Curling

Overview

Two teams of four slide granite stones down a sheet of ice toward a target, while teammates sweep the ice in front of them. Played in ends.

Checked against World Curling's Rules of Curling and Rules of Competition, in the edition dated 1 September 2026. World Curling reviews them every year. Rule numbers below refer to that document.

1. The sheet and stones

The sheet is at least 45.72 m (150 ft) long and up to 4.75 m wide (R1). At each end is the house, a set of rings 12 ft (3.66 m) across, centred on the tee.

A stone weighs 17.24–19.96 kg (R2). Each team has eight, and each of its four players throws two, alternating with an opponent. A team may also have a fifth player as an alternate (R3).

2. Delivering a stone

A coin toss (or a Last Stone Draw) decides who throws first in the first end (R5). The player pushes off from the hack and must release the stone before the hog line, or the stone is removed from play (R5(e)).

Teammates sweep the ice ahead of a moving stone. The rules say how: sweeping must finish to either side of the stone, and must not leave debris in its path (R8).

3. Scoring

When all sixteen stones of an end have been played, one team scores: one point for each of its stones in or touching the house that is closer to the tee than any opposing stone (R12(b)).

If red has the three stones nearest the tee and yellow the fourth, red scores three. A stone outside the house never scores.

A game is usually 8 or 10 ends (C5). Tied at the end? Play extra ends, and the first team to score wins. A team can also concede (R12(a)).

4. The hammer

After the first end, the team that most recently scored throws first in the next end (R5(a)). So the team that didn't score throws the last stone, called the hammer.

If no one scores, a blank end, the order stays the same, so the hammer stays too. That's why a team with the hammer will sometimes blank an end on purpose, keeping it for a bigger score later.

5. Free guard zone and no-tick

The free guard zone is the area between the hog line and the tee line, not counting the house (R6(a)).

• Free guard zone (R6(b)): until the sixth stone of an end is delivered, you may not knock an opponent's stone out of play from the free guard zone. If you do, your stone is removed and theirs put back.
• No-tick (R7): in the same period, you may not move an opponent's free guard zone stone that's touching the centre line off the line. If you do, the opponent chooses whether to put everything back or leave it.

6. Spirit of curling

The rulebook opens with the spirit of the game: curlers "play to win, but never to humble their opponents", and will be the first to own up to a breach.

Commonly argued

• Only stones in or touching the house score, and only one team scores in an end.
• The team that scored throws first next end, so the other team has the hammer.
• A blank end keeps the hammer where it is.
• Opponents' guards are protected until the sixth stone, not the fifth.
• Release before the hog line, or the stone is removed.
• Conceding is part of the rules.