The Royal Montreal Curling Club
Instructional Program Manual
(Second Edition – September 2019)
Using a frequently-asked questions (FAQs) format, this curling manual deals with all aspects of the Roarin’ Game, and is specifically designed to address issues of interest to both new and experienced curlers.
Weekly lessons have been prepared in order to introduce important curling-related topics that can be read in five to ten minutes at the member’s leisure, and eventually put into practice from a playing or coaching perspective.
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Table of Contents
Ethics and Fair Play
Week 1 Curlers Code of Ethics page 4
Declaration of Fair Play page 4
Pre-Game Preparation
Week 1 Warm-up page 5
Etiquette
Week 2 A Review of the Common Rules of Etiquette page 7
Rules
Week 3 A Few Rules to Remember page 9
Free Guard Zone
Week 4 Understanding the Free Guard Zone Rules page 12
The Delivery
Week 5 Element 1 – The Grip page 15
Week 6 Element 2 – The Setup Position (Stance) page 17
Week 7 Element 3 – The Backward Motion (Delivery Pull-Back) page 18
Week 8 Element 4 – The Forward Motion (Delivery Slide-Forward) page 19
Week 9 Element 5A – Reviewing the Slide page 21
Week 10 Element 5B – Body Height During the Slide page 23
Week 11 Element 6A – The Release page 24
Week 12 Element 6B – Stone Rotation page 26
Week 13 Element 7 – The Follow Through page 28
Week 14 The Three-Step Delivery vs The Two-Step Delivery page 30
Brushing (Sweeping)
Week 15 Part 1 – Basic Concepts, Stance and Direction of Motion page 32
Week 16 Part 2 – Sweeping for Maximum Effect page 35
Week 17 Part 3 – Basic Sweeping Rules and Proper Brushing Etiquette page 37
Week 18 Part 4 – Past the Far Hog Line page 41
Types of Shots
Week 19 Part 1 – Guards and Draw Shots page 44
Week 20 Part 2 – Takeout Shots and Speed (Weight) Definitions page 47
Timing of Stones
Week 21 Part A – Fast Ice vs Slow Ice page 50
Week 22 Part B – Judging How Far the Stone Will Travel page 53
Communication
Week 23 Basic Skip Signaling page 55
Strategy
Week 24 Strategy and Tactics Part 1 – An Introduction page 57
Week 25 Basic Strategy and Tactical Considerations page 62
Week 26 Five-Rock Free Guard Zone Opening Tactics page 65
Fault Correction
Annex A Common Curling Delivery Faults page 68
Annex B CCA Delivery Fault Correction Guide page 70
References page 73
Note. The terms rock and stone are both used in this manual and are interchangeable.