2008-01-16 13:54

Hand Evaluation – Rookies

PITBULLS:

In the game of Hockey , a great deal of time is spent on scouting players with hockey potential. They are not NHL caliber yet , but scouts thru their own experience & ability recognize their potential. The rookie is “bright” in a Hockey sense so has the innate ability to become a great hockey player. A Rookie will make mistakes but do good things also so the team lives with the rookie mistakes until they learn.

If the rookies have a bad attitude , they do not realize their potential & fizzle out. Their contract is not renewed or they are sent down to the minors. The minors have a comfort level for them so if they have an “attitude adjustment’ they may be brought up to the big club. What causes rookies to not realize their potential ? In order to excel at something you need a healthy ego. However , if you lose control of this ego , learning is impossible. You are good so you know it all . You do not have to work to improve because in your own mind you are already great , thank you very much. You need a reality check but you are comfortable in your fantasy world. When the coaching staff point out a mistake you get defensive & alibi rather than learning from it. It’s obviously the fault of the coach for failing to realize how brilliant your play really was.

In Bridge , the same rookie mentality exists. The rookie says indignantly “I know when I make a mistake so I do not need to have them pointed out”. Hogwash. You know your blunder but not your mistake. If you were aware of your mistakes , you would not repeat them time & time again. It is simple as that. Making rookie mistakes does not mean you are incapable of becoming a star player. It just means that you are a rookie relative to the level of Bridge to which you are aspiring. Mistakes are defined relative to the level you want to reach. Experts notice mistakes you make even though you feel you are not making them. Why ? because the experts have already made those mistakes 40 years ago when they were rookies.

Plato learned from Socrates. Plato then became a great philosopher. There is no shame in being a rookie. Learning is difficult due in part to realizing that you are not quite as good as you thought you were. Insecurity creeps in so you play even worse. You are so used to your ego being the be all & end all. Get over it. This is adjustment you need to change from a rookie to a bona fide top player. Become a student of the game of Bridge again but at a different level. You need to work at the game to get to the next level.

Mother nature is cruel in a lot of ways. There are so many contradictions. You need a healthy ego to perform well at Bridge. However , this ego gets in the way of improving. You need some sort of balancing act. Learning should be fun & not a reflection of your present Bridge ability or potential . You were born with Bridge potential , not Bridge knowledge. You improve through playing experience & learning anyway you can. Not learning is a cancer that destroys partnerships , teams & eventually your hobby. Do not just go through the motions if you are not motivated to learn as you are wasting everybody’s time.

Most of the Tormentees have a good attitude but they still must strive to learn & keep up with each other. Being a relative rookie in your 60’s means it is more difficult to improve but not impossible. Just have the right mind set that learning is fun. Partners & team mates want you to improve. Park your ego at the door so you can learn. Protecting your ego by finding alibis , rationalizing & outright lying paralyzes the learning process. You no longer learn from your –10 IMP losses because your ego will not allow it. You will find some excuse to deflect the error away from you. You must learn from both negative & positive re-enforcement , not just positive. Mentoring becomes impossible because you will not listen as soon as it’s your mistake that is identified. Ego first & learning 2^nd . Can you imagine a coach saying something like do not make a slap shot on the power play countless times & you do it anyway. You cost the team the game every time because you refuse to buy in to his message. Either the coach quits or you are removed from the team. Coaching or mentoring is no longer fun or of any use.