Stone skipping and stone skimming are the arts of throwing a flat

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

across water in such a way (usually sidearm) that it bounces off the surface. "Skipping" counts the number of bounces; "skimming" measures the distance traveled.

History

The 2nd-century CE Greek scholar

Julius Pollux Julius Pollux (, ''Ioulios Polydeukes''; fl. 2nd century) was a Greeks, Greek scholar and rhetorician from Naucratis, Ancient Egypt.Andrew Dalby, ''Food in the Ancient World: From A to Z'', p.265, Routledge, 2003 Emperor Commodus appointed him a pr ...

calls the game ἐποστρακισμός. The 3rd-century CE Latin writer Marcus Minucius Felix described children skipping shells on the beach. In England, a 1583 text calls it "Ducks and Drakes". An early explanation of the physics of stone-skipping was provided by Lazzaro Spallanzani in the 18th century.

Records

The world record for the number of skips, according to the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

'', is 88, by Kurt "Mountain Man" Steiner. The cast was achieved on September 6, 2013, at Red Bridge in the Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania. The previous record was 65 skips, by Max Steiner (no relation), set at Riverfront Park, Franklin, Pennsylvania. Before him, the record was 51 skips, set by Russell Byars on July 19, 2007, skipping at the same location. Kurt Steiner also held the world record between 2002 and 2007 with a throw of 40 skips, achieved in competition in Franklin, PA. The Guinness World Record for the furthest distance skimmed using natural stone stands at 121.8m for men, established by Dougie Isaacs (Scotland), and 52.5m for women, thrown by Nina Luginbuhl (Switzerland). These records were made on 28 May 2018 at Abernant Lake, Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, Wales. There are several stone skimming championships held. The record for most World Championship wins also sits with Dougie Isaacs (Scotland), with 8 Men's World Stone Skimming Championship wins (2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016) and the Women's World Stone Skimming Championship wins record sits with Lucy Wood (England) with 5 wins (2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018).

Championships

The "Big Four" American stone skipping contests include (in order of establishment and participant rankings): # The Mackinac Island championship, held on July 4 in northern Michigan (entry by invite only; must win prior Mackinac Open or Pennsylvania Qualifier to enter); # The Pennsylvania championship, held usually the 3rd Saturday of August in Franklin, PA, about one hour southeast of Erie (winners invited to the subsequent Michigan contest); # The Vermont championship (about one month after Pennsylvania) on the shore of Lake Paran, North of Bennington; and # The Great Southern championship in Arkansas (Labor Day weekend). Former world champion Coleman-McGhee founded the North American Stone Skipping Association (NASSA) in 1989 in Driftwood, Texas. NASSA-sanctioned world championships were held from 1989 through 1992 in Wimberley, Texas. The next official NASSA World Championship is expected to be held at Platja d'en Ros beach in Cadaqués,

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

.. A stone skimming championship takes place every year in Easdale, Scotland, where relative distance counts as opposed to the number of skips, as tends to be the case outside of the US. The event was run for more than 20 years by Donald Melville, who is seen as having done more for the sport than anyone. Since 1997, competitors from all over the world have taken part in the World Stone Skimming Championships (WSSC) in a disused water-filled quarry on Easdale Island using sea-worn Easdale slate of maximum 3" diameter. Each participant gets three throws and the stone must bounce/skip at least twice to count (i.e. 3 water touches minimum). The event featured in the 2019 BBC Scotland documentary ''Sink or Skim''. The WSSC for 2020-2022 were cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

before resuming competition in September 2023. Other domestic distance-based championships in the UK are currently the Welsh and British, but they were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 for reasons including the COVID-19 pandemic. The British is next due to be held in 2023. Japan holds competitions where both skimming and skipping principles, as well as a throw's overall aesthetic quality, are taken into account to determine the winners. At present, there is also a competition at Ermatingen in Switzerland and occasionally in the Netherlands (both skimming/distance-based).

