ASK THE COACH
10-14-2011, 11:40 PM
#571
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Peter,
That is a good question. When I would coordinate a coach at the track years back the applicants would all avoid getting down to business until they "warmed up a couple of runs". I would just jump in and get on with it. It is really important that you check your ego at the door and just absorb the feedback. It is all good.
I had a really gung-ho driver in a 11 GT3RS last week and we almost farmed on the first session. Next session, I ended up driving his car for 5 laps discussing the car as we toured the track. His attitude and focus improved so much I had him signed off by the end of the day. Next day his buddy with an identical car tried to stay with him while he was solo ( the other driver still had an instructor pushing him to go faster). Eventually his buddy went off the track. I am sure the mental pressure from the right seat and different car balance suggestions just overloaded him. I was glad that my student had stayed within the parameters I set for him and drove properly.
Question for you Peter is how to you break through the stubborn veteran who responds with "my car does not do that " or avoids truly trying new techniques to improve. It took Larry an entire year to get a veteran racer to move his swaybar!! I am sure you get that often and have figured out how to get past the barrier without affecting the confidence of the driver.
BTW I am not convinced on the track skill being 90% mental. Racing to me is somewhat like a boxer having punching power. You either have the synapse and balance or your struggling to obtain it through repetition. It's not that a driver cannot get better, it just can take a lot longer to reach the goal they want while some drivers are naturally connected to the car.
That is a good question. When I would coordinate a coach at the track years back the applicants would all avoid getting down to business until they "warmed up a couple of runs". I would just jump in and get on with it. It is really important that you check your ego at the door and just absorb the feedback. It is all good.
I had a really gung-ho driver in a 11 GT3RS last week and we almost farmed on the first session. Next session, I ended up driving his car for 5 laps discussing the car as we toured the track. His attitude and focus improved so much I had him signed off by the end of the day. Next day his buddy with an identical car tried to stay with him while he was solo ( the other driver still had an instructor pushing him to go faster). Eventually his buddy went off the track. I am sure the mental pressure from the right seat and different car balance suggestions just overloaded him. I was glad that my student had stayed within the parameters I set for him and drove properly.
Question for you Peter is how to you break through the stubborn veteran who responds with "my car does not do that " or avoids truly trying new techniques to improve. It took Larry an entire year to get a veteran racer to move his swaybar!! I am sure you get that often and have figured out how to get past the barrier without affecting the confidence of the driver.
BTW I am not convinced on the track skill being 90% mental. Racing to me is somewhat like a boxer having punching power. You either have the synapse and balance or your struggling to obtain it through repetition. It's not that a driver cannot get better, it just can take a lot longer to reach the goal they want while some drivers are naturally connected to the car.
Since my attempt at humor failed, maybe I should answer the question.
I cannot say that I have had many students who have been so concerned about getting faster that it affected their ability to learn. More likely it has been timidness, overwhelmingness (?), or overexhuberation that I see impacting focus and learning. As Bob did with the GT3RS driver, it is all about removing the distractions by isolating them to the simplest tasks so that those can begin to happen automatically. Once they do, and the driver gets into a bit of a comfort zone, you can start to add in items one at a time. Sometimes that means just letting them drive and focusing on one skill set or corner for the entire session (or day).
For someone who was pressing so hard to go faster that they could not process any information, I would suggest that taking them out for a ride in the Red group while holding a conversation with them through the entire session could show that they need to relax and let it come to them. The brain can only handle so much on a concious level, so the greater portion of driving that can happen sub-conciously (or automatically) the more thought can be devoted to learning and new information.
As a coach, you really do need a large bag of tools to help each driver with their individual needs.
I cannot say that I have had many students who have been so concerned about getting faster that it affected their ability to learn. More likely it has been timidness, overwhelmingness (?), or overexhuberation that I see impacting focus and learning. As Bob did with the GT3RS driver, it is all about removing the distractions by isolating them to the simplest tasks so that those can begin to happen automatically. Once they do, and the driver gets into a bit of a comfort zone, you can start to add in items one at a time. Sometimes that means just letting them drive and focusing on one skill set or corner for the entire session (or day).
For someone who was pressing so hard to go faster that they could not process any information, I would suggest that taking them out for a ride in the Red group while holding a conversation with them through the entire session could show that they need to relax and let it come to them. The brain can only handle so much on a concious level, so the greater portion of driving that can happen sub-conciously (or automatically) the more thought can be devoted to learning and new information.
As a coach, you really do need a large bag of tools to help each driver with their individual needs.
Folks are nervous. They are intimidated. They do want to please. And they do want to get their money's worth for what they pay for a coach. I quickly try to focus them on simple tasks rather than boiling the ocean, and this often puts their anxieties at ease.
10-15-2011, 04:24 AM
#572
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...and after a 25 year break from HP driving, Kai is now a genyewine PCA Instructor as of yesterday afternoon.
Pleased to join the ranks and looking forward to racing PCA (GT4) and NASA (GTS3) with ya'll next year. Got back on the track end June this year (the last time I drove for performance was Germany in '87) for my first ever PCA DE and have been chasing down water cooled cars since.
I'll miss the DE trophys though....
Pleased to join the ranks and looking forward to racing PCA (GT4) and NASA (GTS3) with ya'll next year. Got back on the track end June this year (the last time I drove for performance was Germany in '87) for my first ever PCA DE and have been chasing down water cooled cars since.
I'll miss the DE trophys though....
