Curling

Curling is a sport where players slide stones on ice toward a target. The target is called the house and it has four concentric circles.

Two teams, each with four players, take turns throwing heavy granite stones, also called rocks, across the ice. Each team has eight stones, and each player throws two.

The goal is to have your stones closest to the center of the house at the end of each round, called an end. A game usually has eight or ten ends. When both teams have thrown all their stones, points are scored for the stones nearest the center.

Players can make the stone curve, or "curl," by how they release it. Two sweepers help by brushing the ice in front of the stone. This helps the stone go farther and straighter. Good strategy and teamwork are important to decide where to aim each stone.

History

Curling has a long history that goes back to the early 1500s in Scotland. Old stones with dates like 1511 and 1551 show people played the sport. The first written record of people playing with stones on ice was in 1541. Paintings from 1565 show people in Belgium playing a similar game.

The word “curling” was first used in writing in 1620 in Scotland. The sport was also called “the roaring game” because of the sound the stones make when they slide on ice.

One of the oldest curling clubs was formed in 1716 in Kilsyth, Scotland. The Royal Caledonian Curling Club, created in 1838, helped make the first official rules for the sport.

In the early days, people used simple stones found in rivers or fields to play curling. These stones didn’t have handles and were not always the same size or shape. Curling was often played on frozen rivers, but later, special ponds were built for the sport.

In some places, people used heavy stones from looms to play curling. In Canada, players used metal “irons” instead of stones until the early 1900s.

Curling became very popular in Scotland from the 1500s to the 1800s because the cold climate made ice for the sport. Today, curling is most popular in Canada, where it was brought by people from Scotland. The sport has spread around the world and is now played in many countries.

The first world championship for curling was held in Scotland in 1959. Canada’s team from Regina, Saskatchewan won the first title.

Olympics

Curling became an official Winter Olympic sport in 1998. It includes events for men, women, and mixed doubles teams.

In 2006, Olympic officials decided that curling at the 1924 Winter Olympics should count as official. Because of this, Great Britain received the gold medal, Sweden the silver, and France the bronze for that year.

Since 1998, Canada has been very successful in Olympic curling, winning many medals in both men’s and women’s events, as well as in mixed doubles.

Equipment

The playing surface for curling is called a curling sheet. It is a flat, rectangular area of ice, about 146 to 150 feet long and 14.5 to 16.5 feet wide. At the center of the sheet is a target called the house, which has three rings. Players slide heavy granite stones, also called rocks, on the ice toward this target.

Curling stones are made of granite and weigh between 17.24 and 19.96 kilograms. They have a special flat bottom that helps them glide smoothly on the ice. Players use brooms, or brushes, to sweep the ice in front of the stone to help guide it. Curling shoes have special soles—one type slides on the ice, and the other grips it to help push off during throws. Other equipment includes stretchy pants, gloves to keep hands warm, and stopwatches to time the stones.

Curling sheet

A curling sheet, with dimensions in feet (1' = 1 ft = 0.3 m).
CL: Centreline • HOL: Hogline • TL: Teeline • BL: Backline • HA: Hackline with Hacks • FGZ: Free Guard Zone

Curling stone

The granite for the stones comes from two sources: Ailsa Craig, an island located in the Firth of Clyde off the Ayrshire coast of Scotland, and the Trefor Granite Quarry, north of the Llŷn Peninsula, Gwynedd in Wales. These locations provide different colors of stone.

Kays of Scotland has been making curling stones since 1851 and has the exclusive rights to the Ailsa Craig granite. They have supplied stones for the Winter Olympics since 1924.

Trefor granite comes from the Yr Eifl or Trefor Granite Quarry in the village of Trefor on the north coast of the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd, Wales. The quarry supplies granite to the Canada Curling Stone Company, which has been producing stones since 1992.

Curling broom

Shoes

Other equipment

Other types of equipment include:

• Curling pants, made to be stretchy to accommodate the curling delivery.
• A stopwatch to time the stones over a fixed distance to calculate their speed. Stopwatches can be attached either to clothing or the broom.
• Curling gloves and mittens, to keep the hands warm and improve grip on the broom.

