Curling Takeouts
A takeout is an upweight shot that is designed to remove stones from play. Takeout shots knock other stones in the house out-of-play. They are different from guards and draws because they are thrown to reduce the number of points the other team can score during the end.
Purpose of Takeouts
When throwing a takeout shot, the goal is to knock an opponent's stone out-of-play. By throwing takeouts, your team is able to reduce the number of your opponent's stones that can be considered for scoring. Takeouts can act as both offensive and defensive shots in a game of curling. In an end of curling, takeouts are usually thrown after the lead and second's stones are thrown. There are some cases where takeouts are thrown in the early parts of an end.
Takeout Shot Types
There are a few types of takeout shots you should know:
- Hit and Stay
- Double Takeout
- Triple Takeout
- Raised Takeout
Hit and Stay Shot
A hit and stay is a type of takeout in which the stone thrown hits the opponent's stone directly on the nose. This causes the thrown stone to stop immediately, as all of its momentum is transferred to the opponent's stone, which gets knocked out-of-play. The purpose of a hit and stay is to remove only one of your opponent's stones, and place your team's stone where your opponent's stone was.
Hit and Stay Split Time
There are different split times associated with hit and stay shots. Some hit and stay shots are thrown with a weight so that the stone could reach the hack. Other times, hit and stays can be thrown with a heavier weight that could reach the boards.
If the sheet is not cluttered with stones, a more gentle hack weight can be used to perform the hit and stay. This type of shot would involve a split time from the backline to the hog line of about 3 seconds. The average split time for a shot like this would be around 12 seconds.
For this type of shot, the stone will curl a little bit more than heavier takeout shots. This must be accounted for when the skip is calling the line for the shot.
If the sheet is cluttered with stones, and probably some guards too, a board weight can be used to perform the hit and stay.
For a board weight shot, the split time from the hack to the hog line should be about two and a half seconds. The split time from hog line to hog line will be about 9 to 10 seconds. A hog line to hog line split time of 9.5 seconds is common for board weight shots like these.
Double Takeout
A double takeout, also referred to as a double, is a type of takeout in which the stone thrown results in knocking two of your opponent's stones out-of-play. Some double takeouts involve hitting the first opponent stone on an angle and rolling across the house to hit the other one out-of-play too.
For double takeouts, a heavier weight is required to perform these shots. Thus, the split times in between the backline and hog line is nearly two and a half seconds. The split time between the two hog lines will be between 9 and 9.5 seconds.
Triple Takeout
A triple takeout, also referred to as a triple, is a type of takeout in which the stone thrown results in three of the opponent's stones to be knocked out-of-play. Most triple takeouts involve the stone being shot to knock two opponent stones out-of-play, and one of the stones that gets knocked will ricochet into another opponent stone, and knock it out-of-play as well.
To perform triple takeouts, the stone being thrown requires tons of momentum to be able to knock three other stones out-of-play. Thus, the stone needs more weight than usual to execute the shot.
Once a stone passes the tee line, it can be swept defensively by one opponent. If your team is executing a double or triple takeout, make sure your teammates know who will defensively sweep the stones after they pass the tee line. A good rule of thumb is that the skip takes one stone, and the sweepers will take the stones that are closer to them.
Triple Takeout Split Time
For triple takouts, a good split time from the backline to the hog line will also be about 2.5 seconds, and is released with a little extra force. Sometimes, curlers may add a small push to their release to give the stone some extra momentum. The split time between hog lines for a triple takeout will be between 8.75 to 9 seconds.
Once a stone passes the tee line, it can be swept defensively by one opponent. If your team is executing a double or triple takeout, make sure your teammates know who will defensively sweep the stones after they pass the tee line. A good rule of thumb is that the skip takes one stone, and the sweepers will take the stones that are closer to them.
Raised Takeouts
For a Raised Takeout, you will be combining the shot of a raise and a takeout, specifically in that order. Raised Takeouts are useful if your team has a guard out in front of the house, or a stone in the front half of the 12 Foot.