I wanted to start this thread for everyone to hopefully post questions and get answers. For instance, I've been watching the curling competitions and am wondering what the bottom of their shoes are made of that allows them to slide and walk on the surface.
I started watching this and really its quite interesting, but I still haven't figured out how the scoring works. The bottom of the shows looks like this material I used in woodworking, UHMW (Ultra High Molecular Weight) is a hi-tech, self-lubricating plastic.
The heel of the shoe is strange though. I agree with you on the front that it is some sort of plastic to glide on, but the heel looks strange. Take a look at this link: http://www.asham.com/store_shoes.htm Let me know what you think.
If you scroll down you can see that some of them have soles that are just one piece of white with no separate heel material. The one's I saw on tv look like these.
I guess when you've been in the sport a while, you can balance yourself pretty well with the plastic. Here is another reason to watch curling: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20051031.wcurl1031/BNStory/Sports/
This chick is curling in tennis shoes: <img src=http://www.ftvideo.com/genex/results_05/raye/darelli.jpg>