What Does Power Play Mean in Curling? Olympic Fans Want to Know!
Curling has become a popular Olympic sport.
Published Feb. 10 2026, 4:12 p.m. ET
Folks have been watching the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics all over the world, and they want to know more about curling. Curling is a winter sport where players slide granite stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area, which is segmented into four concentric circles.
Two teams use brooms while taking turns and sliding the stones towards the target, which is known as the House. Curling has become very popular for Olympic viewers, and the sport has several categories — Women’s curling, Men’s curling, Mixed Doubles, and mixed wheelchair curling teams, according to World Curling. The terminology in the sport is also of interest, and fans are asking: What does power play mean in curling?
What does power play mean in curling?
Curling is very popular with Olympic viewers, and according to The Independent, it's the only Olympic sport that viewers can see every day of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games. A power play is used in mixed doubles curling. In mixed doubles, five stones are thrown per End. Players use brooms to correct how a stone curves on ice as it moves to the House.
The stone making it closest to the center of the target (the Button), plus an extra point for each stone that is closer to the button than their opponents' best stone, scores and wins an End. There are eight Ends in mixed doubles curling, and a process known as Last Stone Draw is used to pick which team gets the Hammer. Two players from each team send two stones to the House before the competition, and the team with the shortest average distance to the Button wins the Hammer in the first End.
According to The sporting News, the power play can be used in mixed doubles curling once a game. The team with the hammer in the round can choose which side of the ice both granite stones are placed. Instead of the pre-placed stone on each end, there are two stones on the same end. The power play helps the team with the hammer because they go last when there is less clutter in the middle of the ice.
Teams often use the power play in curling when they are behind and need a big score, but since it can only be used one time, it must be used strategically. It must also be called at the beginning of an End, and the power play can also be used in extra Ends.