Why would a team deliberately score no points?

Because scoring hands over the hammer. A team with the hammer that can only manage one point will often clear the house instead and blank the end, scoring nothing and keeping the last stone for a later end where two or more is available.

What does it mean to force in curling?

Forcing means holding the team with the hammer to a single point. They score, but they give up the hammer to do it, so a force is generally counted as a good end for the team without it.

Why do teams without the hammer throw centre guards?

A centre guard protects the button, which is the only place a stolen point can come from. It also clogs the middle of the sheet, forcing the team with the hammer into come-arounds and taps rather than clean draws, which is where mistakes come from.

What is a steal in curling?

A steal is scoring in an end without the hammer. It is the single biggest swing available in curling, because you take points and keep the last stone for the next end.

CurlTi.me/Learn/Strategy

Strategy: playing with and without the hammer

Curling strategy looks arbitrary until you notice that the score is only half of what is being played for. The other half is who throws last in the next end — and every decision on the ice is a trade between the two.

Last updated 2026-08-16

The economy of the hammer#

Every end is scored in two currencies at once. There are the points, which go on the board, and there is the hammer — the last stone of the next end — which changes hands depending on what happened.

Score, and you give up the hammer.
Fail to score, and you take it.
Blank the end — nobody scores — and it stays where it was.

So a single point with the hammer is a bad end. You spent the advantage and bought one point with it. The whole vocabulary of curling results follows from that arithmetic:

Result	Who it is good for	Why
Score two or more with hammer	The team with it	The advantage converted at a proper rate.
Score one with hammer (a force)	The team without it	They gave up a point and got the last stone back.
Blank	The team with it	No points, but the hammer is kept for a better end.
Steal one or more	The team without it	The biggest swing in the game: points and the hammer stays.

If you remember one thing about curling strategy, remember that the team with the hammer is playing for two, and the team without it is playing to hold them to one. Almost every shot follows from those two sentences.

Why the two teams want different ice#

Because the two teams want different things from the end, they want the sheet to look different — and that is decided in the first four stones.

With the hammer: keep it clean, work the sides#

With the hammer, corner guards. They open up the wings for a second stone to hide behind while leaving the path to the button clear, because the button is where the last stone is going.

You have the final say, and your final say is worth most when the house is simple enough to read. Clutter is your enemy: every extra stone is another thing that can deflect, freeze or block. So the classic hammer opening is corner guards — protection out at the wings, where a second stone can hide and become a second point, with the centre of the house left clear for the last draw.

If the end has gone wrong and only one point is available, the alternative is to blank: clear everything, score nothing, and take the hammer into the next end. It costs a point you did not really have and keeps an advantage worth more than one point.

Without the hammer: clutter the middle#

Without the hammer, a centre guard. It shields the button — the only place a steal can come from — and turns every one of their shots into something harder than a draw.

You are trying to make the last stone difficult, and to leave open the small chance of a steal. Both point the same way: put a centre guard up, draw in behind it, and make the middle of the house crowded. Every stone in the four-foot is a stone they have to do something about, and every come-around they are forced into is a chance to miss.

A guarded stone on the button is the whole plan. If it is still there at the end, they must remove it with their last stone or you steal.

The four-foot is the battleground#

Watch a good game and you will see both teams fighting over a circle four feet across. There is a reason: a stone in the four-foot cannot be ignored. It is close enough that it will count, and central enough that drawing around it is awkward, so the other team has to spend a stone on it. A stone in the twelve-foot can simply be left there all end.

This is also the argument for freezes. A stone frozen to the front of an opposing stone in the four-foot is nearly unremovable, and it takes the other team's most valuable position away from them without ever hitting anything.

The score changes the answers#

Strategy in curling is not a fixed set of good moves. It is a function of the score and the number of ends left, and the same position calls for opposite shots at 2–2 in the third and 5–4 in the ninth.

Situation	What you are trying to do
Behind, hammer, late	Build. Guards up, stones in play, take risks — you need a multiple score and a blank does not help you.
Ahead, no hammer, late	Simplify. Peel every guard, keep the house empty, force them to one. A clean sheet is worth more than a good stone.
Ahead, hammer, late	The most comfortable seat in curling. Keep it open, take your one, run out the clock.
Behind, no hammer, late	You must steal. Centre guards, crowd everything, accept that half of these games are already gone.
Level, hammer, last end	Score one and win. Play it as safe as it is possible to play anything.
Level, no hammer, last end	Force a blank or steal. An extra end is a win for you compared with losing here.

The classic error

Being one up without the hammer in the last end and playing to score. You do not need to score — you need them not to. Every stone you put in play is another thing they can freeze to, tap, or hit for two.

The ice changes the plan too#

How much the sheet curls decides which shots are even on the table.

Keen, swingy ice — big curl. Come-arounds work, guards are genuinely protective, and the guard game is on. Draw-heavy strategy pays.
Straight ice — little curl. Guards protect much less, because a stone can be thrown at a takeout weight almost straight past them. Hitting pays.
Heavy ice — everything falls short. Draws that would sit on the button sit at the top of the eight, so a plan built on precise draws is a plan built on a stopwatch you have not read yet.

This is the real reason teams time the first end rather than just throwing: they are choosing a strategy, not just a weight. See ice speed, and what to expect from a sheet.

Percentages, and the shot you do not play#

Every call is three numbers, not one: how often the shot works, how good the result is, and how bad the position is when it misses. Beginners optimise the first two.

The practical version is a question to ask before every difficult shot: if this misses in the most likely way, am I worse off than if I had played the simple thing? A double takeout that leaves their two stones in place and adds yours to the mess is not a 40% shot with upside — it is a 40% shot that costs you an extra point 60% of the time.

Which is also why the safest-looking shot in curling — a takeout to an empty house — is genuinely the right call far more often than it looks. Nothing on the ice cannot hurt you.

A first strategy, if you want one to start with#

With the hammer: leads throw corner guards or draw to the back of the four-foot; keep the centre clean; aim to score two; blank rather than take one.
Without the hammer: leads throw centre guards; draw in behind them; put stones in the four-foot and make them removed.
Ahead late: remove everything, always. Boring wins games.
Behind late: put stones in play and keep them there, even the ones that look pointless. You cannot steal from an empty house.

Play the computer and try it The shots you will need