Held annually since 2001-02, the Grand Slam of Curling is an elite series of men’s and women’s curling bonspiels featuring the world’s top ranked teams from Canada and around the world. Owned and operated by Sportsnet, the Grand Slam of Curling events are part of the annual World Curling Tour and consistently present the strongest fields in curling.
The Grand Slam Series is also closely tied to the Canadian Curling Association’s qualifying process for the Olympic Winter Games. Through their performance in the Grand Slam Series events, teams can earn a significant amount of points towards securing a berth at the Canadian Olympic Trials.
The Grand Slam Series is made up of the toughest curling tournaments to win as the field is exclusively reserved for the world’s top ranked teams
The Series There are four events that take place in the Grand Slam of Curling Series:
1. The Masters (Features both Men’s and Women’s teams)
2. Canadian Open (Features Men’s teams only)
3. The National (Features Men’s teams only)
4. Players’ Championship (Features both Men’s and Women’s teams)
The top 18 teams (based on order of merit points (OOM)* are invited to take part in each event with the exception of the Players’ Championship where there will be the top 12-16 teams participating.
*Order of Merit point system is managed by the World Curling Tour: http://worldcurl.com/
The Players The teams that participate in each of the ‘Slam’ events are invited by the President of the World Curling Players Association
The Prize Purse The prize purse for each event is $100,000 (The Masters and Players’ Championship is $200,000 – $100k men/$100k women)
Purse Breakdown:
Prize Money: $100,000 (Can)
Winner $20,000
Runner-Up $11,000
3rd & 4th Place $6,000 each team
5th – 8th Place $3,000 each team
Round Robin per win $1,000
Glossary of curling terms
4-foot The 4-foot-diameter (1.2 m) circle in the house. It surrounds the centre area called the button. It is used as a visual aid only – there is no extra score for placing a stone within it
8-foot The 8-foot-diameter (2.4 m) circle in the house. It is used as a visual aid only – there is no extra score for placing a stone within it; generally not actually painted – it appears as the empty space between the 12-foot and 4-foot rings
12-foot The 12-foot-diameter (3.7 m) circle outermost in the house; stone completely outside this circle cannot score
Across the face On a hit, refers to the shooter hitting the object stone on the opposite side from where the broom was placed.
Back end A team’s third and skip, considered as a unit.
Back-house / Back-line weight Delivery speed required for a stone to come to rest in the back half of the house
Biter A stone that barely touches the outside of the house, i.e. the 12-foot ring
Blank end An end in which no stones are touching the house, and thus no points are scored; in regular play the team that has the hammer retains it for the next end. In a rare situation where two opposing stones are tied for shot, a blank end would also be marked.
Board weight / Barrier weight / Bumper Weight Throwing a stone with enough speed that it will come to rest in an area just behind the hacks—about 6 feet behind the house. Synonymous with barrier/bumper weight.
Broom / Brush An implement with which players sweep the ice to make a stone travel farther and curl less;
Buried (Covered) A rock that is hidden behind another rock, making it difficult for a curler to hit with a delivered rock.
Burn To accidentally touch a moving stone; occurring inside the hog line, the opposing skip has the option to remove the burned stone, or leave it where it comes to rest, while before the hog line; the rock is simply removed from play.
Button The centre (bullseye) of the house; sometimes called the 1-foot circle, hole in centre of button is called the Pin.
Centre guard A guard that is placed directly on the centre line, in front of the house; usually played by the team that does not have the hammer
Centre line A line running lengthwise down the centre of the ice, used as a visual aid; some sheets do not have a centre line, or do not have one between the hog lines
Clean To brush the ice lightly in front of a moving rock to remove any debris and ensure a correct line; less vigorous than a sweep
Come-around Any shot that curls around another rock
Control weight A takeout shot that is slow enough that the sweepers have relative control over its curl; faster than board weight, but slower than normal takeout weight
Corner guard A type of guard that is off to the side of the house; usually employed when a team has the hammer and needs to score multiple points
Counter A stone in the house lying closer to the centre than any of the opponent’s stones. Each counter scores one point at the completion of an end.
