What kind of game is this that you guys are playing?

You run the risk of leaving the game early when you’re down three so late in the match and allow the other players to lie three on top of the four-foot. Now is the moment to reveal this one. However, how?

This is the current circumstance:

• The eighth end of the tenth

• You’re blushing.

• You’ve lost three

A hammer is in your possession.

This is your second chance.

• The swing is five feet.

Go ahead, give it a go, and prove to us that you’re not quite done. What are your club and professional calls, and why?

The “Remedy”

I’ve discovered that there are two things I should consider before ending. The first is, “What are we aiming to achieve, given the score and number of ends left?” The strategy guide Mickey Pendergast and I wrote last year, What’s Your Call?, encourages teams to decide on their ideal, acceptable, and unacceptable final results. These are somewhat mystical questions, but if you remember them, they will lead you through all eight shots and assist you in making quicker and more informed selections. It’s true—try it.

“What style of end helps us reach those goals?” is my second consideration. Are we up a few shots in the match and would like to maintain simplicity and cleanliness? In defensive mode, we want neither team to provide our opponent with any cover and for them to be making heavy shots.

In order to protect our stones so they can score later, we want to employ a junky technique if we’re behind and need to score. To leave as many rocks in play as possible, both our opponents and ourselves should be throwing good, soft-weight shots.

Unfortunately, error is a part of the game, so choosing one method over another won’t ensure the results we want. Everybody makes mistakes, and stones wind up somewhere other than where they were supposed to, so we have to modify our ideas. At this juncture in the end, we are not playing tic-tac-toe or even chess here, when practically every move ends up in the proper location.

It’s more akin to stacking the deck instead. Good things are more likely to happen later if, in the early and middle stages of the end, we can build situations that work in our favor (Mickey refers to them as forms). Bad things are more likely to happen later if the shapes favor the other men.

(In the end, with Skip’s shots, it’s more like to tic-tac-toe because we can be a little more certain with just a few rocks remaining.)

Now let’s examine the puzzle scenario that arose during Krista McCarville’s (red) matchup with Kerri Einarson (yellow) in the 2022 Scotties final. With only a few ends remaining and down three, McCarville needs to be scoring a lot. She also requires hiding places like pockets and guards in order to score a lot. Although Yellow (Einarson) has three rocks hovering above the four-foot, she has a solid corner guard setup. That is not ideal.

We set up corner guards with our initial stones, thinking about how an end works when we’re trying to score with a hammer, so they can subsequently be utilized to shield rocks in the rings that might score. The defense team, our opponents, uses their first three shots to establish a position in the middle because they are unable to take them away. We’re essentially playing a game of rope where they get to build a stronghold in the center with their first three rocks while we provide cover to the sides. We’re taking a chance in the hopes that it will pay off in the future.

Eventually, we will have to pull the rope and begin clearing the center so that our rocks on the side can score. When is the best time for me to do that? Now that you have five shots left, do it. Or perhaps play one or more “set-up” shots and let the rope run a little further?

To what extent are we clear? If this was the second end, we’d definitely reduce risk now by hitting to make sure we score at least a single point and don’t give up a steal. We’re more desperate now that we’re down three points in the eighth and may be ready to let things run a little, letting that middle situation sit so we may bury some rocks or form a pocket to help generate a chance to score more than one point.

So our alternatives here with five rocks to play are…

(1) Play the come-around or freeze in the Y2-Y3 pocket; do not address the center yellows just yet.

(2) Try the triple takeout after fully addressing the center yellows, or

(3) Control your shooter and move the yellows slightly to semi-address them.

Personally, I don’t like hitting in this circumstance. We need rocks in play to create backup and hiding places since we are desperate to score a few. We’ll have a much clearer deck in a moment since they can toss large weights since, if we clear the center yellows, they’ll try their hardest to clear both corners. That shape doesn’t help us score a lot of goals.

Mickey adds one more thing regarding the removal of the yellows: “Having two places of ‘activity’ going on helps to score three or more.”

Consider this: corner guards and a pocket in the middle can accomplish the same thing as two corners on either side of the sheet may set up a three. We can obtain a number of rocks in the rings that are well-separated, shielded, and devoid of duplicates—conditions that indicate a significant gain. However, taking the heavy weight out of this situation eliminates one avenue of action and increases the difficulty of your task.

I also think the direct come-around is a bit hazardous, even though Mickey claims he doesn’t mind. We could be in serious danger now if Einarson decides to switch up and toss a center guard when we fail to get a shot rock. We may never find them.

What about freezing into the space that exists between Y2 and Y3? This is Krista McCarville’s first call, and I really like it. Because Einarson can’t take it out in one shot, it allows us to sit one protected in the rings, allowing us to play our corners on the next. That appears to be the shape that increases the likelihood of a three-ball.

Lastly, one of the smartest guys in the game, McCarville coach Rick Laing, suggests the 3-in-1. He asserts that “getting rid of those yellows is a two-shot play” and believes that they must move quickly to accomplish this. Three positive results from one throw: rolling the shooter beneath the guards, protecting a pocket to shield another red later, and eliminating one yellow so that just two shots left to eliminate. A great call.

Although the shooter rolls too far and into the open, it doesn’t go exactly as intended. Nevertheless, McCarville uses that pocket on her next, forces her opponents to take soft-weight shots, and leverages those two areas of action to build up a reasonable three-pointer on her last attempt.

Just so you know, the puzzle scenario in the video below begins at 1:38:35.

Returning to the USPs, what lessons can I learn from this to improve my game?

1. Be aware of the goals I have for myself, including acceptable, unacceptable, and ideal results. As the conclusion approaches, use these to direct my calls.

2. Recognize which final style and shape will give me the best chance of reaching my objective. A soft-weight end with lots of rocks in play can help me score a few. I can aid myself by having an open, big-weight, clear end to stop them from scoring some.

3. Given the circumstances, how much rope do I need to extend? In an attempt to score multiples, should I play one more set-up shot or should I pull the rope back in and clear the center to ensure that I get at least one and don’t give up a steal? Maybe I should start sooner rather than later if it will take multiple shots to get them out of the center.

4. It helps to have two areas of action happening so the opposition can’t clear too many of my rocks in one shot if I want to score three plus.

Just so you know, Mickey and I go over all of these plus a lot more USPs in What’s Your Call? Get it from Amazon, no matter where you are.