If you’ve ever watched a curling game you know there is a lot of jargon being tossed around on the ice – which can sound very confusing to the untrained ear. But the team sure knows what it all means – they sweep like the dickens and with another yelp, stop and glide. Next thing you know there’s a crashing of rocks in that bull’s eye area and high fives all around.

We’ve put together a good selection of terms and phrases used by curlers to help you understand the language of the game – a bit of a primer for someone new to the game. So warm up your vocal chords and use some of them – you’ll sound like a pro in no time at all.

Understanding the lingo is half the battle. So let’s get you started.

 

Learn more about curling with SWSCD

Curling know-how to get you in the house

Curl, sweep and skip your way to a Bonspiel near you

People in glass houses can throw these stones – and other tips for high performance curlers

Curling Fundamentals with Team Brandwood

Fine tune your curling skills with Team Brandwood

Team Play. Team Fun. Give curling a go at York Curling Club

 

Parts of the curling sheet

Sheet – playing surface that is typically 150 feet long by 15 feet wide.

• House – the rings, circles or bullseye targets that play is directed towards. It consists of a 12-foot ring, an 8-foot ring, a 4-foot ring and a button.

• Button – the small circle at the centre of the house. The object of the game is to get your stones closer to the button than the other team.

• Playing end – the end of the sheet where the stones are being delivered.

• Pebble – a fine spray of water that is applied to a sheet of curling ice before the beginning of play. The purpose is to cause friction between the ice and the stones.

• Centre line – the line that runs down the centre of the sheet from one end to the other.

• Backline – the line across the back of the house. Stones that go past this line are removed from play.

• Hog line – a line that is 10 metres from the hack at each end of the ice. The stone must be released before the hog line.

• Tee line – the line that passes through the centre of the house parallel to the hog line and backline.

• Free guard zone – the area at the playing end between the hog line and the tee line but excluding the house

 

 

Players

• Lead – the first player on a team to deliver a pair of stones for their team in each end.

• Second – the second player on a team to deliver a pair of stones for their team in each end.

• Third (Vice-skip or Mate) – the third player on a team to throw two stones in each end. This player may act as the skip when the skip is delivering their stones and assists in placement and strategy discussions.

• Skip – the player who determines the strategy, and directs play for the team. The skip delivers the final pair of stones for their team in each end.

 

 

Equipment

• Brush – the piece of equipment that is used to weep the ice in the path of the moving stone.

• Gripper – covers the sole of the drag or trailing shoe to increase traction and help the player maintain balance. Usually the gripper is made of a rubber. A slip-on gripper is also used to protect the slider when not on the ice.

• Slider – slippery material on the sole of a shoe that makes it easier to slide on the ice.

• Stones/Rocks – these are thrown by teams towards the house – the bulls-eye's targets. They weigh approximately 44 lbs. and are made from granite.

• Hack – a starting block or foothold at each end of the ice that the thrower will kick out of to deliver the stone.

• Biter measuring tool – a 6-foot long gadget that is used to determine if a rock is a biter. One end is placed in the centre pin in the button. If the tool, when swung around, cannot get past the rock then it is definitely a biter or in the rings and it counts for points.

 

 

Scoring

• Blank end – an end where no points are scored.

• Blanking an end – scoring no points intentionally to retain the hammer for the next end.

• Biter – for stones to count as points, they must at least touch the outside of the circle. When a stone just touches the outside ring it is called a biter – stones only have to be a biter to count.

• Counter – a stone is a counter if it is inside the rings or touching the edges of the rings – a potential point.

• End – a round of a curling game that is completed when each team has thrown eight stones and points have been tallied. There are typically ten ends per game.

• Extra end – if the game is tied at the end of regulation – after ten ends – then teams may play one more end to break the tie. The first team to score wins the end.

• Shot rock – the stone closest to the button at any time during an end.

• Steal/Stolen end – when the team without the hammer (final rock) counts points – expect team with the final shot to score points

 

Shots

• Burned stone – if a player from either team or any part of their equipment touches a stone in motion, that stone is removed from play.

• Draw – a delivered stone that stops inside or in front of the house.

• Guard – a rock that is placed in a position to protect another rock.

• Hammer – last rock of the end.

• Heavy – a rock that is delivered with more force than was necessary.

• Hit – a take-out or removal of a stone from the playing area by hitting it with another stone.

• Hogged stone – a stone that does not reach the far hog line must be removed from play.

• Wick – to only hit a small portion of another stone.

• Wick and roll – to hit a small portion of another stone and roll the delivered stone to another location.

 

 

The game in motion

• Curl – the curvature of the rock as it travels down the ice from the starting point to the landing position. Throwers spin the rocks upon release to make them curl or curve as they travel down the ice in a path.

• Draw weight – the momentum required for a stone to reach the house or circles at the opposite end.

• Front house weight – the momentum required for a delivered stone to reach the front part of the house at the playing end.

• In-turn – the rotation applied to the handle of a stone that causes it to rotate in a clockwise direction and curl for the right-handed curler.

• Out-turn – the rotation applied to the handle of a stone that causes it to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction and curl for the right-handed curler.

• Raise – when one stone is bumped ahead by another.

• Roll – the movement of a stone after it has struck a stationary stone in play.

• Sweeping – the action of moving a broom or brush back and forth in the path of a moving stone. The motion raises the temperature in front of the stone, reducing the friction and helping the stones to move in a straight line.

• Weight – the amount of force given to the stone during delivery.

 

 

Skip sweeping instructions

• “Hurry” – used to tell sweepers when to sweep.

• “Hurry HARRRRRDDD” or “Right up” – used to tell sweepers to sweep faster.

• "Whoa! WHOA!” – means stop sweeping.

• “Right off” – another way to yell stop sweeping.

• “Room”, “Lots of line”, “Good line, clean only” “Hard for line” – indicates how close the path of the rock is getting to an existing guard.

• “Give me hack weight” – used to ask for just enough weight to barely take out an opponent’s stone in the house.

 

 

Thrower communicating to teammates about the release

• “Line looks good”

• “It’s a little inside”

• “Go hard – it’s light”

Sweepers communicating to skip about weight or turn on the rock

• “It’s light”

• “It’s heavy

• “Lost handle” – indicates the rock has no turn.

Sweepers estimating to skip resting place of rock

• “Front of house”

• “Back 4”

• “Top button”

• “Right through”

 

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