Gameplay

Further information: Doubles curling#Rules of play for gameplay in mixed doubles (including power play)

The goal of curling is to score points by placing stones closer to the center of the target, called the "button," than the other team's stones. Players take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, called rocks, across the ice toward the target. An end ends when all eight rocks from each team have been thrown. If the teams are tied, extra ends may be played. The team with the most points wins. Sometimes a game can end early if one team thinks it cannot win.

International games usually have ten ends, but some use only eight ends. Most games outside of big competitions use eight ends.

Each team has a certain amount of time to throw all of their stones. Some places now use a "thinking time" system, which stops the timer when a stone is thrown. This gives each team time to plan their moves.

Delivery

Sliding a stone down the ice is called the delivery or throw. Players take turns throwing and sweeping, except for the skip, the team's captain. The skip decides where the stone should go.

Before throwing, the path is cleaned to make sure nothing changes the stone's direction. The thrower starts from a spot called the hack. They place the stone, pull it back, and then push it forward. There are two common ways to deliver a stone: the flat-foot delivery and the Manitoba tuck delivery.

When the stone is released, a twist of the handle gives it a turn. The stone must be released before it crosses a line on the ice. In big tournaments, a sensor in the stone shows if it was released before this line. The stone must cross another line or it is removed from play.

Sweeping

After the stone is thrown, two players sweep in front of it. Sweeping helps the stone go farther and straighter. Sweeping melts a little ice, reducing friction and helping the stone move.

The skip tells the sweepers when and how to sweep. The sweepers watch the stone and tell the skip how far they think it will go.

Burning a stone

Sometimes, players might accidentally touch a stone with their broom or body. This is called burning a stone. Players should call this themselves to be fair. If a stone is touched while it is moving, the rules for what happens next can change. In informal games, the team not at fault decides what to do.

Types of shots

There are three main types of shots used for different reasons. Guards are thrown to protect a stone or make the other team's shot harder. Draws are thrown to reach the target. Takeouts are meant to remove the other team's stones from play.

Free guard zone

The free guard zone is the part of the ice between two lines, not including the target area. For the first five stones thrown, stones in this zone cannot be removed by the other team, though they can be moved. This rule was added to make games more exciting.

Hammer

The last stone thrown in an end is called the hammer and gives a team an advantage. The team that did not score in the previous end gets the hammer for the next end. Having the hammer makes it easier to score points. Teams without the hammer try to score or force the team with the hammer to score only one point.

Strategy

Curling needs strategy, tactics, and skill. The strategy depends on the team's skill, the opponent's skill, the ice conditions, the score, how many ends are left, and whether the team has the hammer. Teams can play aggressively or defensively. The team with the hammer tries to score two or more points, while the team without the hammer tries to score or force the team with the hammer to score only one point.

Conceding a game

It is common for a losing team to end the game early if they think they cannot win. Competitive games end when the losing team has no stones left to play with and cannot catch up.

Scoring

The team with the most points after ten rounds, or "ends," wins. At the end of each round, teams throw eight stones. The team with the stone closest to the center of the target gets points for each of their stones that is closer than the other team's nearest stone.

Only stones inside the target area count for points. Sometimes it can be hard to tell which stone is closest, so special tools are used after the round ends to decide. There are two ways to keep score: a baseball-style board and a club board. The baseball-style board is used for TV games, while the club board is used in most curling clubs. Both help track the points each team earns in each round. The most points a team can score in one round is eight, called an "eight-ender" or "snowman," which is very rare and hard to achieve.

Culture

Competition teams are usually named after the team's leader, called the skip. For example, there is Team Martin led by skip Kevin Martin. In casual games, players can name their teams creatively, but in official competitions, teams have standard names.

Curling is enjoyed in many countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom (especially Scotland), the United States, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, and Japan. In Canada, curling is especially popular. Big television audiences watch major curling events like the Scotties Tournament of Hearts for women and Montana's Brier for men.

