by Cameron Scott

Created on: February 14, 2010

Curling can be described as a cross between lawn bowling and shuffleboard, played on a long, narrow sheet of ice by teams of four. The players of each team take turns sliding sixteen heavy granite stones, eight per team, to the far end of the ice sheet. The goal of the game is to slide a rock down the ice to end up as close to the centre of a marked target area as possible.

Each curling team has four members: the lead, second, third (or vice-skip), and skip, who is also the captain of the team. This refers to the order of play. Each member of the team delivers two rocks, alternating with the corresponding member of the other team. The skips of the two teams shoot last, which gives them the hardest shots. The last rock of all is called the ‘hammer.’

The stones, or rocks, are cut into a low, flattened ovoid, with a red or yellow handle fastened on top. The bottom of the curling stone is concave, so that only the edges of the stone are in contact with the ice. This is why curling stones ‘curl.’ An expert curler can deliver a stone so that it misses the front rocks, then ‘curls’ in behind them in the same way a hook ball in bowling turns at the last second to strike the pins.

Curling brooms are used to sweep the ice in front of a moving rock, temporarily melting the ice and decreasing its friction. This decreases the curl of the rock. It doesn’t make the rock go faster, but it keeps the rock from slowing down as much. All the shouting from the skip while the rock is sliding down the sheet is to tell the sweepers how hard to sweep to get the desired amount of curl. The sweepers are so busy sweeping and trying to avoid touching any of the rocks that they can’t see how their rock is heading, so they trust the skip completely. The broom is also used for balance when delivering the rock.

The target area consists of four concentric rings, and is called the ‘house.’ The innermost circle of the house is roughly the same size as a curling stone. It is called the ‘button.’

There are three types of shots in curling: the guard, the draw, and the takeout. Each has a different tactical function. The guard is a stone intended to stop in front of the house, not too far past the hog line. The draw is a stone intended to stop in the house. The takeout is a stone delivered in order to remove another stone from play. The free guard zone rule does not allow most takeouts until each team has delivered at least two

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