Concentration is the key to success

A few years ago, I ran a survey of Australia’s top bridge players asking them to rank bridge skills. In that survey, concentration was ranked most highly as an area that players wanted to improve. This finding was confirmed by a great many of the leading players who were interviewed in Samantha Punch’s recently published book – Bridge at the Top. I think we all know it is important to concentrate, but knowing it is important, and managing to do it effectively are quite different things.

We often see players at the bridge table who are clearly not concentrating. Instead of paying attention to what is happening on the board they are playing, they are distracted by the director call at an adjacent table, or by something happening on the other side of the room, or by the room being too hot or cold, or by thoughts of what they are doing after bridge (if it’s the last hand). Commonly players who are not concentrating well are thinking about the disaster that happened on the last board where they were doubled for a score of -800 or worse.  Failing to put this bad board behind them often leads to a disaster on the next board. I think we have all experienced the player who is off in a daydream and who needs prompting that it is their turn to bid or play. Contrast this behaviour with the players who are concentrating well.  They are totally focussed on what is happening on the hand being played. They have tuned out all the extraneous stuff. Players who concentrate well don’t even notice what is going on in the room around them.

Concentrating well is important to ensure we keep track of the pips, the count on the hand and the inferences from the opponents’ decisions. This next hand is one which required good concentration to bring the contract home: