To score in curling, you place more of your stones closer to the center of the target (the “button”) than your opponent does at the end of a round, called an “end.” Only one team scores each end, and each counting stone is worth one point.

What “scoring” means in curling

Think of the curling sheet as a long lane with a big dartboard painted on the ice at each end, called the house. The rings help judge distance but don’t change point values.

  • Only stones that are at least touching the rings of the house are eligible to score.
  • After all stones are thrown in an end, you compare how close each team’s stones are to the button (the tiny circle in the middle).
  • The team with the single closest stone to the button is the only team that scores in that end.
  • That team gets 1 point for every one of its stones that is closer to the button than the opponent’s closest stone.

Example:
If Team A has the first, second, and third closest stones, and Team B’s best stone is the fourth closest, Team A scores 3 points for that end. If no stone from either team is touching the house rings, the score for that end is 0–0.

Step‑by‑step: how an end is scored

  1. All stones are thrown
    • In traditional team curling, each team throws 8 stones per end (2 per player on a four‑person team).
    • In mixed doubles, each team throws 5 stones per end, but the scoring logic is the same.
  2. Find the single closest stone
    • Look at the house and determine which stone is closest to the button.
    • Whatever team owns that stone is the only team that can score this end.
  3. Count additional scoring stones
    • Starting from the button, count how many stones that scoring team has in a row before you get to the opponent’s closest stone.
    • Each of those stones is worth 1 point.
    • As soon as you encounter an opponent’s stone, you stop counting.
  4. Record the end’s score
    • That total (1, 2, 3, etc.) is written on the scoreboard for that end.
    • The other team records 0 for that end.

The role of the hammer (last stone)

Scoring is closely tied to who has the hammer , meaning the right to throw the last stone in an end.

  • The hammer is a big advantage because you get the final chance to place a scoring stone or remove an opponent’s stone.
  • In most formats, whichever team scores in an end gives up the hammer for the next end.
  • If an end is blank (0–0), the same team keeps the hammer into the next end.

Strategy often revolves around using the hammer to score two or more points, and if that’s not likely, sometimes teams deliberately blank the end to keep the hammer for a better opportunity later.

Game structure and total scoring

Curling games are made up of multiple ends, and the winner is the team with the highest cumulative score after all ends.

  • Traditional men’s and women’s games often use 10 ends (club games frequently use 8).
  • Mixed doubles usually uses 8 ends.
  • If the game is tied after the scheduled ends, extra ends are played until one team wins an end.

So when people say “how to score in curling,” it’s both:

  • Technically : How points are counted in each end (closest stones to the button).
  • Strategically : How to use last‑stone advantage, guards, draws, and take‑outs so your stones end up counting and your opponent’s don’t.

Quick practical example

Imagine the house at the end of an end:

  • Team Red has stones sitting as the 1st and 3rd closest to the button.
  • Team Yellow has stones as the 2nd and 4th closest.

Since Red has the closest stone (1st), Red is the only team that scores.
But Yellow’s stone is the 2nd closest, so Red only counts its closest stone before hitting an opponent’s stone.

  • Red scores 1 point for that end.
  • Yellow scores 0 for that end.

The game continues into the next end with Yellow now having the hammer (last stone) because Red scored. If you’d like, I can turn this into a very short, SEO‑style blog post with headings and a meta description tailored exactly to “how to score in curling.”