How to get better at HUSNG's

A thread was started a couple of days ago on the twoplustwo forums entitled: How to Get Better at Heads Up (Discussion). The poster, PayPerChase posted a list of 9 "Player Development Techniques" in an effort to spark discussion about how best to improve one's game.

Buried in the general fray of the discussion is an absolute gem from a poster named Hince:

I like this thread but I don't have much to add, because I think you should be able to figure out the answers quiet(sic) easily. You are looking for a way to strengthen your game. So I would ask what areas do you need to improve? Don't know? How would you find out?

Once you find those areas practice them and monitor your progress, if you don't know how to handle certain spots, work on them, figure them out till they are automatic.

Bottom line is, you need to know where you want to go, and what skills need to be developed for you to get there. There are a ton of tools you could try, but the trick isn't in the tools.

Bold added by me for emphasis.

To me, this perfectly encapsulates what it means to train/improve/learn - at anything.

It can be easy to forget that sometimes it's just as simple as asking the right questions. (And executing on the answers of course, but asking the right questions is a prior and important step).

It's time to stop sucking at poker

I suck at poker. For a variety of reasons.

But I shouldn't. There's really no good reason that I shouldn't be doing very well at HUSNG's, the form of poker I like best. I'm smart enough, and I know enough about poker that I should be a significant winner.

My main problems seem to be a tendency to  tilt and a lack of discipline, which are obviously interrelated.

I'm starting this blog as a way to semi-publicly work out these (and other) kinks in my game. I find that writing helps me gain perspective and think through problems, and the semi-public nature of blogs adds a little bit of psychological accountability to the whole thing.

I'm not yet sure what form this blog will take, but at the moment, plans include journal-style posts, HH self-reviews, hand/situational analysis, etc. The main thing I'm going to focus on at first is posting consistently. The rest can be worried about later.

Anyway, this is a start, and hopefully it turns out to be a good one.