Solving the riddle of bridge

[sartaj]

Attached is a compilation of my thoughts.
This is the first version of an attempt at a composite philosophy.
Who knows, it might become a series of articles one day or perhaps even a book.

Would greatly appreciate any input.
Also am very interested in how much you agree with what is being said and your impressions about the depth of the arguments presented.

[eokkoe]

It's always useful to attempt to verbalize your thoughts, as Sartaj has done. What he has described is all valid, of course, although it's just the tip of the iceberg, and a group of hooks onto which to hang your hat when you're attempting to do some self-analysis.

Synergy is one of the subjects that seems to be woefully understated in Australian bridge; else we wouldn't see such rapid dissolution of partnerships, so much need to assign blame, to argue one's position without brooking any opposition, to move on to something more pleasant rather than nail down an agreement or complete an analysis. We won't even get into developing a thriving, respectful bridge relationship, which seems to have far too little importance in our ranks to date.

Sartaj's reflections on luck are also poignant, and again stress the need for objectivity and data gathering when an action achieves a seemingly random good or bad result. Whether a 2S overcall is a plus or minus action requires much more input than "it's been my experience that . . . "

Gentlemen, if this project does not afford us the opportunity to look at "luck" in this context, when will we ever have a better chance?

There is no short cut to building our knowledge base, building a strong partnership with firm understandings and principles with which to resolve undiscussed situations, and I hope we're coming to that conclusion, even though it would be nice for the coaching staff to hear from our partnerships on what they've been doing to get further down this road.

If we're serious about the future, however, becoming more thorough and meticulous in our analysis of winning and losing actions and working on a common attitude for partners to share are essential.

Thanks, Sartaj for raising these points. Now let's build on the opening.

[JustinS]

Sartaj,

I like your thoughts in this area. I assume you are basicially looking at an extension of knowledge managemnet practices and looking at how you can measure the value of knowledge and its application.

Successful knowledge management strategies do require that information obtained is both relevant and accurate and that an overarching strategy for its use be in place. Tsoukas (2004) states that ?knowledge need not only be collected, but also properly analyzed for diffusion?.

The above is from a paper a wrote for part of my studies but it is basically in the same thought processes as you are addressing. there are 4 levels of knowledge that need to be addressed, and I believe that if we get to the 3rd level the quality of bridge play will be dramically increasing.

I would be interested in your thoughts on the psychology of bridge.

I believe that much of the progress Oz-One can make is mental.
The results portrayed by members of the Tier 1 squad shows that the pairs have the ability.
It is the consistency that is missing.

As a fringe player in these endevours, I would like to have more support in areas of physiological performance.
For example, the Australian Institute of Sport has a performance psychology group. The same exists with most high performance teams.

For example covering the following areas would greatly benefit each of the members of the team.
Improve your consistency, confidence and ability to focus
[list]Be less stressed
Help you mentally prepare so you can perform when it counts
Perform well wherever you are
Analyse your performance so you get better every time
Rest and recover more effectively
Avoid burning out
Balance your life / sport challenge
Develop your leadership and team orientation skills
Do a better job of getting your point across to the coach and other athletes

This would be an interesting area to add to your "thoughts".
Consistency is a mental exercise ? we need to harness that area.
As we increase our knowledge bank (see my last post where I have admitted my knowledge based was "stunted") our results should start to improve. We also need to be able to address health, etc... as I was very ill last week and it showed in my play at the table. My decision making was poor and execution untidy.

Just my thoughts,

Cheers,

Justin