Curling Rules Of Play

Curling rules of play are very important to remember when participating in this sport. It is not an overly known sport, but the players who are involved take it very seriously. If you are just starting out or you want to learn more to be a more informed spectator, there are several curling rules of play to keep in mind.

1. Team Makeup. The curlers must be one male and one female on each team. There is no such thing as alternates in curling. If one of the curlers cannot participate, then that team basically must forfeit. Also, both the male and female curler play for the duration of the game, and they are permitted to have one coach guiding them.
2. Game Makeup. Each individual match is known as an end. The entire game will consists of eight total ends in which each team of curlers will get a chance to score points. During each end of the game, each team will actually deliver a total of five stone discs.
3. Hog Line. This is the line on the ice curling sheet that represents where the stone disc needs to be released. If the stone disc is not released by this point, the curlers cannot continue. It is the responsibility of the team in play to remove the disc before it strikes any other discs when this type of penalty occurs.
4. Movement. The curlers have a specific type of movement they must follow. They must make a type of sweeping motion across the ice in front of the disc as it moves. This motion must be side to side, never diagonally or up and down. Also, the sweeping motion should stay within the total width of the disc and not go beyond this line.
5. Winning. During each end, each team of curlers is awarded a particular amount of points determined by which stones are hit and the movement of those stones, similar to shuffleboard. The winner of the entire game is determined by which team was able to accrue more points during all of the ends combined.