New to curling? Here's all you need to know

Curling 17 Feb 22

Team GB have secured at least two silver medals in the men's and women's curling at Beijing 2022.

And if you’re new to the sport commonly referred to as ‘chess on ice’, or would simply like a few things clarified about the roaring game, we’ve produced a brief breakdown of the rules as well as a jargon buster to help you keep your finger on the button… 

Here's what you need to know to brush up your knowledge.

Stones

A stone, or a rock, is what is thrown by curlers during the game. It is made of granite and has a standard weight of 19.6kg.

The house (and button)

The house is the target area curlers aim for. One curler shoots a stone towards the house, made up of three concentric circles, and sweepers guide the stone to its intended destination.

The button is the centre circle of the house, sometimes called the one-foot.

Ends

An end is effectively a round in curling. Each four-person team take it in turns to throw eight stones and at the conclusion of the end, the team with the closest stones to the button earns a point.

Additional shots are also awarded for each stone that is nearer than the closest of the opposition’s.

A stone will not count if it is not inside the house.

There are ten ends in a game of traditional curling. Naturally, the team with the highest score at the end of the match wins.

Sweeping

Sweepers are important in curling as they affect the direction of the stone as it travels across the ice.

Brushing the ice in front of the stone helps it travel further and brushing at angle can affect the amount a stone curl less.

Hammer

The team that throws last in an end has a significant advantage and the final stone is known as the hammer.

The hammer switches between the two teams throughout the game – the team that concedes in the previous end takes the hammer in the next.

If there are no stones in the house and therefore no points scored – known as a blank end – the team with the hammer retains it in the next end.

Skip

The skip is the captain in curling and most often throws the last two rocks in each end.

Typically, the skip is the best or most experienced player on the team.

The other positions in curling – the lead, the second and the third – throw two stones each in that order before the skip steps up.

Steal

As the hammer offers such an advantage, it is known as a steal if the team without the hammer earns a point.

Takeout

A frequent strategy used in curling is to remove opponent stones from play – this type of shot is known as a takeout.

If a shot ends up removing two stones from play, it is called a double takeout.

A hit-and-roll is a shot intended to take out an opponent’s rock whilst also rolling the thrown stone to a designated spot.

Draw (and a freeze)

A draw is simply a scoring shot. If players intend to draw, they are aiming to get the stone as close to the button as possible.

A freeze is a form of a draw stopping directly in front of or behind another stone, making it harder to remove from play.

Lines

There are two hog lines on the ice. A stone must be released by the thrower before the near hog line and it must pass the far hog line to be considered in play, otherwise it is automatically removed.

If a stone touches the side line boundary anywhere on the ice or passes the back line, the stone is also removed from play.