Good sportsmanship

Curling is known for its good sportsmanship, often called the "Spirit of Curling". Players usually shake hands and wish each other well before a game starts. Winning teams might buy the losing team a drink after the game. Players are expected to call their own mistakes and not cheer when an opponent makes an error. This respectful behavior is a big part of what makes curling special.

Accessibility

Main article: Wheelchair curling

Curling can also be played by people who use wheelchairs or cannot throw the stone in the usual way. These players may use a special tool called a "delivery stick" to push the stone. This helps make the sport more accessible to everyone.

Floor curling

Floor curling is a fun game that is like ice curling, but you don’t need ice! You can play it on any flat surface. It needs good teamwork, talking, careful moves, and smart planning. In January 2024, the World Curling team worked with a company called Rock Solid Productions Inc. to help make floor curling popular all over the world.

Terminology

For an extensive glossary of terminology, see Glossary of curling.

In curling, the ice can be fast or slow. On fast ice, a stone slides farther with the same push. The ice speed is measured in seconds.

One way to measure this is called "hog-to-hog" time. It measures how long a stone takes to go from one line to another on the ice. A lower number means the stone moves faster. This helps players know where their stone will stop.

Players also use a measure called "back line to hog line speed" to guess how hard to throw the stone. On fast ice, common times might be around 4 seconds for some throws. But this measure can be hard to use exactly.

Champions and major championships

Curling has many exciting competitions around the world. Some of the biggest include the Curling at the Winter Olympics, where athletes from many countries compete on ice. Other important events are the World Curling Championships, World Junior Curling Championships, and many more tournaments that bring together top curlers.

Here are some of the major championships:

• World Curling Championships
• World Junior Curling Championships
• World Senior Curling Championships
• World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship
• European Curling Championships
• Continental Cup of Curling
• Montana's Brier
• Scotties Tournament of Hearts
• United States Men's Curling Championship
• United States Women's Curling Championship
• Canada Cup of Curling
• European Mixed Curling Championship

Notable clubs

Main article: Lists of curling clubs

Here are some famous curling clubs around the world:

• Bemidji Curling Club – Bemidji, Minnesota
• Broomstones Curling Club – Wayland, Massachusetts
• Chicago Curling Club – Chicago, Illinois
• Dakota Curling Club – Burnsville, Minnesota
• Detroit Curling Club – Ferndale, Michigan
• Duluth Curling Club – Duluth, Minnesota
• Garrison Golf and Curling Club, Kingston, Ontario
• Grand National Curling Club – Organization in the United States
• Granite Curling Club – Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Granite Curling Club – Seattle, Washington
• Ice Melters Curling Club – England
• Markinch Curling Club – Fife, Scotland
• Mayflower Curling Club – Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Milwaukee Curling Club – Mequon, Wisconsin
• Ottawa Curling Club – Ottawa, Ontario
• Potomac Curling Club – Laurel, Maryland
• Pittsburgh Curling Club – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Plainfield Curling Club – South Plainfield, New Jersey
• Rideau Curling Club – Ottawa, Ontario
• Royal Caledonian Curling Club – Scotland
• Royal Montreal Curling Club – Montreal, Quebec
• Royal City Curling Club – New Westminster, British Columbia
• Saint Paul Curling Club – St. Paul, Minnesota
• Utica Curling Club – Utica, New York
• Kilsyth Curling Club

In popular culture

The Beatles played curling in their 1965 film Help!.

The 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service has curling scenes.

Men with Brooms is a 2002 Canadian film that makes fun of curling. A TV version started in 2010 on CBC Television.

The Corner Gas episode "Hurry Hard" shows a local curling event. Real Canadian curlers Randy Ferbey and Dave Nedohin appear in the episode.

In Louise Penny's 2007 book A Fatal Grace, a problem happens during a local Christmas curling event.

Boy Meets Curl is a 2010 episode of The Simpsons. Homer and Marge team up to play in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

The Move of the Penguin is a 2013 Italian comedy about a team trying to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

The 2014 Canadian film Sweeping Forward follows young women who train and compete as a curling team.

In 2021, the sitcom The Great North had an episode called "Curl Interrupted Adventure" where characters play in a curling league.