What Is Curling?

Welcome to the roaring game

What Is Curling?

Curling is a team sport played on a long sheet of ice using 42-pound granite stones, brooms, special shoes, careful strategy, and a surprising amount of enthusiastic yelling.

At first glance, it may look like people are sliding rocks across the ice while their teammates frantically clean in front of them. That is not entirely wrong, but there is much more happening than meets the eye.

Curling combines balance, precision, teamwork, communication, strategy, and touch. It is often described as chess on ice, except the chess pieces weigh 42 pounds, the board is slippery, and someone may suddenly shout “HARD!” directly into your ear.

People can begin as children and continue playing well into their later years. You do not have to be an Olympic athlete. You need warm clothes, clean shoes, a willingness to learn, and the ability to accept that the rock occasionally has ideas of its own.

Granite’s history minute

A Little Curling History

Curling has been played for hundreds of years. The sport developed in Scotland, where early games were played outdoors on frozen ponds and lochs.

Early players used stones that were available locally, so equipment varied greatly in size and shape. It was less “precision sporting equipment” and more “this rock looks promising.”

As the game developed, stones became more uniform, handles were added, and rules were written down. Scottish immigrants carried curling to other countries, especially Canada, where clubs became places to compete, socialize, volunteer, and survive winter with purpose.

Today curling is played around the world. It is part of the Winter Olympic Games, wheelchair curling is part of the Paralympic Winter Games, and deaf curlers compete internationally at events including the Winter Deaflympics.

The point of the game

The Basic Goal

Two teams take turns sliding stones toward the circular target, called the house. A traditional team has four players, and each team delivers eight stones in each round of play.

The colored rings do not have different point values. Curling is not archery. Landing on the tiny center circle does not automatically earn ten points and a small parade.

The center is called the button. After all 16 stones are delivered, the team with the stone closest to the button scores one point for every stone closer than the opponent’s closest stone. Only one team can score in each end.

A round of curling

What Is an End?

A round of curling is called an end. The teams alternate deliveries until each team has played all eight of its stones.

Most recreational games are eight ends long, while many major competitive games are ten ends long. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins.

An end can be quick and simple, or it can become a crowded puzzle of guards, draws, takeouts, freezes, raises, angles, and people staring thoughtfully at a pile of granite.

Meet the equipment

The Stones

The granite objects are officially called stones, although curlers also call them rocks. Each one weighs 42 pounds and has a handle attached to the top.

Curlers do not pick up the stones and throw them through the air. That would be dangerous, difficult, and a very short-lived experiment. Instead, a player pushes from a foothold called the hack and releases the stone so it glides down the pebbled ice.

Where the name comes from

Why Is It Called Curling?

A curling stone rarely travels in a perfectly straight line. The player gives the handle a small rotation at release, and the stone gradually curves—or curls—as it travels.

Turning the handle one way makes the stone curl in one direction; turning it the other way makes it curl in the opposite direction. It is a gentle turn, not a spin like a top.

The amount of curl depends on the stone’s speed, release, ice, path, and sweeping. A well-delivered stone can bend around a guard and settle perfectly into the house.

Sweep takes this one

What Does Sweeping Do?

Before play, tiny droplets of water are sprayed onto the ice and frozen. This creates a textured surface called pebble. Stones travel over the tops of these droplets rather than completely flat ice.

Effective sweeping can help a stone travel farther, stay straighter, curl less, and reach a better position. Sweepers judge speed while the skip watches direction, so the decision to sweep may change several times during one shot.

Sweeping influences a stone; it does not let curlers steer it anywhere they please. A stone cannot turn sharply left, reverse direction, or reconsider its recent choices.

• Travel farther
• Stay straighter
• Curl less
• Reach a better spot

Teamwork at full volume

Why Is Everyone Yelling?

A curling sheet is long, and teammates need to communicate while the stone is moving. The shouting sounds dramatic, even when everyone is getting along perfectly well.

Sometimes several instructions arrive in a few seconds. To a new spectator, it may sound like an argument. Usually, it is simply teamwork happening at full volume.

Piper meets the team

The Four Players

A traditional curling team has four players. Everyone delivers two stones per end and contributes to strategy, sweeping, and communication.

Some teams use a different throwing order, and some have a fifth player who serves as an alternate.

Last rock advantage

What Is the Hammer?

The team that delivers the final stone of an end has the hammer. Last rock is valuable because that team gets the final opportunity to score, remove an opponent’s stone, or rescue an end that has become a small granite disaster.

If the hammer team scores, hammer usually moves to the other team in the next end. If nobody scores and the end is blank, the team normally keeps it.

Granite’s shot book

Common Curling Shots

Teams use different shots to build an end, protect stones, remove opponents, and create scoring chances.

Line, weight, curl

How Do Curlers Aim?

Before a player delivers, the skip holds the broom on the ice as a target. Because the stone will curl, the broom is often placed to one side rather than directly where the stone should finish.

The player aims toward the broom and releases with the intended speed and rotation. The skip watches the line, the sweepers judge the weight, and everyone watches how much the stone curls.

