PRACTISING WITH INTENT · LESSON 4 OF 4
Mistakes by level
AFTER THIS GUIDEYou can choose the next drill from your actual decisions rather than assigning yourself a vague skill label.
Use the mistake, not the rank label.
Beginner, intermediate and advanced are convenient headings, not precise diagnoses. A fast player can still have a basic input problem; a careful beginner may already read the queue well. Choose the earliest recurring problem that makes later decisions harder.
If pieces frequently land somewhere you did not intend, begin with handling and finesse. If they reach the intended square but cover empty cells, practise surface and access checks. Speed will not solve either problem by itself.
When ordinary stacking is reliable, look for commitments you cannot finish: waiting for an unseen T, protecting an obsolete roof, or building a second I-only gap. These are planning and dependency problems. Use short lookahead and bailout comparisons.
When setup execution is reliable, inspect transitions and timing. Do you keep building an attack while the board needs lowering? Can you explain the exit after a Triple or PC attempt? A sophisticated pattern does not remove the need for ordinary cleanup.
Choose the earliest fix in the chain
Input symptom
You wanted the well but overshot it. Practise a reliable route to the destination; changing the stacking system would not address that error.
Planning symptom
You landed accurately but created the I-only dependency shown below. Review the earlier placement that narrowed the surface, using the visible queue.
Transition symptom
You completed the intended setup but left an awkward roof. Practise the after-clear repair rather than repeating only the attack portion.
This four-deep one-column gap calls for a vertical I. Covering it adds another dependency.
The blocks projecting to the right make an overhang. The open space underneath needs a sideways or rotating entry.
Common mistakes
Learning a harder opener to escape a basic problem
The same misdrop or covered-hole habit follows you into the new setup. Fix the repeated cause first.
Treating one bad run as a permanent level
Look for a pattern across several decisions. A single awkward bag is not a useful diagnosis.
Trying to improve everything in one session
Pick one observable behaviour. Add speed or a more complex setup only when you can explain the current decision reliably.
TAKE IT TO THE BOARD
Pick tomorrow’s drill from today’s evidence
- Review a recent run and classify three errors: input, access, dependency or transition.
- Choose the earliest recurring category. Select the matching Foundations or T-spin lesson.
- Do one ten-piece manual set with that single focus. Repeat later under a little more time pressure if it becomes reliable.
What counts as progress? Your next practice choice is supported by a specific repeated error, not by a vague feeling that you should be more advanced.
Open practice ↗Opens the mode. Set Gravity and NEXT yourself; your current settings are kept.
Keep these terms nearby
PATH COMPLETE
Choose your next skill
Repeat the drill if it still needs attention, or choose another learning path.
Explore the learning paths →Further reading
This example and drill were created for Stacking Lab, using the trainer’s implemented behaviour.