chrisc

Sorry I am new to all of this and don't get it, why are you all so mean to A Wayne? From the avatar it appears she is a great looking nice lady. I suggest you all behave and treat her with the respect she deserves (check out the rack!).

mglobe

Some organizations that run DE's will allow students to bring a private coach. Some won't. There are always ways to access a track, and you just need to find the way that suits you best. I think a lot of the coaches are willing to travel (provided the costs are covered).

My personal experience with private coaching has been very positive. I think you get the best bang for the buck if you are at least a moderately experienced driver, and if you go in with specific goals for your coaching session(s).

mglobe

on a completely different note:

Can someone PLEASE make A. Wayne go away. He serves no purpose in this thread. I don't care if he wants to rant on and on about his favorite F1 drivers, as I just skip those threads. But we're here trying to have a conversation about coaching, and all he's doing is taking up bandwidth.

:t o_order::to_ order::to_or der::to_orde r:

A.Wayne

^^^^ another personal attack .............. to a simple question

Veloce Raptor

I can only speak for myself and Seth: within the confines of our own schedules, we go where the client is or wants to be. DE's don't make the best environnments, IMO, because some DE organizations do not allow this sort of thing, and a few others do. Plus, you are limited to typically 4 on track sessions of 20-30 minutes per day. What tends to work better are Cups & Saucers type of open track events, test & tune days, and private/member days at club tracks. This way, client and coach can come & go on the track whenever they see fit to, to work on specific things for a few laps, review data or other feedback in the pits, go back out & fix a few things for a few laps, review video, etc. The freedom to do this is often lacking in a normal DE, with some exceptions.

Please feel free to PM for a more in depth answer.






Professional Racing and Driving Coach

Veloce Raptor

David, that is what we used at Autobahn--a mid week member day. We came & went on the track at our whim, when a specific point needed to be made, a goal had been achieved, a segment time hit a milestone, and/or just when it seemed like a good time to review the success versus goals ratio for that session & get some water. I had provided Patrick with a very specific, detailed agenda for the day, based solely on what he wanted---why he was hiring me in the first place. I sought his approval of that proposed agenda, and he gave it. And we worked it. I used different metrics for different parts of it, so we could easily see whether we exceeded goals or still had to go back and work them again. And each detailed metric played a part in the overall direction for the day, again based on what he wanted to get out of it & my experience on how to get us there.

And he aced it all. He really had to work as some parts of our plan, whereas other parts were easy-peasy. In Patrick's case, he had to rent a race car since his was back in Australia, and we met in a city he was visiting on holiday. Usually, clients use their own vehicles on more familiar tracks....but not always!

This same approach works for one day, two day, and x day coaching engagements: assess client's goals and aspirations, assess client's current experience and skill level, and develop a curriculum suited specifically to deliver exactly what they want, on time and within budget.

ChrisC....hahahahahahahahahahaaaa!!!!!!






Professional Racing and Driving Coach

Chaos

Great article in this months PCA CRN about this very subject.

mklaskin

Dave,
Do you get to Autobahn often? A friend and I are considering private instruction.

MK

early_grayce

He serves no purpose in *any* thread:

"This message is hidden because A.Wayne is on your ignore list. "

It's easy and makes reading these threads much more bearable. I highly recommend it.

mglobe

Good point, I've just never bothered to ignore anyone before. Unlike GR, AW doesn't even provide entertainment with his inanity, so I certainly won't be missing anything..

Veloce Raptor

It is an easy 2 hour non-stop flight for me to Chicago-Midway, and then an easy drive from there to the track. I think Autobahn is a very good training/coaching track, regardless of the configuration used, and the facility and people are great. Please PM me if you'd like to discuss this further and/or compare schedules.

Gregg, is there an on line version of that article? I'd love to read it!






Professional Racing and Driving Coach

David 23

You can download the article here: http://pca.org/Members/DocumentLibrary.aspx?EntryId=483
It certainly supports the benefits of personal coaching.

Dave, how are coaches able to deal with differences in "driving style", or is the premise that there is a defineable "right and wrong" way of driving that can be taught? Is the focus on improving the way the client already drives, or more toward redirecting to a "standard"? I'm not making a point, or taking a position, I am making an honest inquiry to a point I am uncertain of.

Veloce Raptor

Thanks for the link!

Your questions is a very good one, and 100% valid. Agaiin, I can only give my opinion, and will not speak for any other coaches. IMO, the most successful way to approach this is for me to watch the client drive the first session (mayybe 5-10 laps tops) and make lots of notes about how the client approaches the mechanics of driving. After that, unless there is some obvious issue that is preventing the client from elevating their driving (for example, Patrick mentioned his double-spike braking profile in another post in thhis thread), we address that early on....not as "right" or "wrong", but rather as a possible obstacle to achieveing our goals for the day. We address a change of this behavior in the larger picture of what is will take to elevate the client's driving to achieve their goals. Another example of this is something I see frequuently: heel/toe downshifts at the beginning of the braking cycle, rather than towards the end. This is a small thing, but hinders the client's ability to carry a lot more speed into the corner, make changes in the car's attitude mid corner, and then carry huge speed out of the corner. Patrick alluded to this in post #14 in this thread.

Beyond that, issues of personal style take a back seat to working through the nuances that typically can make a big impact in the driving of a client who alreadyy has some skills. For instance, some clients I have worked with shuuffle steer in slow high-steering angle corners. IMO, thhat is a valid technique if used properly in those circumstances. I personally do not use it, but it is not "wrong", and unless it is surprising the car, I never coach it out of the student's behavior patterns.






Professional Racing and Driving Coach

David 23

Makes sense, and seems an effective way to approach it. Thanks for clarifying.

smlporsche

Hopefully this thread can stay on track and not have certain idots keep interupting the train of thoughts....

Dave et.al. How many students can an instructor comfortyably handle? I'm sure one would be best but can you handle 2 easily?

Thanks.