More videos show spinner winners

It’s been 10 days since Swedish skip Niklas Edin made the curling shot of the century, a bizarre “super spinner” to force an extra end against Norway at the world men’s curling championship.

The shot labelled either “craziest” or “best”—or both—by a thrilled global curling fanbase also attracted attention from mainstream sport fans.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As6YFFbE-qY[/embed]

The Curling News YouTube page, a largely dormant platform, was one of the first to post the video (above) and boasts 140,000 views to date, with almost 100 comments.

Our corresponding story gave context to Edin’s effort, and included additional videos from Finnish skip and coach Tomi Rantamäki, who has made similar spinner shots in the past.

We’ve since heard more from Rantamäki and an ex-teammate, while two Canadian competitors have tried to execute The Shot on their own—with successful results.

Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen went to his local Fort Rouge Curling Club the very next day, armed with his smartphone.

“6th attempt for a mere mortal like me!” tweeted McEwen in triumph. McEwen went on to state that he made the shot twice in 10 in-turn attempts and also scored on one out of his eight out-turn throws.

McEwen also poked fun at his first of two celebrations, which ended in a bit of a spill over the side barrier.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyB100-t6Uk[/embed]

McEwen offered more information after posting his second video.

“2^nd extreme spinner made attempt & angles looked intimidating!” he posted.

“It’s amazing how u can alter attack path angles into stationary rocks with high-spin plus gear/grab effect helps fling it away.

“Don’t let them tell u on tv you can’t do this with club rocks!”

Steven Lobel of Whitby, Ont. went to his local Whitby Curling Club on April 13.

Like McEwen, Lobel was practicing by himself and was surprised when he made The Shot on his third attempt.

“My intent was to just to practice, then my mixed partner Raquel challenged me to try the shot,” said Lobel.

“Then after I made it, she suggested I go get my camera and film myself making it.

“It took another 10 attempts to make it on camera.”

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWMC6tZFqB4[/embed]

The Ontario senior men’s runner-up third—who designed one of our most famous cover graphics for The Curling News—was typically modest.

“The ice was straight and heavy and I think that made it easier,” said Lobel.

Following the publication of our story, Rantamäki has since recalled discussing spinner shots with none other than Niklas Edin back in 2018.

“I played a couple of spinners at the World Curling Tour event in Champéry,” said Rantamaki. “Team Edin was playing on the next sheet and they watched carefully.

“After the game they had some questions. I told them they should practice these shots too, they will need them in the future.”

Five years later, it’s clear the Swedish Olympic champions have been doing exactly that.

When prompted, Rantamäki offered further details of one his successful spinners made with his Finnish men’s team.

“Once in the Finnish championship league, the opponent had four stones counting behind six or seven guards, and he had the hammer, too,” said the 2014 Olympian.

“I made a spinner around the guards to lie one and they were not able to take it out, so we stole one. Giving up four would have meant losing the game, so that was a shock for the opponent.”

This part of the story is quite cool.

“One of their players was visiting the toilet during my spinner so he did not see it,” said Rantamäki. “He could not believe the change of the situation and the explanation given by his teammates.

“Later in the game, in one end we had the hammer and a free draw for an additional point. Before my draw, that player came to me and asked if I could make another spinner so he could see how it works, since he didn’t see it the first time.

“I made the extra point and he thanked me,” Rantamäki laughed.

While Rantamaki was coaching China’s Olympic mixed doubles team in Beijing, his former Finnish teammates made a spinner to win silver in the national championship league.

“Traditionalists, even here in Finland, don’t think it’s worth putting the time in to practice those shots,” said Jermu Pöllänen, who threw that winning spinner and who competed at last year’s world men’s championship.

“But as we tested them, we found out they were actually quite easy to handle. Hitting the four foot is as easy if not even easier to do with a spinner as there is more time to adjust the weight by sweeping.

“The amount of rotations just have to be stable, and of course you can’t throw the spinner too heavy as you can do nothing with it—but that’s same with normal shots, too.”

Pöllänen points out that Edin’s successful spinner was almost a miss.

“Niklas’ spinner was very close to being too heavy, but if he was light the tapped stone may not have moved at all.

“I think Niklas’ shot could still have made it if it curled some more and hit the stationary rock thicker.

“With spinners, some split shots can also be made when the angles for normal shots appear impossible.”

The impending conclusion of the traditional curling season means many curlers are running out of time to try their own spinners before the next season starts in the fall.

But anyone can try it, now or later, and anyone can be a hero by making it.

We’ll give the last word to Rantamäki.

“It takes some time to train a team to a level where these kinds of shots are being made with more than 50% success,” said Rantamäki.

“It can bring the team to a new level because the team knows it has the shots to solve situations. When the opponent knows my team can make these shots, they can get desperate when thinking about how to guard their stones.”