Curling Canada formally adopts the No-Tick Shot rule

Curling Canada has formally adopted the World Curling Federation’s No-Tick Shot rule for their events starting this season. 

The No-Tick Shot rule was implemented at last year's Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Brier and has been used at the World Men's and Women's Curling Championships for the past two seasons. 

The "tick-shot" is a delicate, soft weight shot that has been perfected by front end players over the years. Its purpose is to push opponent rocks in the Free Guard Zone to the wings, freeing up space down the middle of the ice. 

The No-Tick Shot rule states that rocks touching the centre line in the Free Guard Zone cannot be removed off the centre line until the sixth stone of an end. 

The World Curling Federation also uses the No-Tick Shot rule for all of its international events. 

Here is the official wording of the rule via Curling Canada.

If, prior to the delivery of the sixth stone of an end, a delivered stone causes either directly or indirectly, an opposition stone in the Free Guard Zone (FGZ) which is touching the centre line to be moved to an off-centre line position or to a position outside the FGZ, the non-offending team has the option to:

(i) Remove the delivered stone from play, and replace all stones that were displaced to their positions prior to the violation taking place; or

(ii) Leave all stones where they came to rest.

If the stone is moved from the centre line to an out-of-play position, then the FGZ rule applies.

This does not apply for Wheelchair Curling or for Mixed Doubles competitions.