| Term |
Definition |
| Acting skip (or vice skip) |
The player who directs play for the team when it is the skip's turn to deliver |
| Alternate |
A registered, non-playing member of the team who is eligible to substitute for competing players |
| Away end |
The end of the "sheet" to which the first "stone" of a game is delivered |
| Back board |
The back edge of the curling rink. Generally is made of a material (e.g. foam or wood) placed at the end (perimeter) of each sheet of ice |
| Back board weight / board weight |
A lightweight "takeout" thrown with just enough speed to reach the back board |
| Back house weight |
A stone thrown with sufficient momentum to reach the back of the house |
| Back line |
The line at the back of the house. Rocks completely beyond the line are out of play. |
| Biter |
A stone just touching the outer edge of the house. It is able to score a point. |
| Blank end |
An end in which no points are scored. Whichever team had hammer retains hammer for the next end. |
| Bonspiel (BAHN-shpeel) |
Curling competition or tournament |
| Brick |
A slang term for the last stone of an end |
| Brier |
The Canadian Men’s National Championship
|
| Broom |
An item used to sweep the ice |
| Burned |
When a rock is removed from play because of an infraction. It is known as a "burned rock.” |
| Button |
The one-foot circle at the center of the house |
| Center line |
The line splitting the length of the ice sheet |
| Counter |
Any stone in the house. It is a potential point. |
| Curl |
The curve the stone makes as it travels down the ice |
| Delivery |
The motion of the curler as the stone is being shot |
| Double takeout |
A takeout shot that clears two opposing stones from the house |
| Draw |
A scoring shot. It is often designed to stop inside or in front of the house. |
| Draw Shot Challenge |
The calculation made by taking the average distance of the Last Stone Draws (LSD), excluding the least favorable LSD, and used, if required, to assist in the determination of ranking after a round robin |
| End |
Similar to an inning of baseball. One end is complete when all 16 rocks – two per person, eight per team – have been shot. The score is determined at the conclusion of each end. Games are made up of 10 ends. |
| Extra end |
An additional end played to break a tie at the end of regulation |
| Free guard zone |
The area between the hogline and the house. During the first four stones of an end, no stone in this area may be removed from play by the opposition. |
| Freeze |
A form of a draw that stops in front of and next to another rock |
| Fourth |
The player who shoots fourth for a team in each end. Normally the person who shoots fourth is the skip. This term only is used if that person is not the skip. |
| Guard |
A rock between the hog line and the house used to prevent the opposition from hitting a rock in the house
|
| Hack |
The rubber foothold where curlers begin their delivery. It is located 125 feet from the center of the house. |
| Hammer |
The last stone shot in each end |
| Handle |
The rotation applied to the stone upon release |
| Heavy |
The term for a rock that has been thrown harder than intended |
| Heavy Ice |
Slow ice. It means the rocks have to be thrown harder. |
| Hit-and-roll |
Generally, a shot designed to take out an opponent’s rock and then roll the shot rock to a designated spot. It also is possible to play a hit-and-roll off the team’s own rock. |
| Hog |
A stone that fails to reach the far hog line and is removed from play |
| Hog line |
The line behind which a player must release a stone. It is located 21 feet from the tee. If a stone does not travel beyond the far hog line, it is removed from play. |
| House |
The circular scoring area, made up of the button, four foot ring, eight foot ring, and twelve foot ring. |
| Hurry |
A command which instructs players to sweep harder |
| In-turn |
A shot in which the front of the player’s hand is facing away from the body when the player finishes his delivery. For a right-handed player, the rock spins clockwise and curls across the ice from left to right. |
| Keen ice |
Fast ice. Rocks must be thrown less hard in these conditions. |
| Last stone draw |
A contest conducted before every round-robin game in which each team delivers a single stone to the tee, or “pin,” at the home end. The resulting distance is measured and can be used to determine which team has the choice of delivering the first or second stone in the first end. |
| Lead |
The first player who shoots for a team in each end |
| Light |
The term for a rock that has been thrown with less force than intended |
| Narrow |
A rock delivered inside the intended line of delivery |
| Out-turn |
A shot in which the back of the player’s hand is facing away from the body when the player finishes his delivery. For a right-handed player, the rock spins counter-clockwise and curls on teh ice from right to left. |
| Pebble |
The droplets of water applied to a sheet of ice before a game. They freeze and reduce friction between the stone and the ice. |
| Peel |
A shot to remove a guard or guards, generally with a higher weight than a draw. |
| Picked |
The slang term for a rock getting knocked off-line by a foreign object on the ice. The term comes from the phrase, “the rock picked something up.” It almost always is used as a verb: “My rock picked on that last shot.” |
| Pin (or Tee) |
The center of the house. Scoring is determined by which rock is closest to the tee (or pin). |
| Port |
The space between two lying stones, large enough for another to pass through |
