Curling and Etiquette Tips:
Speed of Play
- Trust your skip to call the shot and the ice; stop making decisions by committee.
- As soon as the opposition delivers their stone, get your rock to the hack and clean it. Do not wait until the other team's rock has come to rest, get ready as soon as the thrower crosses the first hogline.
- Do not touch the other team's rocks. Get only your own team's rocks from the rock boxes.
- As soon as the opposition's rock comes to rest, both sweepers and the thrower should be ready to play.
- After sweeping a teammate's stone, do not stay at the playing end; move quickly to the throwing end to be in position as per above.
- A 30 second delay on each shot causes a one hour delay in an 8-end game. Please be ready.
Curling Equipment
- Check your gripper! Friction between your gripper and your shoe causes the gripper to shed little rubber droppings that get on the ice and can make a rock pick. You can solve this problem by frequently replacing your gripper regularly and cleaning it often.
- Check your curling brush! The debris and grime on your brush head can easily be transfered to the ice. The curlers on TV change their brush head every game - you should change your brush head at least every 10-20 games. Certainly every season.
- Use the Boot Boy! Debris can easily be transferred from outside shoes to curling shoes and then to the ice. Remember, you walk on the same carpet with your outside shoes as with your curling shoes. We ask that both curlers and non-curlers wash their shoes before entering the building.
Where should I stand?
- Only the skip and vice-skip of the non-delivering team may be behind the hogline at the playing end. This means that sweepers must stand between the hoglines when the other team is throwing. This applies all game. The last shot of an end - should still only have two players on the back boards - not the whole team.
- The next player to throw may stand on the backboards at the throwing end.
- If possible, sweepers on the non-throwing team should stand on the opposite side of the ice to the throwing team's skip, so as not to be a distraction.