Men's World Skimming Championship winners by year

Women's World Skimming Championship winners by year

Underlying physics

Although stone skipping occurs at the air-water interface,

surface tension Surface tension is the tendency of liquid surfaces at rest to shrink into the minimum surface area possible. Surface tension (physics), tension is what allows objects with a higher density than water such as razor blades and insects (e.g. Ge ...

has very little to do with the physics of stone-skipping. Instead, the stones are a

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

akin to a planing boat or Frisbee, generating lift from a body angled upwards and a high horizontal

speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

. The same physical effects apply to a stone when traveling in air or water. However, the force only compares to

gravity In physics, gravity (), also known as gravitation or a gravitational interaction, is a fundamental interaction, a mutual attraction between all massive particles. On Earth, gravity takes a slightly different meaning: the observed force b ...

when immersed in water, because the latter

fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously motion, move and Deformation (physics), deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are M ...

has higher

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

. The result is a characteristic bouncing or skipping motion, in which a series of extremely brief collisions with the water appear to support the stone. During each collision, the stone's horizontal velocity is approximately constant and its vertical motion can be approximated as a non-Hookean spring. The stone is only partially immersed, and lift from the immersed back suspends the stone and

torque In physics and mechanics, torque is the rotational analogue of linear force. It is also referred to as the moment of force (also abbreviated to moment). The symbol for torque is typically \boldsymbol\tau, the lowercase Greek letter ''tau''. Wh ...

s it towards tumbling. That torque is stabilized by the

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining Orientation (geometry), orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in ...

effect: the stone-skipper imparts a perpendicular initial

angular momentum Angular momentum (sometimes called moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of Momentum, linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a Conservation law, conserved quantity – the total ang ...

much larger than the collisional impulse, so that the latter induces only a small

precession Precession is a change in the orientation of the rotational axis of a rotating body. In an appropriate reference frame it can be defined as a change in the first Euler angle, whereas the third Euler angle defines the rotation itself. In o ...

in the

axis of rotation Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...

. Stones improperly oriented at the moment of collision will not rebound: the largest observed angle of attack preceding a rebound occurred at an angle of approximately 45°. Conversely, a stone making angle 20° with the water's surface may rebound even at relatively low velocities, as well as minimizing the time and energy spent in the following collision. In principle, a stone can skip arbitrarily-long distances, given a sufficiently high initial speed and rotation. Each collision saps an approximately constant

kinetic energy In physics, the kinetic energy of an object is the form of energy that it possesses due to its motion. In classical mechanics, the kinetic energy of a non-rotating object of mass ''m'' traveling at a speed ''v'' is \fracmv^2.Resnick, Rober ...

from the stone (a dynamical equation equivalent to Coulomb friction), as well as imparting an approximately constant angular impulse. Experiments suggest that initial angular momentum's stabilizing effect limits most stones: even "long-lived" throws still have high translational velocities when they finally sink.

Names

* English: "skipping stones" or "skipping rocks" (North America); "lobsta cutting" (Cape Cod, North America); "stone skimming" or "ducks and drakes" (Britain); Skliffing or "skiting" (Scotland) and "stone skiffing" (Ireland) * Bengali: "frog jumps" (''Bengbaji''); "kingfisher" (''Machhranga'') * Bulgarian: "frogs" (жабки) *

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

: "skipping (little) stones" (片石(仔)) 'pin3 sek6 (zai2)''* Catalan: "making step-stone bridges" (''fer passeres''); "making furrows" (''fer rigalets''); "skipping stones" (''llençar passanelles'') *

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

: "to make/throw froggies" (''dělat (házet) žabky/žabičky'' – countrywide and generally intelligible); "to make ducks/drakes/ducklings" (''dělat kačky/kačeny/kačery/kačenky/káčata/káčírky'' - in East Bohemia and parts of

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

); "little fishes" (''rybičky/rybky''); "saucers" (''mističky''); "plates/dishes" (''talíře''); "wagtails" (''podlisky/podlíšky/lyšky''); "divers" (''potápky''); "pot-lids" (''pokličky/pukličky''); "flaps" (''plisky/plesky''); "plops" (''žbluňky''); "darts" (''šipky''); "bubbles" (''bubliny''); "

