Updated October 20, 2022
Etiquette
- Notify your opposition or league coordinator If your team must forfeit a game so your opposition does not travel unnecessarily.
- Any warm-up slides or stretches should be completed before the scheduled start time.
- To speed up play please DO NOT pull out the opposition’s rocks.
- CLEAN outdoor shoes on “wet” boot boy, prior to entering change area. CLEAN your indoor shoes on “dry” boot boy, prior to entering ice area.
- Only the Thirds should be in the house when a rock is being measured.
- AVOID leaving HAND and KNEE prints on the ice after your delivery. These flat spots cause rocks to pick and takes lengthy repair work for our ice technicians.
- GRIPPERS will deteriorate over time and with usage. It is recommended to replace your gripper every year or two when black material starts to shed, which causes rocks to “pick”.
- Cool down your slider behind the hack before a practice slide to prolong the pebble in the glide area.
- When a rock is “BURNED” before the hog line it is removed immediately. If it is burned inside the hog line, all rocks must be allowed to come to rest so the opposing skip can exercise the appropriate options as per the CCA rules. (See rule number 8).
- The 8-foot measuring stick may be used on the free guard zone stones to determine if a stone is in the house or not.
- “An end shall be decided when the Thirds, or whomever is in charge of the house at the time, agree upon the score for the end.” When the BUZZER goes off, you may finish the end being played and then one more.
- Task for all Players: Teams are asked to clean the sheet they played on; using the corn brooms for each end around rocks and behind the hack and the string mop sweeper broom to run up and down the length of the sheet. Please line up rocks with all handles facing the same way so it is obvious that the sheet has been cleaned.
- COVID Recommendations: Fist bumps or broom taps are a good alternative for those not wanting to shake hands. Wipes are provided should you want to sanitize the handles of the stones on you sheet. Hand Sanitizer is available in the change area.
Contact your league coordinator with any questions or concerns.
Marla’s Curling Tips
- Always cool your slider down by sliding back and forth behind the hack prior to taking a practice slide out of the hack. This prevents wearing the pebble down in the house with a warm slider.
- A buzzer sounds at 6:40 to start play. It is a good habit to head out into the rink area at 6:40 to do your practice slides, the coin toss and shake hands so that the first rock can be thrown by 6:45. This increases the chances you will finish 8 ends in the allotted time.
- DO NOT leave your hands or knees or any part of your body on the ice for an extended period of time. This causes a flat spot on the ice that will affect the rocks as they cross that area.
- If you have a No Lift Delivery, be sure to bring your stone straight back to your hack foot toe, to aid in your line of delivery to aim directly at the broom.
- Keep your stone at the 10:00 o’clock or 2:00 o’clock position (depending on the turn called) until the last metre of your slide, this is when you put the turn on your stone and bring the handle to the 12:00 o’clock position for your release.
- Use the boot boy at the complex entrance to take off any salt or snow from outdoor shoes, thus giving us less debris and puddles in the concession area where we put on our indoor shoes/curling shoes. Then be sure to use the boot boy at the rink doors before entering ice area.
- Behind the Tee line at the playing end, only one player from each team may sweep at any one time. If it is your own stone it can be any player, if it is an oppositions stone only the skip or vice skip may sweep. The front edge of the Stone must reach the Tee line before any sweeping can take place.
- To pick up the speed of play, curlers should always be ready to throw when it is their turn to deliver and ready to sweep when another member of their team is delivering.
- When the buzzer sounds you will finish the End you are playing and complete one more End. An End is considered complete when the Thirds agree upon the score for the end.
- Only Skips and Thirds are allowed to stand in the house area, they should stand still, well back of the house, and ensure their brooms are held off the ice while their opposition is preparing to throw. Leads and Seconds should position themselves between the hog lines well to the side of the playing surface when their team is not delivering.
- If you curl 2-3 times a week, your gripper wears down that much quicker and should be replaced each year to avoid leaving rubber debris on the ice. Even once a week curlers should replace their gripper every other year.
- All curlers should remain outside the house area until the Thirds have agreed on the score. The Third on the scoring team is responsible for posting the score. The Lead on the scoring team should get prepared for their delivery while the remaining Lead, Seconds and Thirds push the rocks into the corners.
- Sweepers should judge the speed of the stone, the Skip should judge the line, communication of both speed and line is the KEY to executing a great shot.
- Sweeping must be a back and forth motion (no snowplowing), and you cannot just lift your broom off the ice in front of the rock, this can drop debris in the rocks path. Lift to one side or the other when completing the sweeping motion. A stationary stone must be set in motion before any sweeping may occur.
- Take your glove off of your delivering hand for your two stones; this will give you much better feel and control. Also regularly brush your broom head clean over the garbage cans at each end of the ice using the brushes provided. This helps keep debris off the ice surface.
- If a delivered stone is touched (burned) between the hoglines, it is removed from play immediately. If it is burned after it crosses the far hogline, allow the rock to continue until all rocks come to rest. The non-offending team may choose to either (a) allow the play to stand, (b) remove the touched stone and replace all affected stones as close as possible to their original position or (c) place the touched stone and all stones it would have affected where they reasonably consider the stones would have come to rest had the violation not occurred.
- For Skips and Thirds – Hold the broom along the tee line when calling draw shots, even for guards. This will give you a good reference point for calling future shots. Also hold the broom directly in front of your body so the person delivering has a single target, and you have a good view of whether the player was on the broom or not when they release the stone.
- To help pick up the speed of play, sweepers should move their skips stone to the hack while they wait for the skip to make their way down the ice. Also as a precaution to prevent picks, sweepers may like to sweep the delivery path while the person in the hack is cleaning their stone.
- With last rock, Skips should direct play to the sides of the sheet to keep the center open for a final draw shot. Without last rock, Skips should direct play to the center of the sheet to take away the path to the four foot for the opposition.
- The only time a stone is left on the Hogline is … when a delivered stone makes contact with a stone that is just over the Hogline.
- 5 Rock Free Guard Zone: Any stationary stone(s) belonging to the opposition that is located within the free guard zone shall not be removed from play prior to the delivery of the sixth stone of an end. If an oppositions “free guard” is inadvertently removed from play, either directly or indirectly, the delivered stone is removed and any displaced stones are replaced, by the non-offending team, to their positions prior to the violation taking place. TIP: The Skip should count whether there are 5 stones at their end of the sheet prior to calling for a take-out of a guard.
Good Curling!