Delivery / Slide Process of throwing a stone
Double takeout / Double A takeout shot in which two other stones are removed from play; a shot in which the delivered stone and one other stone are removed is not a double takeout
Drag When two rocks are frozen, hitting the top rock at an angle creates a drag effect that affects the direction of the second rock; the friction between the two frozen rocks makes the first rock “drag” the second rock slightly towards the same direction
Draw A shot that lands in play without hitting another stone out, as opposed to a takeout shot. A shot that is delivered with draw weight. Also refers to a game, e.g., “We have a draw at 7:00 p.m. tonight.”
Draw weight Delivery speed required for a stone to come to rest in the house
Dump the handle (also Flip or Turn-Out/Turn-In) During delivery of a stone, the thrower accidentally pushes the stone off-course with their turning motion; often the result of using the arm to shove the stone, and usually causes a missed shot
Eight-ender An end where all eight stones score for one team – a very rare occurrence
End Similar to an inning in baseball; in an end, each team throws 8 rocks, 2 per player in alternating fashion; Games can be 8 or 10 ends in length.
Extra end In the event of a tie after the prescribed number of ends, extra ends are played until the tie is broken
Fall A defect in the ice which causes stones thrown in that area to curl negatively
Flash To completely miss an attempted takeout; the rock passes through the house without touching any rocks at all
Fourth The player throwing the last two rocks for a team. For the majority of teams, the Skip also throws the fourth stones.
Free-Guard Zone Rule The rule that states that an opponent’s rock resting in the free-guard zone, the area between the hog line and the tee line, excluding the house, which cannot be removed from play until the first four rocks of an end have been played
Freeze A precise draw weight shot where a delivered stone comes to rest against a stationary stone, making it nearly impossible to knock out
Front end A team’s lead and second, considered as a unit
Frost Buildup that can occur on ice surfaces when there is excessive humidity in the air; tends to makes stones stop faster and curl less
Guard A rock that is placed in front of another rock to protect it from being knocked out by the other team, or placed with the intent to later curl another rock around it and thus be protected; typically placed between the hog line and the very front of the house
Gripper A rubber or other material attached to a curling shoe to improve traction on the ice; also known as an anti-slider; see Slider
Hack Similar to a starting block in track and field, the foothold device where the person who throws the rock pushes off for delivery
Hack weight The weight required to deliver a stone in order that it travels to the hack at the far end
Hammer The last shot in an end – a huge advantage; the team with the last rock is said to “have the hammer”
Handshake Each team traditionally shakes hands with each member of the opposing team at the before and at the end of a match as a sign of goodwill. To signal an early concession, the losing team shakes the hands of the other team.
Heavy A stone that is thrown harder than required and will probably slide too far
Hit Any shot where the aim is to move another stone; the opposite of a draw
Hit and roll A takeout rock that, after making contact with another rock, slides (rolls) into a designated area
Hog line (far) The line which the stone must completely cross to be considered in play
Hog line (near) The line by which the stone must be clearly and fully released by the thrower
Hog line violation Failure to release a stone before crossing the near hog line
Hogged rock A shot that comes to rest short of or on the far hog line and is removed from play
House (Rings) The three concentric circles where points are scored
Ice (more, less, too much, not enough) Adjustment to the crosswise distance between the skip’s broom and the desired target area; for example, a player who feels that the skip’s broom is too close to the target might request “more ice”
Icemaker Person who is responsible for maintaining the ice, duties include, but are not limited to pebbling and scraping the ice
In-off A shot where the delivered stone hits another stone near the outer edge of the sheet at an angle, making the shooter roll into the house;
In-turn A shot in which the handle of the stone is rotated across the body (the elbow is rotated “in” to the body; for a right-handed thrower, an in-turn is clockwise and the opposite for a lefty
Inside (Tight) A stone delivered off the broom, tight of the target and therefore likely to curl past it
Keen ice When the ice is faster than normal
Lead The player who throws the first two rocks for a team
Lie / Lies / Lying When a team “lies X” or “is lying X”, that number of its stones are, at that moment, closer to the button than any opposition stone; were the end to finish then, the team would score that number of points.
Line The path of a moving stone; a ‘good’ line indicates it is headed where it was intended to go; a ‘bad’ line has deviated
Light A stone that is not thrown hard enough
Little rocks Many clubs offer a Little Rocks program for children, with rocks that are roughly half the weight of regular 44 lb. rocks. Curlers generally move onto full-sized rocks around the ages of 10 to 12.
