Building a Curling Team

Start with the whole team

In four-player curling, a shot is a shared effort. The skip calls the shot, the person delivering works to send the stone on the intended line with the right weight and release, and the sweepers judge, communicate and act as it travels. The person in the house uses that information to manage the shot. Sometimes the best sweeping decision is to leave the stone alone. [1]

Team fit means how well your skills, expectations and ways of treating one another work together. A supportive, reliable teammate may be a better choice for your team than someone with stronger individual shot-making who makes everyone else uncomfortable.

Today's skill level is a starting point. With practice, players can develop their shots and learn one another's calls, releases and habits. That learning goes both ways. Choose people you want to grow with.

Chemistry is the working relationship you build together. You will spend time together in games, on long drives, over meals and through delays. Look for people you can enjoy, talk honestly with and share a laugh with, including after a hard day. Keep humour kind. A joke should include a teammate, not make them the target.

The on-ice examples here use four-player curling with sweeping. Other formats can use the planning questions and adapt the roles. Wheelchair curling, for example, has no sweeping. [2]

Agree on the season you want

Ask each person what would make this a good season, how much curling they can realistically fit into their life, and what would make the season stressful or disappointing.

Be specific about being competitive. One person may mean trying hard on league night. Another may expect regular practice, travel and championship play. A recreational team can care deeply about playing well, and a competitive team can make room for fun and life outside curling.

Choose one shared season aim and two habits to work on. Reaching the playoffs is an outcome goal. Confirming the shot before delivery is a process goal, an action you can control. Set a date to review your plan.

• Attendance: agree on games, practice, arrival time and how to report an absence. Decide who finds and confirms a spare.
• Travel: name the events or maximum weekends you can manage. Discuss distance, transport and overnight stays before booking.
• Budget: include entry fees, practice ice, coaching, equipment needs, transport, lodging and meals. Set a comfortable limit without asking anyone to explain private finances.
• Participation: ask what practical arrangements help everyone take part, including communication, transport, access and workload on the ice.
• Time together: talk about the social side, shared humour and whether someone needs quiet time after a game.

Choose complementary roles

Start with the jobs the team needs done. Avoid placing everyone on a ladder from weakest to strongest.

Lead, second, third and fourth describe delivery order in traditional four-player curling. Each player delivers two stones. The skip directs play, and the vice-skip takes over when the skip delivers. The skip commonly throws fourth but does not have to. [2]

Complementary skills are different strengths that help the group cover its needs. Discuss current strengths and skills people want to develop. A willing learner may enjoy a new position. Each player should understand the proposed role and have a chance to say whether it suits them.

Share calendar, event-entry, money and spare duties. Skipping does not automatically make one person responsible for every off-ice task.

If you include an alternate or fifth, agree on practice access, expected playing time, travel costs and selection before they commit. A coach can help with practice planning, skills and communication. Agree on the coach's role, cost and availability; a recreational team might start with one session. [3, 5, 6]

• Who enjoys setting up an end and repeating a clear job patiently?
• Who adjusts when the shot requirement changes?
• Who reads the ice carefully and explains a decision simply?
• Who enjoys sweeping, judging weight and sharing what they see?
• Who stays useful when a difficult shot or disappointing end adds pressure?

Talk through shots and misses

Before delivery, agree on the shot, target, weight and an acceptable second choice. During the shot, the thrower can report how the release felt, sweepers update their weight judgment, and the person in the house manages line. Keep exchanging information until the play is finished. [1]

Decide in practice who makes the final call when weight and line needs compete. Use words or signals everyone understands. A quiet player still needs a reliable way to be heard.

After a miss, ask what happened before deciding why it happened. Take a breath, describe one fact, own your contribution when you know it, and agree on one adjustment. Then prepare for the next shot.

Try saying: 'I called the weight too late. Next time I'll give you my first read sooner.' Save longer discussions for an agreed break or after the game. Ask whether a teammate wants a cue now or a conversation later.

Praise useful work as well as the final result: a clear call, good judgment, sustained effort or an honest correction. Support and accountability can sit comfortably together.

• Check what your shared words and signals actually mean to each player.
• Practise listening and responding while moving, not only while standing together.
• Avoid sarcasm, eye-rolling and a running account of someone's mistakes.
• Never speak badly about your teammates on social media. Handle disagreements privately and respectfully. Don’t post blame, mocking comments, or screenshots of team conversations.

Curl together before you commit

Tell everyone whether you are trying a possible team or selecting players for limited places. Explain the criteria, who will decide and when each person will hear back. Do not promise the same place to several people.

A practice and a few games show you how the group works. Curling Canada's sample practice trains communication with a thrower, sweepers and someone in the house. [4]

Try familiar shots in the proposed roles, play a short game or a few ends, then let each person name something that helped and something to try differently. A coach can help plan a safe session suited to your experience.

If possible, meet more than once. A single great shot or poor game is a small sample. Notice whether you are learning one another's habits and adjusting together. A developing player who listens and practises may bring more to the team over time than your first impression suggests.

Choose to commit, try another session or part respectfully. Be specific about the offer: a league season, selected events or a trial period with a review date.

• Do they arrive prepared and follow through?
• Do they listen, ask questions and share useful information?
• Can they accept a decision they did not prefer?
• How do they treat a teammate who is struggling?
• Do they acknowledge their own mistakes?
• Does everyone have room to contribute, including in the way you behave?

Make decisions and handle change

Agree on decision ownership before an urgent choice arrives. Your skip can lead on-ice strategy while the team agrees separately how to choose events, approve spending and decide the lineup.

For a disagreement, speak privately and promptly. Describe a specific event, explain its effect, listen to the other view and ask for a practical change. Agree when to check whether it helped. If you remain stuck, ask an agreed coach or neutral club person to help. Threats, harassment or unsafe conduct should go through the club's safeguarding or reporting process.

Handle roster conversations directly and before a public announcement. Explain the decision respectfully, confirm remaining commitments and settle shared costs. Avoid discussing someone's shortcomings around the club. A different team can be a better fit without making either person a bad curler.

Use the printable guide's two-page working agreement to record your season aim, commitments, budget, roles, communication and review date. Give each teammate a copy and revisit it together.

Check your current league or event rules for eligibility, substitutes, delivery order, sweeping and coach access. Older teaching manuals are useful background but can contain superseded rules or equipment advice.

The planning questions and examples are HouseCall suggestions. This guide is independently prepared and is not an official governing-body publication.

Take it to practice

Reading ice · Rock matching

Download the printable guide for worked examples and reusable worksheets. Clubs may download, print and share it for noncommercial educational use. Keep the credit to Mary Deuhs and HouseCall. Not for resale.

Plan a practice · Sweeping and communication · Learning path