"IT'S ALL IN YOUR HEAD"
G.S. JADE BARRETT
 
Over the last ten years I have had the pleasure of playing with and against the best under twenty-five year old players that the world has to offer. Their skill levels and desire to succeed are not unmatched by my friends and acquaintances who are in their sixties, seventies or eighties, however. Given teams of equal skill, a team of more experienced players will typically outlast their less time tested opponents regardless of their age difference (competitors who have played for ten years have more automatic plays than those who have only played for five, for example). Players of any age can compete effectively if they conserve their mental and physical energies, using only as much of their reserves as required by the circumstances of the competition. Charles Goren had a well deserved reputation for drowsiness whenever his partner was declaring (apparently taking naps even during the most exciting contracts), asserting that he needed all of his strength and awareness for the next hand or perhaps the hand after that. After all, what could he do while his partner had control of the dummy?
 
 Indeed. Over the years I have watched countless dummies hanging on declarer's every card as if they were jointly making every offensive decision. This is a tremendous waste of energy. There is no evidence of a dummy influencing a declarer's decision through strength of will alone, much less ESP. Better that our dummy time be used to relax our mind and reduce our stress. The mind needs a break from crisis, just as our muscles need short breaks during physical workouts. Silently recalling a beautiful piece of music helps me to unwind, sometimes thinking of my garden does the trick.
 
Whatever the pleasant distraction is for you, the time to utilize it is when you are dummy. This exercise will leave you more power for the next hand.
 
Frivolous discussions of the previous hand will rob your partnership of the precious energy required for the subsequent hands you will play. Prepare for success by concentrating on the future of your partnership. Discuss only the immediate, the theoretical debate will wait. Your partnership's energy conservation is critical to its success and longevity.

A judicious practice of short-term memory loss will go a long way.