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s" (''židy''); "figures" (''páni/panáky''); "gammers"/"wagtails" (''babky''); "dolls"/"girls"/"dragonflies" (''panenky''); "to ferry

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

" (''převážet panenku Mariu'') * Danish: "slipping" (''smut'' or ''at smutte''); "to make slips" (''at slå smut'') * Dutch: "bouncing" (''ketsen'') *

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

: "throwing a

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

" (''lutsu viskama'') * Finnish: "throwing breads/sandwiches" (''heittää leipiä/voileipiä'') * French: "making ricochets" (''faire des ricochets'') * German: "stone skipping" (''Steinehüpfen''); colloquially i.a. "flitting" (''flitschen'', old synonym of ''schwirren'', "whirring"), its diminutive ''flitscheln'', and "bouncing" (''ditschen'', a variant of ''titschen''); older synonyms rarely used are i.a. "leading the bride" (''die Braut führen''), "throwing frogs" (''Frösche werfen''), "shooting/throwing maids/virgins" (''Jungfern schießen/werfen''), "skiffing" (''schiffeln'', ''schippern''), "springing" (''schnellern'', from ''schnellen'', "springing" or "darting"), and "pebbling" (''steineln'') *

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: "little frogs" (''βατραχάκια'') * Hungarian: "making it to waddle", lit. "making it walk like a duck" (''kacsáztatás'') *

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''rimbalzello'' * Japanese: "cutting water" (「水切り」 'mizu kiri'' * Korean: ''mulsujebi'' (물수제비), meaning water () and Korean soup '' sujebi''. * Latvian: "throwing (stone) froggies" (''mest (akmens) vardītes'') * Lithuanian: "making frogs" (''daryti varlytes'') * Macedonian: "frogs" (жабчиња) *

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

: ''da shui piao'' (打水漂) *

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

: ''bhakrya kadhne'' * Mongolian: "making the rabbit leap" (''tuulai kharailgakh''); "making the dog lick" (''nokhoi doloolgokh'') *

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

: "the way a dragonfly skips across the water" (''lami lami'') * Norwegian: "fish bounce" (''fiskesprett'') * Polish: "letting the ducks out" (''puszczanie kaczek'') * Portuguese "water shearing" ("capar a água"); "making tiny hats" ("fazer chapeletas") * Romanian "making frogs" ("a face broaşte") *

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: "pancakes" (блинчики 'Blinchiki''; "frogs" (лягушки 'Lyagushki'' *

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

: "(to throw) little frogs" ( 'bacati''''žabice'') * Spanish: "making white-caps" (''hacer cabrillas''); "making little frogs" (''hacer ranitas''); making ducklings (''hacer patitos'') * Swedish: "throwing a sandwich" (''kasta smörgås'' or ''kasta macka'') * Telugu: "frog jumps" (''kappa gantulu'') * Turkish: "skimming stone" (''taş sektirme'') * Ukrainian: "letting the frogs out" (''zapuskaty zhabky'') *

Farsi Persian ( ), also known by its endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoke ...

/Persian: "Syrian bashing" (''سوری زدن'') * Vietnamese: "ricochet" (ném thia lia); "tossing stone" (liếc đá, lia đá)

In popular culture

The lead character of the 2001 film ''

Amélie ''Amélie'' (, , ) is a 2001 French-language romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Written by Jeunet with Guillaume Laurant, the film is a whimsical depiction of contemporary Parisian life, set in Montmartre. It tells the story ...

'' skips stones along the Canal Saint-Martin in Paris as a plot point,''The Guardian'' review, 15 August 2001
/ref> and picks up good skipping stones when she spots them.

References

External links

John Zehr's Patent, "Skipping stones and method of use thereof", US Patent 4553758

John "Skippy" Kolar Skipumentary

Easdale's Stone Skimming World Championships

World Championships on the BBC
*
Mackinac Island Stone Skipping & Gerplunking Club

The Stone Skipping Hall of Fame (virtual)

European Championships Stone Skimming

Rock in River Festival, Pennsylvania Stone Skipping Championship
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone Skipping Games of physical skill Stones Water sports