What Is the Hog Line in Curling?

The hog line in curling is the horizontal line near each end of the sheet that controls when a player must release the stone and whether the stone reaches the scoring area legally. Each end of the sheet has two hog lines, one on either side of the house.

Where is the hog line on a curling sheet?

A curling sheet has a hog line near each house at both ends. During a delivery, the player pushes the stone toward the opposite house and must let go of it before the stone reaches the hog line closest to the player. That line is often called the near hog line.

The hog line at the far end is also significant. For the stone to remain in play, it normally must travel completely beyond the far hog line. This is the line closest to the target house at the delivery end. The exact sheet layout can vary slightly by facility, but the hog lines are positioned between the hack and the house.

What does the hog line rule mean?

The delivery rule is simple: the curler must release the stone before it reaches the near hog line. If the player is still touching the handle or otherwise has not released the stone when it reaches that line, the delivery is illegal and the stone can be removed.

A delivered stone must also cross the far hog line completely to stay in play. If it stops short, it is called a hogged stone and is taken off the sheet. This prevents players from deliberately stopping a stone in front of the house to obstruct an opponent’s path.

There is an exception when the stone makes contact with another stone before it fully crosses the far hog line. In that situation, it may remain in play under the applicable competition rules because its progress was changed by contact rather than simply stopping short.

Why is the hog line important?

The hog line does more than mark a position on the ice. It sets the point at which the player must surrender control of the stone. After release, the stone’s speed, curl, and final position depend on the initial delivery and the playing surface. Sweepers can influence the stone after release, but they cannot replace a legal release.

The far hog line also protects the tactical structure of the game. A stone that stops before that line cannot be left as a short guard, so teams must send a legal delivery into the area beyond it or make contact with another stone first.

Hog line, tee line, and back line

These lines have different jobs and are sometimes confused:

• Hog line: Controls the release and the minimum distance a delivered stone must travel.
• Tee line: Runs through the centre of the house and divides its front and back halves.
• Back line: Forms the rear boundary of the house. A stone completely beyond it is out of play.

The hog line is therefore not the line that determines whether a stone scores. A stone must first survive the hog line rules, then finish in or near the house without crossing the back line completely.

Common questions about the curling hog line

Can a player release the stone directly on the hog line?

No. The stone must be released before it reaches the near hog line. Releasing it too late can result in a hog-line violation.

What happens when a stone does not cross the far hog line?

It is normally declared hogged and removed from play. The main exception is when it contacts another stone before failing to cross the line, subject to the rules being used in that competition.

Do sweepers have to stop before the hog line?

Players sweeping a moving stone must observe the competition’s sweeping restrictions, including rules about where sweeping may begin and who may sweep. Those restrictions are separate from the delivery requirement: the curler still has to release the stone before the near hog line.

How many hog lines are on a curling sheet?

There are four hog lines on a standard sheet: two near one house and two near the other. The same lines serve as the near release boundary in one direction and the far travel boundary in the opposite direction.