If each team has a stone super close, you might bring out a micrometer (curlers usually just call this “the stick”) and actually measure to see which is closest. Curling is all about fair play and sportsmanship, so you rarely see this—usually the teams just agree. No stones in the house at all? That’s called a blank end—nobody scores.
If the players had to bring out a micrometer to measure and determine the shot rock, then the competing stone is automatically the 2nd shot rock.
Team Red has the shot rock with 6 stones in the house. Team Yellow has the 2nd shot rock with a stone just inside the smallest circle of the house. The shot rock is the only stone closer to the center of the button, so Team Red only scores 1 point. Team Red has the shot rock with 6 stones in the house, just as before. But this time, Team Yellow’s closest stone is in the outer circle of the house. All of Team Red’s stones are closer to the center of the button than Team Yellow’s closet stone, so Team Red scores 6 points.
This is why sometimes it’s better strategy to let your opponent win the end so you can get the hammer. That’s an especially strong strategy toward the end of the match when the score is close. Which team starts with the hammer? This is usually decided by a coin toss or something similar. In some tournaments, the hammer is assigned. When a team manages to score without the hammer, it’s called a “steal. "
Lead: delivers the first 2 stones for their team; should be a strong sweeper and good at throwing guards Second: delivers the 3rd and 4th stones for their team; should work well as a team sweeping with the lead Vice: takes over the skip’s duties while the skip is throwing; should be good at all shots but especially draws Skip: throws the last stone of the end, which often determines whether the team will score; directs overall strategy
Typically, the thrower will give the handle of the stone a bit of a twist as they release—this will cause the stone to curl as it moves down the ice, and gives the sport its name. Be careful that no part of your body crosses the near hog line before you release the stone—otherwise, that stone won’t count. The stone must reach the far hog line to be considered in play. If it doesn’t, it’ll be moved off the playing surface. It takes a lot of practice to know exactly how hard you need to throw the stone to get it to do what you want it to do!
The skip (or vice, if the skip is throwing) directs the sweepers based on their perspective of the stone’s movement. This is where curling gets loud. If the skip wants a lot of sweeping, you’ll hear, “Hard! Haaaaard!” Don’t touch the stone with your broom or any part of your body while you’re sweeping. If you do, you “burn” the stone and it’s removed from play. Once a stone makes it into the house, the opposing team can sweep it to try to get it to move away from the spot where you wanted it to stop (or “freeze”).
Guards: light shots thrown toward the front of the house to block opponents and protect the shot rock (a stone close to or on the button) Draws: direct shots thrown specifically to reach the house (and hopefully the button) and stay (“freeze”) there Takeouts: heavy shots intended to strike an opponent’s rock and knock it out of play
When the end is finished, the teams look at the position of the stones and tally the score. While there can be disagreements if 2 stones are super close to each other, it’s usually pretty quickly decided who gets points and how many they get.
Play continues the same way, you’re just moving in the opposite direction.
Sometimes you’ll have a stone just barely in the house (called a “biter”). Since the edges of the stone are rounded, it might not actually be contacting the house at all, but it still counts if it’s across that outside line (as long as it’s closer than the 2nd shot rock).
Time can come into play as well. If there’s a time limit, you’ll know about it before you start playing. When time is up, you’re usually allowed to finish the end you’re on, then the match is over.
Ties can also be broken by “skip stones. " Each of the skips throws a draw shot. The stone closest to the center of the button wins, with that skip’s team taking home the match victory. [13] X Research source
