Curling shots

There are basically only two shots in Curling, it's either "draw" or "takeout."

A takeout is supposed to remove your opponent's rocks from play.  A draw positions your rock in play.

The simplest draw tries to put a stone into the house.  An "open" draw is the first rock thrown into an empty house.

A guard is a draw thrown between the house and the hog line.  It's a tactical move to either protect a stone already in the house, or just plain make it harder for someone else to score.  It can be a center guard (on center) or a corner guard (off the center line).  I mentioned the Free-Guard rule earlier, and I like it because it makes Curling more tactical.

A come-around curls past a rock and stops behind it.  Usually you're throwing around a guard.

A raise taps a guard, moving it into the house, and a tap-back improves another shot.

A freeze places your rock directly in front of another stone -- very near, or in contact with it.  Unlike a takeout, it doesn't move the other stone.  Any attempt to take out a stone that is frozen against another stone simply transfers the impact to the stone behind it.  The frozen stone stays put, and the other stone moves, probably quite a bit.  If that other stone belongs to the other team, any attempt to remove your stone will likely remove theirs and not bother yours at all.

A Peel, a Normal takeout and a hack-weight takeout differ mainly in weight.  Peel is hardest, and hack-weight is the lightest.

A Tick doesn't remove a rock from play, it just moves it a little. 

I saved the Hit and Roll for last.  In a sense, this has the best elements of a takeout, and the best elements of a draw.  You take the opposing rock out, and leave your stone in the house.  It's easy to find great Hit and Roll shots on YouTube -- this video from the 2010 WCF championship has two.

It isn't enough to have a strategy.  You also have to make your shots.