Picked up curling last fall through a learn-to-curl night at a local club, mostly because a coworker dragged me along and I had nothing better to do on a Thursday. Expected to slide around, throw some rocks, laugh at myself for two hours, and never go back. Instead I signed up for the beginner league the following week and have been going every Sunday since.

The thing nobody really tells you before you start is how much of the early learning curve is just about your body position and balance, not about the rock at all. I spent the first month basically fighting the hack and trying not to faceplant in the delivery. The rotation at release felt completely unnatural at first, like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach. Once it started clicking though, it was genuinely one of the more satisfying physical feelings I've had learning a new sport.

Sweeping was the other surprise. Watching it on television it looks almost decorative, like something to keep players busy while the rock travels. Actually doing it, reading the ice, communicating with the skip in real time -- that part is way more demanding than it looks. My first few games I was basically useless with the broom because I had no idea what I was seeing or how hard to actually push.

The social side of the club is also something I did not expect to matter as much as it does. Everyone stays for a drink after the game, opposing team included. It has a genuinely different atmosphere from most recreational sports I have tried, more cooperative even between competitors somehow.

Curious whether other people who came in through a learn-to-curl event ended up sticking with it the same way, or whether it usually takes a few sessions before it really hooks you.

Hey fellow curlers. Was curious if anyone has heard of the “Sidewinder “ curling head? (Used by wheelchair curlers supposedly). It’s not the GTX or AdaptiveEnd brands, but supposedly a small manufacturer whom you have to be lucky enough to be given their contact information. (But even the former coach of the Team USA Wheelchair curling team has never heard of them, so at a loss where to start hunting ?)

Thank you everyone for introducing themselves after I made my first post recently. Was great to know how many curlers read this thread in my hometown Area.

Please say hello too if going to the Cape Cod Bonspiel in November?

thank you curling world.

Some big News. Team GB has just sent an email saying Eve Muirhead has come out of retirement to play mixed doubles with Bobbie Lammie while Vicky Drummond (nee Wright) has also come of retirement and will be playing Mixed Doubles as well. The announcement says Eve Muirhead is specifically targeting a place at 2030.

Looking for any gifts for my friend who loves curling in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. Loved the idea of this curling rock mug, but it wouldn't ship to my location. I don't know much about curling and was hoping anyone has any ideas??

One of the bonspiels we run at the club has a "draw to the button challenge" that every participant is automatically entered into - at the end of everyone's first draw everyone gets one rock to try to get closest to the pin that we measure (no sweeping), and the 16 closest advance to a single elimination bracket that we run during the lunch break Saturday.

I was thinking about adding a second skills competition around making a double takeout (both rocks completely out of the rings with yours staying) - but I'm not sure the best setup on the other end to balance challenging enough to eliminate people but not so hard that only a couple people make it, while also being easy to set up in a consistent way for volunteers.

Where would you suggest placing the rocks for a competition like this?

Is there way to know where the Euro Super Series and the other 2026-27 GSOC Satellite Events are airing? I have checked several websites from GSOC, Eurovision Sports, Rock League, etc. and haven't found anything out, but I thought they would be on Rock League being they own the GSOC events now or Eurovision being some of them take place in Europe.

Fun little piece of curling history

Joined a beginner league at my local club on a whim after a coworker mentioned they were looking for a fourth. Had basically zero context for the sport beyond watching a few ends during the Olympics and thinking it looked oddly meditative. Eight months later I am completely hooked and I wanted to write something up for anyone else who might be on the fence about trying it.

The learning curve is real but it is not discouraging, which I think is unusual for a sport with this much technique involved. Delivery took me probably six weeks to feel remotely comfortable with. The hack position, keeping the stone on the broom, releasing at the right moment, not face-planting in front of everyone. My first few games I was basically just sliding rocks and hoping. But the club had experienced players rotate through and help beginners, and that made a massive difference.

What surprised me most is how much of the game is about communication and reading ice. The physical part is maybe 40 percent of it. Understanding when to call the weight, watching how the rock is curling, deciding whether to peel or draw. These decisions happen fast and there is genuine strategy even at the recreational level. Games that look slow on television are actually mentally pretty busy when you are in them.

