Curling Explained! History & Rules to Equipment & Lingo

 Curling is a very fascinating sport, although it may appear pretty strange to an audience unfamiliar with it. The strangeness, however, can be part of the fascination for newbies. Many of us have stumbled onto the sport of curling while sitting on the couch and channel-surfing, only to be hypnotized by its unique premise of people furiously pushing a broom on ice while a stone slides down the surface toward a target. With its clear quirks and the everyperson accessibility of the athletes who play curling, the public has been enchanted by curling’s many obvious charms. In fact, curling is so popular in Canada that in 2015, more people — like, over 150,000 more people — watched a Brier semifinal match than the Toronto Maple Leafs NHL hockey game that aired on the very same night.

The sport of curling relies on tactics, strategies, and skills that are very distinct to the game and add character. Continuing our coverage on Winter Olympic sports like the biathlon, snowboarding, bobsledding, and speed skating, we’ve culled together 15 facts and trivia about curling history, rules, and equipment to give you a better overview and insight into the popular yet unassuming winter sport.

1. Where was curling invented?

The sport of curling originates in Scotland and dates all the way back to 1511 — that’s over 500 years ago! Players originally competed on frozen ponds and lochs around the central part of Scotland using crude curling stones. The stones were literally made from stones and rocks found in the Stirling and Perth regions of central Scotland. They did not have cameras 500 years ago so there are no pictures existing of people playing curling back then, but here is a picture of some men playing curling in Ontario, Canada more than 100 years ago in 1909. Neat, huh?

2. The world’s first modern curling club

The Grand Caledonian Curling Club was established in 1838 in Scotland — and its creation made it the world’s first modern curling club. The members and committee of the club assumed the responsibility of organizing the sport and writing up the game’s first official rule book. The Grand Caledonian Curling Club also had to standardize the equipment and stones used in competition. In 1843, Queen Victoria granted the club a Royal Charter, and as a result, the club became the Royal Caledonian Curling Club. Here is a picture of what the Cold Lake Curling Club School in Alberta, Canada looked like in 1955, over one hundred years later.

 

3. When did curling become a competitive sport?

We’ve already said that curling has been around for over 500 years. However, the sport’s first recorded international curling tournaments weren’t staged until the 1800s in Europe and North America. Curling didn’t make its Olympic Winter Games debut until 1924 in Chamonix, France — and even then it was strictly for men’s teams — where Great Britain defeated Sweden and France at the 1924 Winter Games. Curling wasn’t made an official Olympic sport by the International Olympic Committee until 2006, when the British’s victories were retroactively accepted and medals were awarded to the teams. In recent years, it’s Canada that has dominated the Winter Olympics when it comes to curling. The women’s team has taken five medals since 1998 — including two gold medals in 1998 and 2014 — and the men’s team have won six medals, including three gold medals in 2006, 2010, and 2014.

4. Curling stones are made of special granite

Curling stones have a height of 4.5 inches and a circumference of 36 inches. A stone’s weight varies between 38 pounds and 44 pounds, depending on the level of competition. Curling stones are crafted from a rare granite that is shaped and polished, and there are only two rock quarries where the granite is mined. The Scottish island of Ailsa Craig and the Trefor Granite Quarry in Wales produce the granite rock that is crafted into curling stones. Unfortunately, one day, the materials used to craft curling stones could run out. The granite used to make the stones is relatively rare and a new type of stone may be needed to make curling stones, so they are not the easiest to come by since there probably isn’t a curling store in your neighborhood. The premium brand of curling stones comes from Kays Curling, who have been making curling stones since 1851 and are the only curling stones that are used during competition by The World Curling Federation. They actually have the sole rights to harvest Ailsa Craig granite for the production of curling stones.

5. What are some basic rules of curling?

How many players are on a curling team? Curling games take place between two teams consisting of four players on each team. The two teams take turns scoring eight stones each during an “end” (which is the designated time period). The team with the stone closest to the button receives a point. If a team has more than one stone near the button, they receive points for those stones, too. A curling match lasts ten ends (the scoreboard is similar to nine innings of baseball) and the team with the most points wins. Sometimes, though, a losing team can concede if they believe they don’t have a change of winning anymore.

6. Curling has distinct terms, jargon & lingo

Like other sports, curling has its own distinct language, jargon, lingo, and terms, as well as a set of rules that make it very unique. You must “deliver” (slide) the curling stone in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction and send it down a 150-foot-long by 15-foot-wide area of rough ice, which is called “the sheet,” to the center (“button”) of a 12-foot target (house). After being delivered, stones typically curl left or right. This is why we call this winter sport “curling.” That last rock you see at the end in curling? It’s called “the hammer.”

7. Delivering stones: why do they sweep in curling?

Each team has four players and each player must deliver stones from the rubber starting block, known as the “hack.” Players must release the stone prior to reaching the “hog line.” The “hog line” is located 37 feet away from the “hack” and is a line in the ice. The team’s captain, known as the “skip”, instructs the “sweepers” to brush the melted ice away with brooms. This guides the stone down the “sheet” toward the “button.” By sweeping the ice with brooms, the stone is able to glide down the ice and continue its movement straighter or farther. When you see the athlete curlers furiously sweeping the ice in front of the stone, they’re attempting to melt the ice and influence the direction the stone goes — and sometimes it curls. Hence, curling!

