The Art of Directing

The first steps in learning to direct a bridge session are of course familiarity with the various movements and understanding the most common laws.

In the early stages of taking on this role a new Director goes through a somewhat tense period, worrying about players arriving late, boards moving correctly every round, running on schedule in terms of time, dealing with slow pairs, etc.

This is normal and obviously requires some time of learning and gaining experience.

But a Director is not a policeman !
The Laws of Duplicate Bridge are not there to punish a player, but to restore fairness of the game after a mishap.

A Director must be like a protective parent, guiding his/her family along the proper path and making sure all enjoy the journey !

The Director's Main Task
Therefore, once you become comfortable with the technicalities, the real task of the Director is to make sure that everyone is at ease and is having a great time !!

Over the years the two best Directors I have experienced were David Hofman in Canberra (back in the 1970s) and more recently Stephen Hughes here in Darwin.
With just a few words, their relaxed attitude, body language, the expression on their face, all players immediately knew : "We are going to have a great session tonight and we are in good hands".

Every Director has his own unique personality, so there is no set rules for achieving this. It is something you have to find within yourself.
You need to find your own style, but here are some of the sort of things you should be considering :

• always be relaxed yourself, act casual
• smile, never look worried or serious
• take every opportunity to put players at ease
• answer players when they have a question
• reassure players worried about something
• make agreeable comments to players