Strategy and tactics are two terms often used to describe the choices that a team can make during an end, or during a game.
Former National Training Centre coach Bill Tschirhart describes strategy this way:
Strategy is the shot called after considering a variety of factors in light of a pre-determined game plan which results from an overall philosophy.
Tactics, on the other hand, relate to the factors that determine the outcome of the particular shot:
- What turn do we play?
- What weight do we play?
- How much ice do we take?
- How does our sweeping effect this shot?
- How does the specific player affect this shot?
Strategy and tactics are inter-related; they represent a continuum of choices from the high-level (how does our team want to control the last two ends of play?) to the low-level (precisely how do we place the broom so that we can make this double-takeout?). Paul Webster, the current National Training Centre coach for the CCA, has written several articles about strategy and tactics that are available online, and are well worth reading.
At our bantam practice this afternoon, we will go through some of the basics of strategy and tactics – concentrating on shot selection – using as a guide this very helpful article that can be found on the Canadian Curling Association’s website.