Matt - after stating that I think I know my way around RS2 pretty well...I have what appears to me to be a stupid quesiton. How do you open the 2nd measures graph window separately? too many lines at once confuse the hell out of me. I like the 2nd window setup for Long /Lat

 

Sorry for no pictures - I'm not on a great connection.

I might be thinking of something different than you are asking, so I'll give you the easy way and the advanced way. The easy way is to you the buttons on the top right with that look like a single L, two LL, and three LLL. Those will allow you to have everything on one graph, graphed in up to 5 different graphs with measures on listed as you want, then listed individually. I hope that makes sense.

The other way is to go file, then "set user profile and preferences." Make sure the top box that says "enable multiple views is selected." Then click exit.

This will allow you to have a line graph, x-y, scatter plot, or whatever else open at the same time. Hopefully this all makes sense.

 

I would like to hear some thoughts about a recent encounter I had with an instructor. In particular, I would like thoughts on the instruction / coaching and not on the technique taught (fairly novice stuff).

I was performing a basic / fundamental technique incorrectly. I was not aware that I was performing the technique incorrectly. The instructor (Instructor A) noticed and told me I was performing the technique incorrectly. Even with the instructor telling me my technique was wrong (and demonstrating / over-exaggerating what I was doing), I still could not understand what he was talking about, as I did not see or feel it. The instructor became frustrated and yelled, "If you don't change now, you won't change for the rest of your life!" So out of fear, I obliged as he taught me his method of doing things, which felt awkward and illogical. As the session / event ended, he told me my old method was terrible and I should fix it immediately.

After the event, I went home and watched video of myself, replays of myself in simulators, etc. I did notice that my technique was slightly off, and could now see what exactly the instructor was talking about. Still, I could not understand why he made such a drastic and awkward change to my old method or why he made threats.

Aside: At the next event, I discussed Instructor A's method with my new instructor (Instructor B). Instructor B told me Instructor A's method was flat out wrong and proceeded to share his ideas and method with me. Instructor B made a simple adjustment to my old method, and all seemed right with the world (to me at least). Talked to several other instructors and ~80% of instructors seemed to agree with Instructor B (along with numerous instructional books that are always recommended).

Extra: I later found out I had suffered a mild concussion a week prior to the event, which further clouded my judgement.

Seen this type of thing before? I still sometimes hear his voice yelling in my head, even though I disagree and know he is wrong. Maybe it is his conclusion that he has drawn after his coaching experiences? Apparently he has been instructing for 10+ years.

I appreciate any insight.


(Thought about reviving 5-7 year old threads about instructors, but... no.)

Mots

 

I think we need more detail on what the technique was, what instructor A was telling you to do and what instructor B told you to do differently.

The difference between instructors like myself and pro coaches like some of the guys in this thread is that instructors have just enough experience and training to teach those at a lower level than them where Pro coaches are paid to help the best in the business continue to get better.

The result is instructors at club events don't always have the same message, don't always mesh well with students and situations like this happen. He may very well have been correct and just horrible with delivery in trying to get you to change your driving habits. That's the very reason that you have to understand something very important. At a DE you are the client. If you are not happy with the relationship between you and your instructor you have every right to go to the cheif instructor and ask for a different assignment. Now if it becomes a trend then possibly you are the issue but these things happen from time to time and I'm sorry to hear about the negative experience.

 

Could you elaborate on the "delivery?"

Does "delivery" include communication skill, the point being made, as well as the remedy for the situation? Or simply one of the above?

I am not so concerned about the technique, since I could still be entirely wrong or describe things incorrectly.

I do believe he saw the symptom, but treated the symptom instead of treating the cause.

The simplest analogy would be teaching someone how to stand naturally.
If I was standing naturally with my weight centered on my feet, then shifted all of my weight to the edge of my heels (for whatever reason), I would end up leaning back a fair amount compared to where I started.
The instructor notices that I am leaning back, so he bends me forward from the hips to make it look like I am more upright and not leaning back, yet my weight is still entirely on my heels.

This is the sort of situation I am talking about. The result may appear better, but the cause remains. Is this a delivery issue?
I wanted to explore this idea in case I needed to teach anyone anything and encountered a similar predicament.

