the ice. I know that curler wear a special type of rubber sole that they slip onto the bottom of the clogs when on the ice, but I’m guessing those don’t give you any special advantage. Essentially these rubber soles are so you don’t scuff up the ice, I’m guessing they don’t have much to do with giving the curler any extra advantage.

If you’ve ever walked on ice it’s not the easiest thing to navigate. If you’re fairly good with balance- I’m not the best but I’m decent enough to where I spend most of the time off my butt- you can usually maneuver nicely on it without catching your balance every moment. It takes a little more skill to be able to slide on it, but once you’ve done it a few times you kind of get the hang on it. I’ve played broom hockey a few times (think hockey with shoes on instead of skates) and I’ve found that tennis shoes are usually the best way to go if you are wearing shoes on the ice. I once had to play broom hockey with slip on work shoes and that was not a fun experience (I had bruises for weeks). I imagine the clogs that curlers use have a snug fit but have enough mobility to be comfortable when you’re sliding.

When you think of a shoe that is comfortable on the ice I would assume you would have to take the same standards you would put into effect when buying a ice skate. For those of you who have ever worn ice skates (I would assume that is probably about 80% of you reading this article… I mean c’mon, who hasn’t gone ice skating) know that they are supposed to be tight. You don’t want your foot moving around too much because you want control over where you are pointing the blade. If your foot moves too much then your turns won’t be straight enough and you’ll end up on your fanny for most of the day. You are essentially looking for something that is fight in the ankle and mid foot area, but also with enough room to wiggle your toes. That’s at least what I would assume you would want in curling clogs. Maybe I’ll try them out and let you know later.