Bridge: Following bad trump break, good technique can still ensure contract

One of the best general pieces of advice when trumps split badly is to reduce your own holding to the same length as the recalcitrant defender. This leads to trump coup possibilities. 

Bidding
Dealer: West
Game All

Without the correct shape, North’s original pass is correct, as is South’s 2S overcall — when opponents quickly agree a suit, you can enter the auction merely with the correct shape; points are far less significant. 

West leads K♥ and declarer requires the spade finesse to win. He takes A♥, and the first trump finesse, which duly holds. He crosses to dummy and repeats the play in trumps. When West shows out, however, a trump loser seems to have re-appeared. However, successful declarers remained calm. As long as anyone but South plays trumps, he will be fine. Declarer crosses to dummy again and, this time, ruffs a heart in hand. He repeats this procedure.

Now that the trump reduction technique of ruffing spades in hand has brought South down to the same number of trumps as East, he knows that trump coup will bite. By doing this, declarer cannot be left winning a trick and having to lead away from his ♠AQ. South exits with a minor suit and whoever wins can take a diamond and a club, but then must either provide a ruff with Q♠, or leave East leading trumps for declarer to finesse.