Thanks,
Mots

 

Instructors all differ. Some are great, some good and a few shouldn't be instructing. I honestly believe all care about their students.

That said, I don't believe you and will consider you a troll until you prove otherwise.

 

I have not followed this thread. I hope it is OK to butt in with a driving question. If so here it is:

Lets say you have an equal radius right sweeper transitioning to left sweeper combination. One way it could be taken is to maintain a rhythm with right steering input and hold it until left steering input is needed. This would "set" the chassis in one direction feeding in as much power as possible then immediately load the chassis in the other direction. This is like one move of the steering wheel. A second way is to cut the radius down enter right steering then unwind straight then input left steering. The chassis feels unsettled as goes right to center then center to left and the steering wheel makes three distinct moves. Is there a rule of thumb like always go straight when you can (like the more you turn the wheel the more speed you steal) or lower number of steering inputs rule, or go for chassis stability, or tough luck stop watch rules, or it's time for data? With traffic and my lap times not being consistent enough I can't tell if one way is faster than another. I don't have data to do a narrow window sector time. Thoughts?

 

Good question. In my view, the less drama and weight transfer you can introduce into the chassis & suspension, the better. Loading one side and then immediately unloading that side & loading the other side seems like a lot of drama...

 

Why, because he has two posts?

My only comment as a non-pro instructor is that I initiate change by having the student try something different, not by telling them not to do something. As I have said, that's like telling VR not to think about ****.
Once (hopefully) the bulb goes off and in the paddock I will explain why the change worked and the previous way didn't.

 

Excellent and relevant post...

 

It depends on the ideal line, the radius' of each corners, how far apart the two constant radius corners are, etc...

In general, you don't always "have to" straighten the wheel between steering inputs but rather you should focus on the car's weight transfer and how it's reacting. Turning right (loading the left side) then immediately turning left will be one input to transfer the weight from the left to the right side of the car. If you do this too quickly, you can get a faster and more aggressive weight transfer from the stored energy of the compressed springs on the left unloading and throwing the car to the right. Doing this in an exaggerated way could be detrimental or beneficial depending on what you want the car to do.

Due to the way you framed the question, I probably wouldn't be too concerned about the above and would simply do one steering input to the other direction and focus on how quickly your change of direction affects the stability of the car.

 

I had this happen last weekend. We discussed it in classroom, but I wanted to circulate it for more thoughts. In real time I noted the car had stopped and was planning on going around on his right, but then he pulled forward and I had to cut behind him. It was a crimp moment to be sure. My sentiment is expressed, even though I have no idea what I said. If you look close, I almost blew the horn on him

Even with a Hans, I think he could see me. Assuming you are the one sitting on the line and can't see and can't see the flag station, wouldn't it be more prudent to move the car slowly so that at least those closing on you can work out a solution without drama?


-Mike

 

Yeah. Word to the wise: if you spin and stop, and there is oncoming traffic, STAY THE HELL WHERE YOU ARE!

We had one of our instructors spin and go off in the run off straight ahead of T11 and end up in the paved area to the left of the T10 corner station, facing traffic (but off the track). What does the dumbass do? Pulls right back on RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE GUY AHEAD OF THE CAR I WAS IN.

Yes, I had words with him afterwards. His reponse? "Sorry, i guess I got into race mode".

Seriously.

Whereupon I alerted him to the fact that (a) it was a DE, and (b) you don't pull that **** in a race, either. He seemed surprised.

 

It was a bit more egregious than I remembered it. He could see down to T12, and should have known a car was behind him, so a pause long enough for the trailing car to get by would have helped. Also could have slowly backed up onto the inside dirt or did the same maneuver he did only very slowly.

The big gripe I have is he was so unpredictable. There was no malice here, so hopefully we all learned something. Even a spinning car once stopped, may not stay stopped. I should have anticipated he may pull forward to get his car righted very much like anticipating a car will cross the blend line when coming out of the pit when most often they don't.

-Mike

 

I think he should have reversed off track, would have been easy to do long before you got to him. As far as that goes, you should have seen/heard him spinning in the first couple seconds of that video and you had plenty of time to get to a walking pace by the time you got to him.... no need for any evasive thinking.