In every sport I tried there is a concept of a training plan - basically, a set of drills to do and skills to master, arranged in some spiral-like sequence.

I struggle to build something similar for driving.

I got a plan for learning a new track, for example:

- first, figure out the line geometrically (most of it can be done with a track map)
- then adjust for elevation and camber changes during the first few laps/sessions,
- then focus on applying throttle early out of the corners
- then focus on optimizing braking and turn entry
- then focus on speed in the middle of a corner
- then go back to repeating the cycle from adjusting the line, but this time one corner at a time, to squeeze out more.

It works pretty well. But this is to drive a specific track better given my current skill level. What I do not have is a plan on how to improve my skill level.

I've read a number of books (Ross Bentley's and Skip Barber's), but they give bits and pieces that I struggle to organize in a consistent training plan.

But the sequence of things to focus on is fairly important - for example, at what point do I focus on consistency of what I do vs. quality of what I do (e.g., practice consistently going 88MPH through a possible 90MPH corner vs. getting to 90MPH)? One can make an argument that you need to squat to jump, but one can also make an argument that practicing a suboptimal execution is rehearsing being slow.

How do you work out your driving muscle? Any books, articles, plans you can recommend?

 

All great players, in almost any sport, has a great coach. I think it applies to driving even more so.

 

Training starts BEFORE you even get to the track:

1) General fitness is not essential but important for consistent driving performance
2) Hydrate - start 3-4 prior to your event
3) Practice in a driving simulator - get 50 laps done before you even show up at the track
4) Watch your previous video from the next track you'll be driving and benchmark your video to video of other fast drivers in similar cars at that track
5) Go through your previous data and record min and max speeds and gears. Develop new goals from that information

THEN you go to the track ...

 

1. Get Aim Solo (predictive laptime mode)
2. Learn car control (skid pad, autocross, parking lot under snow, race school, low risk corners with lot of runoff, etc)
3. 'Work' each track (look for grip and speed) using the above. Solo gives immediate feedback on better/worse.
4. When you hit a plateau with the above, hire a coach.

 

All three responses above are spot on

 

Guys, it all makes sense and is a good advice that I always follow. I think I did not communicate what stage/level I'm talking about. I do know to hydrate, use data and watch videos, and have done 100s of hours on the skidpad. I can visualize driving most tracks I drove with realistic timing of visualizations. I'm usually at or within less than a second from non-pro records in the same car on the same track. I'm making steady but slow progress.

My question is more about how to become a better driver in general. Specifically, how to train consistency, vision, speed and traction sensing, add new skills to the toolbox, and in what sequence? There should be more to it than just driving your best and hoping all the underlying skills will improve. Skills do improve this way, but in every other sport, there is a way to get there faster with a thoughtfully laid out training program.

For example, let's say for a day I forget about lap times at a specific track and focus on optimizing my transition from brake to throttle - timing, overlap, synchronization with steering, etc. Next day I learn where and how to use coasting (a great discussion going on in another thread about that now). And so on.

How do you figure out when to do that and what exactly to do? I feel that my driver improvement efforts are somewhat random. I just notice something in data or see someone doing a particular turn better and then just drill that piece until I can do it better. But is it really the best thing I can do to improve my driving? Very likely it is not.

A coach is an obvious answer, but my limited experience with hiring a coach for a day was suboptimal. Typically, a coach would point a thing or two right away, and it would take me the rest of the day or often more to materially improve on these points, and the same often could have been accomplished by sending a video/data to coach and not have them sit in the car for the whole day. I'd love to have a coach who may not even show up to the track with me but rather look at the vids/data logs, build a training plan, and check in periodically by looking at more vids and data logs. But given that it's no more than a hobby for me, it may be an overkill. So I'd love to be able to effectively self-coach in between check-ins with a real coach.

 

You nailed it.

This is THE problem most white/black/red/drivers-that-have-been-doing-this-for-a-LONG-time have. No overview, no plan, no progress...

Very sorry to hear that, but not surprised...

If you had worked with a coach like Craig Stanton, Grant Maiman, JvO or a few others I can think of quickly, you would have been blown away. They would give you SO much to work on, the difficulty would THEN be where to start? <grin>

Their approach, along with their information, is wholistic, complete and overarching. It would include a substantial amount of information and a variety of approaches you may not have even thought of or heard of before. It would be of such high quality that the engagement would help YOU define YOUR program for MANY more events, well AFTER you worked with them...

Remote analysis IS a good option. With a shared Dropbox folder, good data and video, there is a fair bit that can be accomplished that way. Perhaps that's all you want or need. What kind of data and video do you use now?

 

Master traction
Drive rally car
Drive snowmobile
Be able to slide a car around a track

Within a second of pro lap time is achievable without tons of heartburn

You are local to SF it appears - what platform you racing in? Not sure we have met?

 

It sounds like Peter Krause (aka ProCoach) is just what you are looking for.

 

blah blah blah. Analysis paralysis.

Just find the guy in a similar car that is faster than you and (try to) follow him around the track. Forget all the technical BS about turn in, coasting, apex, whatever. Just get your nose on his *** and hang on. Close as you can. So close you cannot see the track, only his car.

You will be amazed at what you and your car can do. Seriously. You will find yourself at the edge (or over it) of adhesion all over the place. What a thrill. Your adrenaline will shoot through the roof. You'll get sweaty and out of breath. You'll be alive. And then you will want to do it again. And again.

 

Hahaha! Classic Clarke answer.