| Power play |
A play exclusive to mixed doubles curling that can be used once per game in regulation ends by each team. When a power play is used, the in-house stone, which belongs to the team with the last stone in that end, is placed with the back edge of the stone touching the tee line, at the point where the 8-foot and 12-foot circles meet. The guard stone is positioned to the same side of the sheet, the same distance that was determined for the center guards. |
| Raise |
A type of draw that knocks another rock into the house |
| Rings |
Another term for the house |
| Rink |
Another name for a curling team. It is made up of four players: the lead, the second, the third and the skip. |
| Rock |
Also known as a stone. Curling stones are made of a rare, dense granite that is quarried on Scotland’s Ailsa Craig. The stones weigh, on average, 19.1 kg (42 pounds) and are polished. |
| Running band |
The narrow, polished ring on its concave bottom that makes contact with the ice, creating the curl by interacting with the pebbled surface |
| Second |
The player who shoots second for a team in each end |
| Score |
The number of points received by a team in an end |
| Score board |
Curling score boards have two rows (one for each team), and the columns are numbered for the cumulative score from 1 onwards. Generally numbered placards are available representing the end that the points were scored in. For example if the yellow team scored two points in the first end and three additional points in the second end, they would hang the placard labelled "1" (for the first end) on the column labelled "2" (for their two points), and then hang the placard labelled "2" (for the second end) on column labelled "5" (for their cumulative score of 2+3) |
| Scoring |
Scoring is calculated after each end. Only one team can score points per end. One point is given for the closest stone to the tee, plus one more point for each additional stone within the house that is closer to the tee than any of the opposing teams stones. |
| Scotties Tournament of Hearts |
The Canadian Women’s National Championship |
| Sheet |
The specific ice surface upon which a curling game is played. The playing area of each sheet s 44.5 meters (146 feet) long and allows play in both directions. Smithers Curling Club has 6 sheets. |
| Shot rock (or Shot stone) |
At any time during an end, the stone that is closest to the tee |
| Skip |
The leader of a curling team. The skip directs the team’s strategy and shot selection and typically holds a broom as a target for the other three players to shoot at. The skip usually shoots last. |
| Slider |
The smooth object worn on the sliding foot that allows for a long, smooth delivery. Sliders are made of low friction material, such as teflon or stainless steel |
| Split raise |
A stone played with draw-weight to hit a stationary stone in such a way that the stones split in opposite directions, but both remain in play |
| Straight handle |
A stone that is released without any rotation |
| Straight ice |
A condition in which the ice does not cause the stones to curl very much |
| Steal |
To score in an end when your team does not have the hammer (the last stone) |
| Striking band |
The convex, sandblasted equatorial belt around a curling stone where impacts with other stones occur, designed to absorb shock and prevent chipping |
| Sweeping |
The action of moving a broom or brush back and forth in front of the path of a moving stone to clean or polish the ice surface; sweeping changes the running-lenght and -direction of a stone being in motion |
| “Swingy” ice |
A condition in which the ice causes the stones to curl a lot |
| Takeout |
A type of shot that removes another rock from play |
| Team |
Four players competing together. A team may include a fifth player (to act as an alternate) and a coach. Mixed Doubles have one male and one female player, and may include a coach. At the club level, many leagues have mixed-gender teams. |
| Tee (or Pin) |
The center of the house. Scoring is determined by which rock is closest to the tee. Also commonly referred to as the “pin.” |
| Tee line |
A line extending across the center of the house through the pin and parallel to the hogline and back line. Scoring is determined by which rock is closest to the tee. Also commonly referred to as the “pin.” |
| Thinking time |
The allotted time each team has for a game. Each team's clock begins after the opposing team's shot is considered complete and stops once the next stone is delivered. Essentially the clock only runs when your team is thinking about their strategy for their next shot. Often is between 30 and 38 minutes for a 10 end game. |
| Third |
The player who shoots third in each end. The third also often is the vice-skip. |
| Time out |
A stoppage of play called by the team |
| Twelve foot ring (or "the Twelve") |
The 12 foot-diameter (3.7 m) circle outermost in the house; a stone completely outside this circle cannot score |
| Vice-skip |
The person who stands in the house and directs the game when the skip is shooting. When the skip shoots, the vice-skip holds the broom as the target. The vice-skip often is the third. |
| Weight |
The amount of force/speed given to the stone during the delivery |
| Wick |
A shot where the played stone touches a stationary stone just enough that the played stone changes direction
|
| Wide |
A rock delivered outside the intended line |
| Vice skip (or acting skip) |
The player who directs play for the team when it is the skip's turn to deliver |
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