Great interview. Convinced me to practice counting. Plan to play instant tournaments with goal of knowing last card of Declarer or one defender. Started today and found it hard.
Perhaps I need a pro like Adam to help in general.
You're on the right path! Playing the robot tournaments with an intention like that is the way to get better. Pick one part of your game and focus on that. Whether it's counting HCP or shape or reading partner's signals or whatever. Don't try to do it all at once—that's too overwhelming.
I think Charlie is right that, as in most things in life, to really get better at bridge, a teacher/mentor is the best and fastest way. It can be expensive, but you will certainly get better faster and pick up fewer bad habits you later have to unlearn.
Question for Adam: Charlie talks about not playing careless bridge (starting 26:53). When you're teaching or playing with a student, you're not playing careless bridge, but you're also focusing on something other than making the best play - either making on making the best partnership play (which particularly opposite a less capable defender might be far from the technically best play) or on what your student is doing so that you can give the right feedback.
Do you find this distracting? Do you find it difficult to get back out of teaching mode when you start playing with Greg again?
Yes, playing with a student is very different from playing with an expert. In some ways I have to work harder, especially on defense, because I can't always trust their signals. So that can actually help my overall game, as I have to do more of the work myself. But I am also thinking about teaching stuff while I'm playing—what we're going to go over after the session. So my concentration isn't as keen.
It can be an adjustment going from that to playing high-level bridge with Greg. The biggest difference is defensive carding. Going from Standard to Upside Down requires a little rewiring in the brain. And Greg and I do a lot more signaling than I do with my students. And I have to get back in the habit of paying close attention to and trusting partner's signals. By the second or third day I'm all caught up, but that can be too late. Greg and I have made a point of playing more in preparation for Memphis, so hopefully the adjustment will be more seamless.
Let me provide more context for why I'm interested in this question, and pose further questions not necessarily meant specifically for Adam or even meant to be answered.
I live at the edge of the middle of nowhere, in a town of 25K in a county of 40K. We have one small weekly game in town, with one player significantly stronger than me, three or four slightly weaker than me, two or three significantly weaker, and a table or two of beginners who can barely follow suit. Partnerships are arranged each week on the spot, though we try to keep some consistency. I play in this game to help keep bridge alive here and to socialize. I usually don't play carelessly, but I'm not always making the bids and plays in this game that I would in a more serious game in order to accommodate both my partner (whomever they are in a particular week) and the opponents (competitive bidding is disconcerting and goes against the goal of keeping bridge alive here - otoh it's pointless to worry about my defensive signals giving information to declarer). The closest club game of an average club standard is 90 miles away.
I have a non-bridge job, so some weeks one session is all I have time for, especially if I want to devote some time to study and analysis.
What I am wondering is whether playing regularly in this game is hurting me in developing as a bridge player, and, if so, what I might do to mitigate the damage. Would I be better off playing a weekly BBO game instead (either with one of my partners for regionals or finding a new one)? Keeping bridge alive here is also important, so how much better off?
(Incidentally, I seem to be able to switch between standard and upside-down carding with no problems, but I can't switch between 4th best and 3rd/low leads. Actually, as an exercise for getting oneself to pay attention to signals (both giving and reading), I recommend switching every few sessions between standard and upside-down.)
The danger of playing in a weak game is picking up bad habits. It works when you overcall at the 2-level on Qxxxx, and you start doing that regularly. This is more of a problem for newer players who don't know what they're doing is "wrong."
I think if you avoid doing those sorts of things and play as close to "real" bridge as you can, it's not going to hurt your game. But I would actively work on counting and other parts of your individual game.
Does a Sherpa get better at mountain climbing holding some rich American's hand up Everest? In a technical sense, no. But they're carrying all the guy's stuff on their back, so they're building some strength. It's a different kind of training, but if you look at it that way, you can get a lot out of it
Great interview. Convinced me to practice counting. Plan to play instant tournaments with goal of knowing last card of Declarer or one defender. Started today and found it hard.
