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
2nd . 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.