Losing the handle A rock that is “losing the handle” refers to a rock which loses its rotation or which reverses its rotation while moving
LSFE Last Stone in the First End; usually determined by coin toss, draw contest, or record comparison.
Measure stick Equipment used to determine which of two or more stones is closest to the centre when they are too similar to know with visual inspection
Normal weight Normal takeout weight; faster than control weight, but slower than peel
Off the broom An incorrectly aimed shot; opposite of on the broom
Open A rock that is not obscured by another rock from the shooter’s perspective.
On the broom A correctly aimed shot that starts out directly at the broom held by the skip
Out of stones A situation in which a team that is behind in the score no longer has enough stones between those in play and those yet to be played to make up the deficit;
Outside (Wide) Another term for wide
Out-turn A shot in which the handle of the stone is rotated away from the body – the elbow is rotated “out” from the body; for a right-handed thrower, an out-turn is counter-clockwise, and the opposite for a lefty
Pebble Small droplets of water intentionally sprayed on the ice that cause irregularities on the surface, allowing the rocks to curl. Also a verb; the action of depositing water droplets on the ice, as “to pebble the ice between games”
Peel A takeout with up weight that removes a stone from play as well as the delivered stone. These are usually intentional, such as for blanking an end.
Pick Occasionally, a foreign particle such as a hair will be picked up by the running surface, or the rock will hit a melted spot on the ice, causing the rock to deviate from its expected path.
Play downs Competitive play towards club, state/provincial, national, and world championships
Port A space between two stones just wide enough for a delivered stone to pass through
Reading the ice When a curler considers how the condition of a sheet of ice will influence the path of a thrown stone, similar to how a golfer reads the undulations and texture of a green before determining where and how hard to hit a putt
Rock (Stone) The device thrown by curlers during the game. It is made of granite and has a standard weight of 19.6 kg (44 lb). Also called a stone
Rotation Description of a spinning rock
Rub / Wick When a moving stone barely touches another stationary stone, changing its direction.
Run A section of the curling sheet that does not curl as expected, usually with less curl then the rest of the sheet.
Runback A takeout hitting a front stone, that hits another rock and removes it from play
Second The player who throws the third and fourth rocks for a team; on most teams they also sweep for all other players on their team
Sheet The area of ice that on which one game is played
Shooter Refers to the rock thrown when a shot is made.
Shot rock / shot stone The rock in the house closest to the button; the next closest rocks are second shot and third shot. To “be shot” means to have shot rock.
Skip The player who calls the shots and traditionally throws the last two rocks;
Slider A piece of Teflon or similar material attached to a curling shoe that allows the player to slide along the ice
Soft release A type of release that makes the rock curl more, usually by imparting less rotation to the handle
Spinner A stone traveling with a rapid rotation. Stones thrown in this manner will tend to curl less than a rock travelling with normal rotation.
Split A draw shot in which the played stone hits on the side of a stationary stone and both move sideways and stay in play. Not to be confused with split the house
Split the House A strategy of drawing to a different area of the house to prevent your opponent from taking out both stones
Straight ice Ice on which stones curl less than usual
Sweep To brush the ice in front of a moving stone, which causes it to travel farther and curl less
Swingy ice Ice on which stones curl more than usual
Takeout A rock that hits another rock and removes it from play
Tap back / Raise Use of the delivery stone to tap another rock, usually thrown with draw weight to manoeuvre rocks in play.
Tee line The line that goes across the house intersecting with the middle of the button, splitting it in half.
Third The player who throws the fifth and sixth rocks for a team; usually also serves as vice-skip
Tick A shot that bumps a guard out of the way without removing it from play, to avoid violating the Free Guard Zone Rule
Time At professional levels sweepers use a timer to measure the time between the start of the delivery and the rock hitting the hog line, as an indicator of the shot’s weight. “Time” can also refer to the amount of time left on the game clock
Triple A takeout shot in which three other stones are removed from play
Vice-Skip or Vice The player who discusses strategy with the skip behind the house and holds the broom while the skip throws his rocks; usually plays third stones; also known as mate
Weight The amount of speed with which a rock is delivered; more weight corresponds to a harder throw.
Wrecked shot A missed shot caused by an accidental chip or wick off of another stationary stone