What is it?
The No-Tick Rule protects center guards early in an end. A center guard is a stone placed in the middle of the ice to block or protect other stones. If a stone touching the center line in the Free Guard Zone (FGZ) is moved to an off-centre line position or to a position outside the FGZ before the sixth stone of the end, the team that didn’t break the rule can reset the stones.
Why it matters / Why we’re doing it
Curling Canada has introduced it into the Rules of Play that our league follows. They did this to:
- Keep center guards in play longer
- Encourage more strategic shot-making
- Make the game more exciting and tactical
When it applies
- Only before the sixth stone of the end
- Only if the moved stone was touching the center line in the FGZ and is moved to an off-centre line position or to a position outside the FGZ
If the rule is broken
The non-offending team can choose to:
- Remove the delivered stone and reset the moved stones
- Or leave all stones where they ended up