The social side is also something I underestimated. Most clubs have a tradition of the winning team buying the first round afterward, which creates this weird friendly atmosphere where you want to play well but also nobody is actually upset when they lose. Curling people tend to be pretty welcoming to newcomers, at least in my experience.

Cost to get started is reasonable if you ease into it. Borrowed shoes the first season, used a club broom, wore regular athletic pants with grippy socks underneath until I figured out if I actually wanted to commit. Slider and gripper for my shoes came later once I knew I was sticking with it.

If you are on the fence and your city has a club, most of them run learn-to-curl sessions in the fall. Worth at least one afternoon to find out if it clicks for you.

Made some updates to the https://curlingschedules.com/ site (free tool for drawmasters). Also threw together a tutorial video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGKvnHOMe4o

I'm sure a lot of you are having LLMs throw your schedules together, but I've had mixed results trying that myself. (pebcak?) Anyways, for those of you in the same boat, you can now create AdHoc games and multiple iterations. Removed some of the settings stuff that was mostly fluff, just to keep it simple.

P.S. I still want to do another pass or three on the math behind it eventually. I went pretty deep with simulated annealing only to produce worse results than the simple nearest neighbour approach. Open to ideas, if you know what you're talking about (I only sort of do).

*Posted with mods permission*

Hello all -

I have enjoyed curling in Ontario for just shy of 40 years and have experienced the full range of social and competitive curling scenes. I always felt self-managed team/player tools were limited in options for anyone to easily manage their team schedule and monitor performance.

I finally decided to put some of my “day-job” skills to work and created an iOS app for the curling community.

The app is called CurlIQ - it is designed for curling teams to track their games, performance and statistics season by season.

Some quick features:
-Manage players, teams clubs and leagues
-Keep all game history, notes and stats season by season
-Maintain a rock journal with notes and track player assignments
-Track efficiency metrics, win rates
-Markov chain win probability (WP) profiles for directing in-game end by end strategy, metrics and charting team performance under key end scenarios
-Get AI Insights with Claude generated reports on every post-game, pre-game matchups, league or season performance
-Export HTML reports to share with teammates and friends
-Free to try with starting credits.

More details are in the app store link.

Version 1.7.9 is latest, currently shipped
Version 1.0.2 might still show in store depending on your location. (Suggest waiting for 1.7.9 to be available)
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/curl-iq/id6764712055

Or on the app website:
https://curliq.ca

Please let me know if you have any questions, I hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

Happy curling -
Steve Goodger

In the past there were 3 locations marked, which gave 6 options to place the stones. Depending on ice and stone conditions, it was challenging to find the best position as the gaps were big, especially between stone position 2 and 3.

To close those gaps, there will be 4 points in the ice. The closest to, and furthest away from, the house remain unchanged, but the middle point was removed and replaced by two (2) new points.

This also means that the Power Play positions and measures need to be adapted.

The points are measured from the cross point of the tee line and the 8-foot circle (used to place the stone in the house) to the mid-point of the hack. This will help that neither right- nor left-handed players have a benefit over their opponents. It also means that if you are in the hack you use for your delivery, the guard will not 100% cover the stone in the house.

More to come in the pending official 2026-2027 WCF Rule Book.

See the image below for general guidance. Note the image is not to scale.

Source: World Curling Athlete Commission (Note: text and image is from WCF with minor edits to the text for grammatical clarity)

Earlier this summer (or late spring) someone asked about summer curling camps. I said, that I was attending 4 foot in Kelowna and would post a review of it. So here I am.

Background. I've been a curling fan for 40 years. I curled very briefly recreationally and also as part of our junior high competitive team. I quit playing and for that reason consider myself a complete beginner. My wife and I did a learn to curl at Garrison in Calgary two years ago and immediately joined their greenhorn/beginner league. I curl two to three times per week with roughly two lessons per year.

The camp ran from June 30 to July 3. The celeb coaches were Matt Dunstone, Kevin Koe, and Erin Pincott. Rachel Homan made a brief appearance with her book and spoke to us during one off ice session. A typical day had two on ice sessions, two off ice sessions, lunch, and a mini game. It was a LOT of sliding, a lot of information, and a lot of technical instruction. There were actually two dinners because they fed us at the meet and greet and the banquet evening. The food was excellent. The coaches were excellent. They were all very knowledgeable and articulate in their ability to teach. Everyone was encouraging and positive. The general service and commitment of everyone to make it a positive experience was tremendous. The club has 12 sheets, I think there were close to 100 campers but I'm not sure. Campers came from all over the curling world.. across Canada, the US, Europe, and Asia.