But, he's got a really good point... It's like Ross Bentley's classic premise for progressing, "you've got to become comfortable being slightly uncomfortable." FTW!

That's nice, but I don't know.

The OP and I would have to figure that out after several emails and/or a phone call.

While a lot of other "coaches" have expanded their curricula (mainly by adopting what they see others doing), few doing it on a professional basis have the experience, depth and breadth to offer a truly serious complete and high grade premium program (and still fewer clients have the time, desire or commitment to subscribe to that level training).

Nutrition, physical conditioning (Simon Hayes, Jim Leo), physiological drills and exercises (Jacque Dallaire, Ross Bentley), serious simulation training (EFM on the West Coast, Dominic Dobson and Tom Maher's new venture in the PAC NW, Jeff Segal's GPX Lab in Miami) are all programs that are available, all encompassing and truly professional-grade. THAT is serious! And several of my clients, as well as some I know on RL, have taken advantage of that level of resources. Most folks don't have the time, commitment or inclination to go that route. And that's FINE.

After working with small groups of drivers for a few decades, my focus narrowed significantly six or seven years ago, and has refined even further in the last two or three. I'm really hyper focused solely on performing an in-depth performance analysis of the DRIVER (through a detailed logging and examination of their inputs and grading against the BEST execution of fundamental skills), period.

FIRST, a deconstruction of what a driver is ACTUALLY doing (versus what they THINK they are doing), THEN, with an analysis that grades in priority the greatest opportunity for improvement, develop a limited, targeted skill execution to improve that area without adding too much more, if any, risk.

Lucky enough to have this happen in concert with the trajectory of easy to use, reliable and cost effective technology that can catalog those measures. I couldn't do what I do without the tremendous detail provided by a variety of hardware and software.

It's SUBSTANTIALLY shortened a process that used to take days, weeks and sometimes months of time. A process that formerly (and still is, all too often) riddled with far too great a subjective bent, rather than what we all want, which is an objective, NON JUDGMENTAL eye...

Now, drivers CAN start later in life and achieve high levels of competency in relatively little time, provided they practice perfect and take knowledgeable counsel.

This narrow, technology-aided focus, coupled with having at hand intimate knowledge of how the best DO their very best (in this field), gets many top-level, professionals (like me and the people I work with) results. In pretty short order.

None of us get as much track time as we want, not even Clarke.

Make yours count!

 

OP, if you've done 100s (!?) of hours on the skidpad and are within a second of record laps then start racing, if you aren't already.

Also, data analysis in a room is different from real-time feedback from a predictive lap timer. Since you seem to have good car control skills just try different ways of taking a corner while 'flying' the car on the edge of adhesion with instant feedback from the predictive laptimer. To me this process is so much fun that I almost prefer it to a "shortcut" where a pro/coach just tells you how it should be done. This sport, to me, is about the journey/process, not the end goal. What would be the end goal anyway? So why make the journey shorter/faster?

If after trying the above you still feel like you've hit a plateau, then get a coach to teach you what you don't know that you don't know.

 

Working with a real coach will teach you how to self coach because you will understand what you are doing wrong.

I routinely watch videos of myself at a specific track and go back through the years to compare my driving. My skill level went up sharply two years ago when I started getting a lot of professional coaching.

There is no single way to become a better driver other than coaching combined with seat time.

 

I like your analytical approach MaxLTV! Here's a couple thoughts from someone who also started in street cars and focused on becoming a better driver, efficiently (I hate wasting time!):

* It looks like you have a street/track car -- move to a dedicated race car. The benefits of this are exponential; increased safety as you begin to push your limits, much more reliability and ease of comparing data between different drivers/cars/platforms and an much larger existing knowledge set of what that particular platform should be doing. Even if you aren't interested in "racing" rite now, you will be once you start comparing yourself to fast guys. Get a Cup, even a 997 if budget doesn't allow a 991.

* Since you're in the SF Bay Area, reach out to Johannes van Overbeek (ProCoach as well, but it might be easier to start with someone who's local!). He's very analytical as well and if you can articulate what your goals are, he can give you a lot of guidance on how to get there, as well as doing normal fast-guy coaching type stuff in person. He's been coaching me since I started driving and is probably the only reason I stuck with it and made good progress If you want to get ahold of him send me a PM and I'll connect you. Also, if you find yourself around RWC I'd be happy to meet up for a beer and flap some gums about driving and racing.

* Be truthful with yourself on how much time you can dedicate to your driving/racing. It's easy to start strong and throw a lot of good money at it.. then find you don't have the time to commit. Again, this is where a good coach like Mr. Krause or JvO can be invaluable because of their experience helping others.

* Seriously, move to a race car. I'm not trying to scare you, but if you want to make big improvements you need to move on from the street car. If you don't want to deal with trailering/wrenching/loading/etc there's plenty of folks in the Bay Area who can run your car properly and take care of all that stuff for not *too* much money, especially when you look at it from a personal time perspective. JWE and Flying Lizard (based out of Sonoma!) both have very good customer Porsche programs and are local. I've worked with both very closely over the years and would recommend them whole heartedly.

-mike

 

Hehe cuppie a fun way to start but a lizard 7 cup season is what 250 and 1 cup 500? I also can't imagine learning to stay on the limit with one of those when the limits are mind bending

Join spec Boxster or spec e30 or spec Miata or spec race ford - 10-40k a year in running costs. Big groups - you'll find people you won't be able to catch as you start