As a writer, I practice at least a few times per week to keep my typing speed in check with several different exercises.

Sometimes I just run through a typing speed trainer to see if my words-per-minute are more or less than they were last week; other times I’ll practice through drills that use two keyboards (and one hand on each), drills that type with one hand and other drills that type strings of long and painful words – ones like conglomerate and mnemonics – until I’m sure my muscle memory remembers well enough how to type them.

I used to do the same thing as a guitar player, and today I do the same thing when it comes to bridge.

One of the first things I encourage other players to do is to work on more than just their playing. It’s just as important to practice the skills associated with bridge playing.

While these things might seem simple, they can have an impact on making you a better player in the long-run – and definitely gives an advantage above any players who might not have worked on the same skills.

Here are 4 bridge-related drills you should run through regularly.

1. Cutting and Shuffling

I consider cutting and shuffling one of the most important skills to go through once a week, even though I do most of my playing online without the use of a physical deck.

Why?

Card shuffling and cutting practices hand dexterity. If you already have any health conditions like arthritis affecting the mobility in your hands, practice little things like card shuffling to get rid of the stiffness in your hands over time.

You don’t have to become the best or fastest shuffler around the table. You don’t even have to master the fanciest type of shuffle or know how to make the perfect cut.

But practice this skill nonetheless, even if you only ever achieve a moderately decent blackjack shuffle. It helps.

2. HCP Counting

Most card games rely on whether or not you have a good hand, and part of how you figure this out is by counting your high card points. Of course, adding up numbers in combinations seems like something that should come naturally (but it doesn’t to most).

The best possible thing to do is to practice until adding up numbers in combinations have become entirely natural.

Sure, it might have the slightly mundane feeling of multiplication tables at first, but there are also ways to make it fun.

BBO has its own HCP Counting game, designed by Fred Gitelman (and made exclusively for your amusement). Here’s a link to the game if you want to give it a try. 

3. Thinking Speed

How fast can you think? The speed at which you can think and compute matters, and I like to think of practicing this in the same way as I imagine a hardware upgrade for a computer.

There are a thousand ways to improve your thinking speed and reflexes.

One of the simplest ways: General knowledge quizzes with a time limit – or first-person shooters for some. Both test how fast you think and react.

There are also many smaller Flash-based games that test exclusively your reflexes. How many milliseconds it takes you to press a button. Reaction time matters – and not just in bridge, but in emergency life situations too.

4. Memory

One of the most important things I try to practice on a regular basis is memory. Small things make a big difference – and even these small things make a massive difference in the long run.

Sometimes running through memory skills can be done when you’re shopping. Memorize the list on the way there, and do shopping from memory first – compare the list with what you’ve got before you proceed to the checkout line.

Memory skills can also be effectively worked on by using a card deck. Shuffle, pack them in random order and flip the cards over:

This can be done in grid form for variation, too, or you can leave random cards around the house and try to remember in which order you put them there as you find them again over a few days’ worth (record this separately for consistency, and check against your answers when you’ve found all of them).