Curling is a Scottish winter team sport. Though primarily popular in Canada, northwestern Europe and the UK, curling has spread throughout Europe, North America and East Asia since its introduction as a Winter Olympic sport in 1998. With a history spanning approximately 500 years, curling is one of the world's oldest team sports. Despite its long history, however, the fundamental goals of curling have changed little over the years.
Ice
Curling is played on a rectangular sheet of ice 146 to 150 feet long and 14.5 to 16.5 feet wide. The houses, or scoring zones, at each end consist of an outer ring that measures 12 feet in diameter, an inner 8 foot ring, a 4 foot center ring and a central marking known as the button. There is a center line drawn lengthwise across the sheet and three lines running perpendicular to this at each end: the tee line, which crosses through the house at the button, and the back and hog lines, which serve as the outer boundaries of the scoring area.
Equipment and Technique
Each team of four starts with eight 44 lb. rocks, which are the waxed, smooth, circular granite stones that players slide across the surface of the ice. Teams alternate throwing two rocks each, with a total of 16 rocks played per end, or inning. To throw a rock, the first curler kicks off of the hack, or starting block, with one foot while sliding on the other. While sliding, the curler holds the rock to the ice in one hand and steadies herself with a broom in the other. She must release the rock before reaching the closest hog line, after which two other players from her team use their brooms to clear the ice in front of the rock and direct its movement.
Use of Rocks
After a rock has been released, it cannot touch a side wall and must come to rest between the opposite end's back and hog lines to remain in play. The first two rocks played by each team cannot be used to knock others' out of play if they are in the free guard zone, or the area between the tee and hog lines outside of the house. Once the fifth rock of the game is thrown, you are allowed to use your remaining rocks to knock others out of play.
Scoring
A team wins an end when, after all 16 rocks are thrown, one of their rocks is closer to the button than any other rock on the ice. One point is awarded for each of one team's rocks that are closer to the button than the opposing team's closest rock. Only one team scores in each end, with a maximum of 8 points possible per end. To win a game, a team must score more points over 10 ends than the opposing team. If both teams have scored the same number of points after 10 ends, extra ends are played until one team wins an end.
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