Definition
A hand's direction is the category of card hands it is closest to building, such as consecutive numbers, like numbers, evens, or winds and dragons.
Recognising the direction before opening the card is the core skill. The free hand analyzer names the direction of any hand tapped into it, and explains why.
At the table
Name your direction to yourself before every call and every Charleston pass. If you cannot say which card section you are building toward, you are not ready to call a tile or to pass with confidence. Direction is also the thing the coach names first, because everything else in the hand follows from it.
Also called category.
Read the full guide: How to Read the Mahjong Card: The Notation, Decoded.
Lesson 5, The Charleston II: Strategy, teaches this in its step "Pick TWO directions, not one". It comes with the Club. See what Lesson 5 covers.
See it on real tiles. The AI coach reads a dealt hand, free, and names the direction it goes for, what to keep and what to pass, at the free read.
Want the coach on call? The Club adds the coach for your own tiles and for each morning’s hand, all 10 lessons, and every new NMJL card taught the week it lands, for $14.99 a month, cancel anytime. See what the Club includes.
Related: The card, Consecutive Run, 2468, 13579, 369, Winds and Dragons. All 52 terms.