SCRABBLE: Building New Skills
Scrabble, the game, keeps me plugged in and alive. It is always teaching me new skills and reinforcing skills that I’ve learned in the past, but were dulling for lack of use.
Not every scrabble player will automatically serve up the experience of learning new skills as it does for me. It all depends on how you use it. Keeping the game in the closet will not help you learn new skills. Playing the game the same way your mom and dad did may help a little, but today’s club and tournament players have unlocked the true secrets of winning the game; these secrets hold the key to building the new skills to which I refer.
An Aside: The population in the USA spends ‘B’illions of dollars each year purchasing diet books and tapes, diet supplements, sessions with hypnotists, health club memberships, and trips to attend fat farms. And in spite of all of this, we are one of the fattest populations on the planet. A lot of people are only giving lip service to weight reduction while an assortment of high calorie treats continue to pass through their lips.
More than 30 scrabble players come out every Monday afternoon to play 3 games at Laguna Woods Village, in Laguna Woods, California. The group is divided into 3 divisions: A; B; and C. Group C are the newbies including the raw beginners; most find it challenging to find ‘cat’ when it is on their rack. Group B has some pretty good players who can identify words and hook them onto the board; they play the same words that their moms and dads played; they’re afraid of anything ‘new’ and believe that they can’t play at a higher level. Group A consists of players who are always interested in competing to win; they understand that each rack of letters contains many possible plays.
Group B & C players come each week to get out of the house, to interact with others, and to eat the cookies. Group A players are always working at building new skills, they get to enjoy all the other benefits too.
‘Skill Building’ is not limited to Scrabble. ‘Skill Building’ is a function of how one participates in activities.
Only about 6% of the population are ‘A’ Players, regardless the activity.
Another Aside: At some point in my 30s I developed a love for playing racquetball. I joined a club with state-or-the-art courts, I invited friends to play, I met new opponents at the club, and over a period of time I became a fairly good player. (I have the scars to prove it.) Wanting to share my racquetball passion with my then wife, I invited her to play. In my mind, I was planning to teach her how to play the game in the same manner that I liked to play. WRONG! What she had in mind was to volley the ball, tamely against the front wall, counting the number of hits until someone missed. I quickly became bored. At one point, trying to stuff my boredom, I snapped and hit a ‘kill shot’. She ran off the court pouting and never returned.
In the same regard, If an ‘A’ Player plays some exotic word like ‘unununium’ against a ‘B’ or ‘C’ player, we’ll rare see that person again.
Build your skills. Be a 6 percenter.
For a quick start to building your skills, check out my online class, SCRABBLE 101.