In his book Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey ends with a call for readers to pursue a goal of continuous improvement. He terms it “sharpening the saw”, and that advice is a fitting wrap-up for this series.
Bridge is not a pastime for those who seek instant gratification. You can learn enough in a few hours to begin having fun with the game, but if you want to excel, it requires time and effort – and you have to do more than just play.
Psychologist Malcolm Gladwell popularized the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of “deliberate practice” to become world-class in any field. Using that theory, if you devoted 20 hours a week to working on your bridge skills, it would take almost ten years to become a true expert.
The obvious flaws in the 10,000 Hour Rule are that it doesn’t take into account natural talent and the complexity of the subject matter. Gladwell’s main point, though, is that even those with moderate abilities can master a field of learning if they put in enough time and they practice in a way that pushes their skill set.
Whether you aspire to a world championship or just want to hold your own at your local club, bridge is more fun if you feel you’re making progress. Improvement comes naturally as you gain playing experience, but if you’re serious about advancing your game, it’s important to pursue learning opportunities away from the table, too.
Review your play. Playing bridge is good practice, but it’s not the “deliberate” form that Gladwell recommends. To get the most out of a playing session, budget some time to study hand records and results after the game. Analyze your mistakes and triumphs, then look at the contracts played at other tables and try to reconstruct their auctions and the play.
Read regularly. Continuity is important in any learning process, so make an effort to stay tuned into bridge between games. Even a few minutes a day with a bridge book, magazine or web site will keep your mind active and help you avoid the rusty feeling that many experience when they haven’t played for an extended period.
Play “up”. One of the best ways to take your game to a higher level is to get out of your comfort zone and play against tougher opposition. The purpose is to learn, not to win, so don’t be discouraged by a poor score. You may find you actually play better against expert players – and that placing average in Flight A is more satisfying than winning the Flight C game.
Work on specific skills. For beginners, repetition is the key to developing a good bridge memory. Drill yourself on basic numbers -- hand patterns, suit breaks, point distributions, simple odds -- until the answers pop into your head without doing the arithmetic.
More advanced players can take advantage of many excellent books and web sites that offer double-dummy problems, defensive quizzes, counting exercises and other practice opportunities. Identify the weak areas of your game and challenge yourself by working through problems that target those techniques and strategies.
Improve your memory? Be wary of products and programs that promise to enhance cognitive skills. The quest for keener memory gave rise to the “brain-training” industry, which claimed that their video exercises could raise IQs and stave off age-related memory loss.
Scientists have debunked those claims and the industry leader, Lumosity, was fined for false advertising. Research showed that while brain-training games can improve performance on the trained tasks, they don’t yield any broader benefits.
The best ways to improve your bridge memory are to study, play and practice bridge. Fortunately for all of us, they’re also the most enjoyable.
In the next issue: The #1 way to sharpen the saw
© 2018 Karen Walker