Well, I'm sure no expert, but here's what works for me...I was lucky enough as a kid to have an old fellow that won the CFR Team Roping at our local team roping events. He always like to give pointers to kids that were interested in learning.
It's kind of hard for me to explain (easier to learn if you can actually see what someone's talking about), but basically where the tip of your loop points when you're swinging is where it's going to land. Practice keeping your swing nice and even in motion, and a smooth release when the tip of your loop is pointing at your target.
I like to use a little less than half an arm's length of spoke (where you hang onto the loop - past the hondo). I also like an arm's lenght of rope between my loop and the coils when I'm roping. Don't be afraid to build a fair size loop when you're practicing, it gives more weight to your throw.
I hold my loop with my forefinger and index finger along the rope, so as I swing they are pointing in the direction I am swinging at. Looks sort of like you're making a gun (thumb helps hold the rope along with third and fourth fingers, whist first two fingers lay along the rope directing the throw).
If you're roping horns, it takes less dip in your loop when you're swinging, whereas mulies will need the rope over their head, so you need to have a definate dip in the tip of the loop when you throw.
Heel shots are a bit different. You sort of need a figure 8 like configuration in the loop when you throw it under the calf's belly and just ahead of the rear legs. Then you pull your slack up as the calf steps ahead into the loop.
Oh, and always remember to keep your thumb up and out of the way when you're pulling your slack (once you progress to roping while mounted). Lots of one-thumbed ropers out there that forgot that lesson. Seen a fellow's thumb grabbed out of the arena dirt once and dusted off before they took him to the hospital. He was lucky enough to have it sewn back on successfully. :shock:
Roping a horse is kind of different altogether, at least for me. Horses will throw their heads up as you release the rope at them, so what works for me is kind of a hoolihan, or a backwards swing that's released in an upwards direction as the horse is just coming level with my shoulder (but I've only roped horses from the ground so can't say what works best horseback).
Like all the others have said, practice is key. When I was a rebellious teen-ager and frustrated with my parents ('cause of course I knew far more than they did when I was a teen ;-) ) I used to spend literally hours roping a sawhorse burning off that teen-aged angst.
Anyway, I probably made a muddle out of this, so here's a link to a nice team roping site with a question and answer forum.
http://teamroper.com/Discussion/Categor ... egory&ID=0
Take care and keep practicing - might need an extra hand at branding time one of these years, Allan.