Perhaps I need a pro like Adam to help in general.
You're on the right path! Playing the robot tournaments with an intention like that is the way to get better. Pick one part of your game and focus on that. Whether it's counting HCP or shape or reading partner's signals or whatever. Don't try to do it all at once—that's too overwhelming.
I think Charlie is right that, as in most things in life, to really get better at bridge, a teacher/mentor is the best and fastest way. It can be expensive, but you will certainly get better faster and pick up fewer bad habits you later have to unlearn.
Thanks Adam! Very minor suggestion: it would be nice if the listener could speed up these videos.
You don't want to luxuriate in every moment!
I think a lot of podcast platforms let you do that. I don't think it's something I can do on my end.
Question for Adam: Charlie talks about not playing careless bridge (starting 26:53). When you're teaching or playing with a student, you're not playing careless bridge, but you're also focusing on something other than making the best play - either making on making the best partnership play (which particularly opposite a less capable defender might be far from the technically best play) or on what your student is doing so that you can give the right feedback.
Do you find this distracting? Do you find it difficult to get back out of teaching mode when you start playing with Greg again?
Great question, Alexander.
Yes, playing with a student is very different from playing with an expert. In some ways I have to work harder, especially on defense, because I can't always trust their signals. So that can actually help my overall game, as I have to do more of the work myself. But I am also thinking about teaching stuff while I'm playing—what we're going to go over after the session. So my concentration isn't as keen.
It can be an adjustment going from that to playing high-level bridge with Greg. The biggest difference is defensive carding. Going from Standard to Upside Down requires a little rewiring in the brain. And Greg and I do a lot more signaling than I do with my students. And I have to get back in the habit of paying close attention to and trusting partner's signals. By the second or third day I'm all caught up, but that can be too late. Greg and I have made a point of playing more in preparation for Memphis, so hopefully the adjustment will be more seamless.
Let me provide more context for why I'm interested in this question, and pose further questions not necessarily meant specifically for Adam or even meant to be answered.
I live at the edge of the middle of nowhere, in a town of 25K in a county of 40K. We have one small weekly game in town, with one player significantly stronger than me, three or four slightly weaker than me, two or three significantly weaker, and a table or two of beginners who can barely follow suit. Partnerships are arranged each week on the spot, though we try to keep some consistency. I play in this game to help keep bridge alive here and to socialize. I usually don't play carelessly, but I'm not always making the bids and plays in this game that I would in a more serious game in order to accommodate both my partner (whomever they are in a particular week) and the opponents (competitive bidding is disconcerting and goes against the goal of keeping bridge alive here - otoh it's pointless to worry about my defensive signals giving information to declarer). The closest club game of an average club standard is 90 miles away.
I have a non-bridge job, so some weeks one session is all I have time for, especially if I want to devote some time to study and analysis.
What I am wondering is whether playing regularly in this game is hurting me in developing as a bridge player, and, if so, what I might do to mitigate the damage. Would I be better off playing a weekly BBO game instead (either with one of my partners for regionals or finding a new one)? Keeping bridge alive here is also important, so how much better off?
(Incidentally, I seem to be able to switch between standard and upside-down carding with no problems, but I can't switch between 4th best and 3rd/low leads. Actually, as an exercise for getting oneself to pay attention to signals (both giving and reading), I recommend switching every few sessions between standard and upside-down.)
The danger of playing in a weak game is picking up bad habits. It works when you overcall at the 2-level on Qxxxx, and you start doing that regularly. This is more of a problem for newer players who don't know what they're doing is "wrong."
I think if you avoid doing those sorts of things and play as close to "real" bridge as you can, it's not going to hurt your game. But I would actively work on counting and other parts of your individual game.
Does a Sherpa get better at mountain climbing holding some rich American's hand up Everest? In a technical sense, no. But they're carrying all the guy's stuff on their back, so they're building some strength. It's a different kind of training, but if you look at it that way, you can get a lot out of it