8. Each ice sheet in curling is different

Just like a baseball pitcher that needs to be aware of the dimensions and intricacies of the ballpark they’re pitching in, the curling must observe how the particular ice sheet they’re playing on can influence the way a stone can curl. Bumps are added to the ice — this is called “pebbling” — by adding layers of water droplets that freeze and form imperfections in the ice, creating friction for the stone to curl. Think of how the surface of an ice skating rink looks after a whole bunch of people have skated on it but before the Zamboni machine smoothes it out, and you get an ideal of how the ice sheets used in curling can be irregular. The idea behind “pebbling” is to recreate the inconsistent outdoor conditions curling was originally played under. This adds obvious skill to how sweepers shape the ice in curling.

9. Athletes wear special curling sport shoes

Curling players wear two different types of shoes — at the same time! On one foot, players wear a slipper, while on the other foot, they wear a shoe known as a clamp or gripper. The clamp allows them to push the stone out of the “hack.” As the name implies, the clamp or gripper shoe, allows the player to get better traction on the ice when delivering the stone. The slipper is known as the “slider” and is made using a Teflon sole. It is worn on the players slide foot, which allows them to slide out of the “hack” to release the stone down the ice. The specialized shoes also allow the “sweepers” to sweep the ice more quickly. If you want to buy your own curling shoes, it seems like the ACACIA brand is one way to go. You can also purchase the slider!

Click to buy your own curling gripper shoes!

10. Pizza Paul Goswell: Rebel of the curling world

You might not expect curling to have a rebel player, but it certainly does. For all of the quirks and charm in the sport of curling, it should certainly follow that some of its athletes be quirky and charming as well. Calgary’s Paul Goswell was known as the “Rebel of the Curling World.” He won the 1976 and 1978 World Junior Championships. Goswell was also known for his tangled long hair, wild facial hair, and loud plaid pants he wore during matches. In 1980, at a tournament held by the Regina Curling Club, Goswell famously ordered a pizza in the middle of a match. He and his teammates then ate the pizza while on the ice as their opponents played. The Rebel of the Curling World earned another nickname that day: “Pizza Paul.” Here is a video of Paul Goswell of Alberta versus Al Hackner of Northern Ontario at the 1980 Brier Semi-Final.

 

11. Wheelchair Curling: Curling is a disability-friendly sport

The World Curling Federation has wheelchair curling as one of its three primary curling disciples, along with mixed doubles curling and team curling. It’s also one of the sports in the Winter Paralympic Games. There is no sweeping in this particular curling disciple, and the rocks can be thrown by hand or with a delivery stick, kinda like shuffleboard. The first Wold Wheelchair Curling Championship was held in 2002 in a town called Sursee, Switzerland. Switzerland beat Canada at the inaugural games, and subsequent winners have included Scotland, Norway, Canada, Russia, and China.

12. Broomgate: The controversial scandal that rocked curling!

Curling is considered a polite sport where sportspersonship is highly valued, yet it has seen its fair share of scandals over the years. Curling’s highest-profile and biggest scandal is probably Broomgate, which happened around 2015. New broom technology (yes, you read that correctly, new broom technology is a cool thing that actually exists!), gave sweepers more control over their play. Some fans and players believed this new broom technology allowed for too much control, and that the icePad broom took away some of the technique needed when delivering the stone. It was an efficient piece of broom technology that allowed the sweepers to adjust the direction of the stone and correct a poor delivery as the icePad broom sanded down the ice surface more than traditional brooms — but it certainly met its detractors. The sport’s reputation took a big hit as it allowed players to rely on the broom rather than technique to score points. In 2015, the icePad broom was banned from competitions by the World Curling Federation.

13. Is a Curling Hall of Fame?

Yes! The Elmer Freytag Award began in 1978 and was given annually to individuals until 2011. The World Curling Hall of Fame began in 2012, with the yearly Freytag Medal winners being inducted, along with all the previous winners since 1978. Oddly enough, Elmer Freytag himself wasn’t inducted until 2018. Many of them were women like Not only can athlete curlers be inducted for their results, talent, and sportspersonship on the ice, so can “builders” (like Elmer Freytag) who have made significant contributions to the sport of curling. There is even a separate USA Curling Hall of Fame, and they’ve honored such legendary curling players like Lori Mountford, Scott Baird, Lisa Schoeneberg, Harold Lauber, Ann Brown, Mike Slyziuk, Mary Van Ess, and Bruce Roberts — all superstar curling players and celebrities in the world of curling. It’s also refreshing to see women prominently represented in the US Curling Hall of Fame.

14. The Beatles played curling!

The Beatles — perhaps the single biggest entity that pop culture has ever seen — can be seen curling in their 1965 musical comedy Help!. Here are some great outtakes of The Beatles filming footage for Help! while they were in the Austrian Alps that includes the band members having fun interacting with the granite stones and curling brooms on the ice.

15. Where can I buy a curling broom?

Believe it or not, you can purchase a curling broom online. There are a few well-reviewed brands of curling brooms — and they come in many different colors! Whichever curling broom you buy, make sure you also get a curling broom head cover and a personal curling broom bag to carry it in. While you’re add it, get yourself some Kodiak Claws curling gloves to get a better grip on your new curling broom.

Click on the picture to buy your own curling broom!

Final Thoughts About Curling

The sport of curling is fun! And a big part of the fun is how weird and quirky and interesting curling can be. As a sport, curling has a very long history dating back to Scotland over 500 years ago, and its popularity continues to grow in certain corners of the world. You’re probably here because you’ve stumbled into one of those corners of the world and are curious to hear more about curling. We hope your visit here was sufficient for those purposes. Here is a picture of Russian curler Victoria Moiseeva at the 2015 World Curling Championship in 2015. Maybe someday you can be just like her!

Image Credit: picture of curling by Sergei Kazantsev via Wikimedia

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