The Peel in Curling: Clearing the Guard with Hard Weight

The peel clears a guard with hard weight, and your own stone leaves play too. When it makes sense, free-guard-zone rules, technique and safety.

Sport: Curling · Level: Intermediate

Introduction

The honest answer: a peel is a shot designed to remove a guard, and your own stone leaves play too. The world federation's glossary keeps it short: "a shot designed to remove a guard" [1]. A media glossary extends it to "guard or guards" [2]. If you already know a takeout as "hard": the peel is the heavier, more defensive variant where it's not about where you lie but about taking away the opponent's cover.

Whether the peel is right depends on the game situation. The US federation material describes a conservative style with few guards and many takeouts, when you don't want to score a big end but want to blank it, score one or even give one up [3]. That fits the peel.

How hard is it? You need a reliable takeout weight and a good line. There is no timeline.

What you need

A reliable takeout (speed, line) and a feel for "hard".
An agreement with the skip: which guard, which side, which speed?
Knowledge of the free guard zone (FGZ): the area between hog line and tee line, excluding the house [1].
Sweepers: they may sweep the delivered stone up to the tee line at the playing end when the skip calls [1]. In a peel there is usually no sweeping.
Good conditioning for hard throws. The leg power comes from the push-off, not the back.

Step by step

1. Know the rules: five-stone protection

Before the delivery of the sixth stone of an end, a delivered stone may not remove an opposition stone in the free guard zone from play. If it does, your stone is removed and the displaced stones are replaced [1]. For a peel on an opposing guard, that means: only from the sixth stone of an end. The rule does not apply to your own guard [1].

Milestone: You can explain to a teammate when a peel on an opposing guard is allowed.

2. Build speed: hit weight

For hard hits and peels, Curling Canada says the step with which you generate weight is important [4]. For heavy throws you start the push later [4]. Elite curlers showed faster and shorter push-off phases in takeouts than in draws [5].

Milestone: Your takeout hits the target stone with clean speed in three of five cases (practice measure).

3. Choose the hit

You don't want to brush the guard but hit it centrally so that it flies out. Your stone may fly beyond the target spot, unlike in a hit and stay. What matters is that no stone in the house is endangered (practice).

4. Read the layout

The US material warns: rarely peel a "double corner guard" (two guards in the corners) [3]. It also says: don't do the opponent's work. A hit at the front of the house can push their stone against yours and tip the end [3].

5. Know the drag effect

If two stones lie frozen together in the FGZ after a peel, the back one can be dragged along when the front one is hit. A coach's essay calls this the "drag effect" [6]. It is not a research paper.

6. After the throw

After a hard hit, stones fly in all directions. Your team should be in position, not in the way.

Common mistakes

Too little speed. The guard only slides sideways and stays in play. Fix: push later and more decisively [4].
Body overtakes the stone. The stone is under you as you leave the hack [7]. Fix: extend the arm before leaving the hack.
Going onto the toes to get more power. See safety notes.
Peeling too early. The opposing guard may not be cleared before the sixth stone [1]. Fix: know the rules, ask the skip.
Tipping the end. If your hard stone pushes stones in the house in their favour, you have helped the opponent [3]. Fix: check the line in front of the house.

Safety notes

Stay flat. When sliding on the ball of the foot, knee joint force in a pilot study was more than double that of flat sliding [8]. In 16 male professionals, toe contact increased hip and knee torques, especially knee flexion/extension torques (by 32–41%) [9]. Hard throws strain joints further, so stay with a flat technique.
Complaints: 79% of surveyed competitive curlers reported pain, most often in the knee (54%) and back (33%); sweeping and delivering triggered it most [10]. Limit the number of hard throws per session.
Falls: over 90% of acute recreational injuries were falls, 31.7% with head impact [11].
Never touch a moving stone; it is otherwise "burned" [1].
This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training.

Pro tip

The peel doesn't have to be the hardest throw of your life: in elite curlers, lateral sway in takeouts was lower than in draws, and the higher the push-off speed, the more stable the sideways position (r = -0.46) [5]. A decisive, well-timed push is more stable than a half-hearted one. Practise it with a coach, though, not alone.

FAQ

What is a peel in curling?

A peel is a shot designed to remove a guard [1]. Your own stone also leaves the sheet. A media glossary describes it as a shot that clears one or more guards [2].

When may I clear an opposing guard?

Only when the sixth stone of an end is played. Before that, your stone is removed if it removes an opposition stone in the free guard zone from play [1].

What technique do I need for a peel?

A reliable takeout weight: according to Curling Canada, for hard hits and peels the step with which you generate weight is important, and the push comes later [4]. Practise with a coach.

When do you play a peel instead of a draw?

US material mentions it in a conservative style with few guards and many takeouts, when you don't want to score a big end [3]. Whoever is ahead keeps the game clean [3]. The skip decides.

Key Takeaways

A peel is designed to remove a guard, and your own stone leaves play too [1].
Opposing FGZ stones may only be cleared from the sixth stone of an end [1].
For hard hits and peels the step that generates weight matters; the push comes later [4].

Next guide

The Double Takeout in Curling: One Stone, Two Opponents Out

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