What goes on your feet

Curling Shoes

One curling shoe has a slippery surface called a slider; the other has a rubber surface called a gripper. The slider helps with a traditional delivery, while the gripper helps a player walk safely.

Walking on curling ice without a gripper can quickly turn a confident athlete into a surprised windmill. Beginners usually do not need to buy shoes: clubs often provide step-on sliders, grippers, brooms, and instruction.

More than one right way

Traditional and Stick Delivery

In a traditional delivery, a player begins in the hack, slides forward in a balanced position, and releases the stone near the hog line.

Many players use a delivery stick, which lets them release while standing or walking. It can make curling more accessible for people who have difficulty kneeling, sliding, or getting back up, and it is a skilled form of delivery in its own right.

However a person delivers, the challenge is the same: choose the right shot, judge the speed, follow the broom, and try not to give the other team an unexpected gift.

Piper’s favorite part

Curling Is for All Ages and Abilities

Children can learn through junior programs, adults can join beginner leagues, and older players can continue socially or competitively for decades. Teenagers, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents may all play at the same club—sometimes on the same team.

Curling does not require you to run fast, jump high, or carry the 42-pound stones. The game rewards accuracy, strategy, communication, balance, teamwork, patience, and experience.

Players can adapt how they deliver, how much they sweep, and which position they play. The game can welcome many ages, bodies, experience levels, and abilities.

Precision without sweeping

Wheelchair Curling

Wheelchair curling is played by athletes who use wheelchairs. The house, stones, scoring, strategy, and basic goal are familiar, but there is no sweeping.

Players deliver from a stationary wheelchair using a hand or delivery stick. A teammate may help hold the chair steady. Because sweepers cannot change the stone’s travel, release accuracy is especially important.

Wheelchair curling requires remarkable control, strategy, teamwork, and precision. It is played recreationally, at world championships, and at the Paralympic Winter Games. It is not a simplified version of curling.

Clear visual teamwork

Deaf Curling

Deaf and hard-of-hearing athletes curl at recreational, national, and international levels. The stones, house, sweeping, scoring, and strategy remain the same; what may change is communication.

Teams may use sign language, hand signals, gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, and other visual systems to share information about speed, direction, and sweeping.

This proves a curler does not technically have to shout “HARD!” loudly enough for people in the parking lot to hear it. Curling is an official sport at the Winter Deaflympics.

Sweep talks ice

Curling Ice

Curling ice is different from hockey or figure-skating ice. It is pebbled with water droplets, then scraped, cleaned, and monitored so stones travel consistently.

Temperature, humidity, frost, debris, and wear can change how much a stone curls and how far it travels. Even a hair can make a stone suddenly change direction or stop. Curlers call this a pick.

When a stone picks, curlers may react with shock, sadness, or a detailed investigation worthy of a detective drama.

Easy to start, hard to master

Is Curling Difficult?

A new player can learn the basic delivery, sweeping, and rules fairly quickly. Becoming consistently accurate takes practice.

Curlers control the speed of a 42-pound stone, judge changing ice, communicate with teammates, plan ahead, and remain balanced while moving on ice.

You may play a perfect shot one moment and send the next stone through the house with enough speed to reach another county. Curling keeps everyone humble.

Sweep says yes

Is Curling Good Exercise?

Yes. Sweeping can be vigorous, especially during a long game. Players also walk up and down the ice, balance during deliveries, and use their legs and core for stability.

By the final end, sweepers may have covered hundreds of feet while wearing layers of clothing inside a giant refrigerator. The activity can vary by position, delivery style, and ability.

Piper on sportsmanship

The Spirit of Curling

The Spirit of Curling means respecting the sport, your teammates, your opponents, and the people who make the game possible. Curlers play to win, but they are expected to play honestly and fairly.

Players traditionally acknowledge violations themselves, even when nobody else noticed. They begin and end with a handshake or friendly greeting, avoid distracting opponents, compliment good shots, respect the ice, and win or lose with grace.

The sport can still be fiercely competitive. Teams may spend an entire game blocking, outsmarting, and removing one another’s stones. But when the final stone stops, the players shake hands.

More than a building with ice

Finding Community Through Curling

For many curlers, the club becomes a community. Teams are small and communication is constant, so people quickly learn how their teammates think—and whether “a little more weight” means six inches or halfway to the parking lot.

A new curler can arrive without knowing anyone. Clubs may offer learn-to-curl events, instructional and social leagues, junior programs, wheelchair curling, deaf curling opportunities, competitive leagues, and substitute lists.

You do not always need a complete team. Clubs can help beginners meet people and find a place to play. Friendships often continue long after the final stone stops moving.

There is room on the ice for almost everyone. And usually room at the table afterward.

A very curling word

What Is a Bonspiel?

A curling tournament is called a bonspiel. Bonspiels range from friendly local events to major national and international competitions.

Some are intensely competitive. Others include themes, food, music, prizes, and teams whose primary strategy is reaching the Saturday-night party.

Bonspiels are a major part of curling culture. Players meet curlers from other clubs, play several games, test their skills, and build friendships. The scoreboard may be forgotten, but the stories tend to survive.