Jul 2, 2020
Kim Frazer is an Olympian, three time Commonwealth Games gold medalist in rifle shooting and author of Gaining the Mental Edge at Bridge. Seeking a hobby in retirement, Kim took up bridge in 2005 and in 2018 made the Australian women’s team in her first attempt.
In this episode Kim shares how the mental techniques that brought her such success in shooting are just as applicable in bridge. Kim discusses the path she took in writing her book and explains with simple practices how to improve one’s mental bridge game. Kim is rigorous about improving hers.
When she encounters a new card combination, she makes sure to look it up in the ACBL Encyclopedia. Her diligence is contagious. Playing in a BBO speedball a few days after we spoke, I encountered AQ762 opposite J954 and wondered, hmm, I wonder if there is more to this combination than I know. (Encyclopedia still in storage)
I played two slams in the same speedball which required careful play and handling. I noticed myself thinking I don’t know how to play slams well. Thanks to having talked to Kim, I was able to acknowledge this negative self concept and notice how it didn’t serve me. I went on to make both contracts. Thanks Kim!
I echo what Ron Klinger shared in the introduction, “I would just like to bar all of my regular opponents from reading this book.”
Here’s the fantastic photo of Kim from her shooting days mentioned in the outro.
Highlights from this episode:
19:00 Dont give yourself an excuse to fail
26:24 Ron Klinger’s way of writing a forward
43:19 How Kim credits her partner’s mental toughness for her first Commonwealth Games Gold Medal
49:47 How Kim thinks about affirmations
1:1:14 Studying card combinations
1:02:34 Shooting results versus bridge results
1:05:15 BLOW
1:06:15 How Kim’s partner looks at the dummy as declarer
1:08:09 Kim’s method for tracking the bridge if live bridge ever returns
1:14:36 Kim’s bridge goals
1:18:27 Kim’s cue word
1:22:01 How she started writing bridge articles
1:24:08 Does Kim hunt?
1:25:10 Better than Kalita?
1:26:59 Why she wrote the book