10-17-2011, 06:53 PM
#573
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Now that I am back in circulation again after 5 days in Alabama (which sounds like a bad road trip/prison flick), some more thoughts on what Peter and Bob were talking about. I have found that genuine specific compliments of a student's/client's driving (the things they are doing well) goes a long way towards reducing/eliminating tthe intimidation/desire to please & impress factor. And at the DE level, it is amazing how few instructors praise & show genuine enthusiasm when a student does something really well. Human nature is human nature, and even in the rarified type A world of racing, folks are still looking for positive reinforcement.
10-25-2011, 12:35 PM
#574
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Just came back from 3 days of coaching at Daytona. We were blessed with 3 absolutely perfect days, 75-77 degree highs, cloudless skies, low humidity. Perfect! As I worked with my clients, I paid attention to what other drivers were doing around them, and I was struck with 2 observations tha I keep making over & over again.
1) How few people really trail brake properly to help the car point into the corner & take the burden off the fromt tires alone
2) How few people properly heel/toe downshift, and how few do it at the right time in the brake zone
As has been mentioned in this thread and others, braking is where the big differentiators are for advanced drivers. Most folks can get out of a corner reasonably well. Few can get in well.
If I can give any succinct univversal advice, learn to trail brake well & learn how/when to properly heel & toe downshift. Both will pay big dividends on the time sheets!!!
1) How few people really trail brake properly to help the car point into the corner & take the burden off the fromt tires alone
2) How few people properly heel/toe downshift, and how few do it at the right time in the brake zone
As has been mentioned in this thread and others, braking is where the big differentiators are for advanced drivers. Most folks can get out of a corner reasonably well. Few can get in well.
If I can give any succinct univversal advice, learn to trail brake well & learn how/when to properly heel & toe downshift. Both will pay big dividends on the time sheets!!!
10-25-2011, 03:46 PM
#576
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Dare I ask the obvious then:
When should the downshift be completed? One observation I make is that many are made too early on during the braking cycle. Another sees people completing downshifts during corner entry after turn-in - almost freewheeling for a while.
I'll toss out the following: How about just prior to turn in, as the hard straight line braking comes to an end and the softening trail brake phase begins.
Do I get a beer?
When should the downshift be completed? One observation I make is that many are made too early on during the braking cycle. Another sees people completing downshifts during corner entry after turn-in - almost freewheeling for a while.
I'll toss out the following: How about just prior to turn in, as the hard straight line braking comes to an end and the softening trail brake phase begins.
Do I get a beer?
10-25-2011, 03:47 PM
#577
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BEER!
10-25-2011, 06:09 PM
#579
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10-26-2011, 10:46 AM
#580
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Should this downshifting thing be dicsussed?
I, for one, would like to read answers and opinions and then bring out my skip shift technique for bashing and disscusion.
I, for one, would like to read answers and opinions and then bring out my skip shift technique for bashing and disscusion.
10-26-2011, 12:05 PM
#581
Conversely, specific praise that comes with reinforcement of the message ("That's good: more throttle settles the rear better after the bump") makes it easy for me to build on that.
On the subject of downshifting: I got called on letting the clutch out too slowly and blipping too little a couple of times last weekend. I've heard some advice on the timing of the shift relative to braking, but I would also love to hear an explanation.
10-26-2011, 12:09 PM
#582
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10-26-2011, 12:33 PM
#583
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I find that lazy praise like, "Good brake zone" can be a bit of a trap for me if it allows me to think, "Okay, I don't have to think about that, anymore."
Conversely, specific praise that comes with reinforcement of the message ("That's good: more throttle settles the rear better after the bump") makes it easy for me to build on that.
On the subject of downshifting: I got called on letting the clutch out too slowly and blipping too little a couple of times last weekend. I've heard some advice on the timing of the shift relative to braking, but I would also love to hear an explanation.
Conversely, specific praise that comes with reinforcement of the message ("That's good: more throttle settles the rear better after the bump") makes it easy for me to build on that.
On the subject of downshifting: I got called on letting the clutch out too slowly and blipping too little a couple of times last weekend. I've heard some advice on the timing of the shift relative to braking, but I would also love to hear an explanation.
If you watch someone who trail brakes well, or especially ride with them, they are less abrupt on the brakes (thus keeping the chassis stable) and they carry the brakes to at or very close to apex as they gradually release brake pressure, further settling the chassis. This does two things: keeps the platform stable, allowiing early throttle w/o picking up the nose & understeering; and helps the front tires work w/o overloading them by rotating the car more from the rear. Remember, you change the car's direction with the front tires, you steer it with the rear (both on gas & on brakes).
10-26-2011, 01:42 PM
#584
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I will only offer my own opinions, others here may disagree vehemently. I am not a fan of skip shifting, and never do it, in any car. I like to know what gear I am in, and the progression down throug the gears helps me avoid ovverbraking, and gives me a better cadence for the braking sequence w/o unsettling the car. Pluus, if something goes wrong (i.e., tire blowout) that causes me to for example accidentally slip my foot off the clutch prematurely, I am in th eproper gear for that speed, not 2 gears lower, and don't really risk locking the drive wheels, over-revving the motor, and spinning. YMMV... I also coach this, and coach to doing the downshiftt(s) in the second half of the brake cadence.
Every racer's goal should be to be able to go through the gears effectively and instinctively. (I've worked with more pro drivers than I can recall quickly, and NONE have skipped gears)
10-26-2011, 01:44 PM
#585
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^^ TRUTH ^^