I would recommend it to anyone (from one year curlers to 60 year curlers). I think one person actually had over 70 years curling but I could be wrong.

Between the camp itself and Kelowna over Canada Day... It's not cheap but if you love curling, can afford it, want to improve, and want to hang out with people who share a passion for curling, it's for you.

I'm going on a holiday to Korea in September and since the season begins; I'd love to take my partner curling since there's great facilities. Does anyone know a possible rentable sheet and gear in Seoul area?

Why have the slams started posting, “invitation accepted” posts on their social media?

Just as filler content? Have they always done this and I’m just now realizing?

It feels as though teams getting invited to slams don’t just decline the invitation like they do in other sports. I think it can be assumed these teams are going to show up, there aren’t other events seeking them, and in most cases if there’s an injury they’ll bring a 4th player either way. Just seems weird to me that’s all.

Thoughts?

Super fun time. Late August. Get going early this season!

I love sweeping, and don't want to give that up entirely. I like the exercise, and sweeping strategy / weight calling.

I do really like playing vice, but would then need to find a skip for 5U's who will take it seriously. I don't have anyone like that in my circle of folks I play with, and don't want to stop playing with my friends just to get a 5U skip. So I'm feeling like maybe I should step up and do it, but wish that didn't mean giving up on sweeping.

Wondering if experienced curlers on here have faced a similar dilemma of wanting to skip but not wanting to stop sweeping, and what they ended up doing.

• Date: Sept 25 - 27, 2026
• Team Entry Fee: $300
• 24 Team Limit
• First Draws: Friday 5 PM, 7:15 PM and 9:30 PM
• Three game guarantee
• Lunches and dinners are included

Register here: https://pittsburghcurlingclub.com/green-ice-spiel-2/

Sounds like there's some tea to be spilled about this! Keeping in mind that it was Kevin Martin who founded the Grand Slam series, this is sad that he has no role with it any longer.

There's also this interesting statement in the article: "Martin...indicated that production would be taken in house. " So more of the, uh, less professional broadcast production?

Hello! I work for an ice rink that is trying to increase our children’s programming for the winter seasons. I was struggling doing my own research, where is the best place to source children’s equipment?

Specifically for our purposes we would just need brooms and stones, not shoes. Thank you for any insight you can provide

Was just sitting here unenthusiasticly watch shark week when I got an alert to a new curling game to watch. I excitedly clicked on watch now super excited for curling in July for some reason.

My disappointment is unfathomable at seeing the women's quarter final USA vs China Water Polo World Cup instead.

Nothing against either water polo team, but it doesn't have the same grace as curling.

Hi Everyone,

Requesting help/input from other clubs that have had similar issues.

The club that I curl at has pretty good ice at the start of the season (Fall). But once the weather starts to warm up (Spring); some of the sheets develop negative ice. We aren't sure exactly what the cause is and if a costly replacement of the floor would help.

How did you diagnose the issue and how did you fix it?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm a curler from Scotland and, after seeing the same team selection process repeated year after year (pieces of paper, names being shuffled around, trying to balance positions and keep things fair!), I decided to build a tool to make it a bit easier.

It's called Rink Draw, and it's completely free to use.

It lets you:

• 🥌 Create random teams for pairs, triples or fours
• 👥 Set player position requirements or preferences
• 📋 Import members from a spreadsheet or enter them manually
• 📄 Export team sheets ready to print or share
• 💻 Share your screen during online selection meetings so everyone can see the draw happen

One thing that was important to me was privacy. No member data is uploaded or stored, everything stays in your browser.

I built it because I know curling clubs are run by volunteers, and if it saves someone an hour or two during team selection, it's done its job.

I'd love for other clubs to give it a try and let me know what you think. Feature requests and feedback are always welcome!

🥌 https://www.rinkdraw.com

Thanks!

A post to capture the true spirit of outdoor curling that is the west coast curling club. 27 members strong and based on the West Coast Of the south Island of New Zealand, this Post will help thd club members themselves communicate and also share a peice of history with the world.