Start with the whole hand
The ace and king of spades are exposed: only the four offers a low escape. Passing A♠, K♠ and Q♥ is a reasonable defensive choice. You remove two cards that could win a trick containing the queen of spades and one high heart.
This is a starting point, not a guaranteed best pass. The three cards you receive can change the shape of your hand, so reassess before the first trick.
Compare a short-suit pass
Emptying a suit may let you discard a penalty card when that suit is led. But this pass leaves your high spades in place, and incoming diamonds may undo the void. Ask which danger your pass actually solves.
Keeping low cards is often useful. A small card in a long suit helps you follow suit without taking the trick; passing every low card can leave you forced to win later.
Adjust for the direction and the score
When passing left, remember that the recipient plays after you. When passing right, the recipient leads into you more often. Across-table passes have a different relationship again; avoid treating every round as the same puzzle.
Shooting the moon needs control: a hand capable of collecting every penalty card. Simply holding several hearts is not enough. When defending, watch whether someone is deliberately collecting penalties and keep a way to interrupt them.
Practice one decision at a time
Play a CPU hand and choose one aim for the pass: remove high spades or shorten a suit. After receiving your cards, name your most dangerous suit. At the end, check whether the pass reduced that danger.
- Identify your exposed high spades.
- Compare removing danger with emptying a short suit.
- Choose three cards, then reassess the incoming cards.
- Track the queen of spades and signs of a moon attempt.