In the past 30 years I've taught, instructed and coached tens of thousands of drivers on race tracks around the world, from first-timers in car club DE days to Indy and NASCAR drivers. Having worked with that many drivers, I've seen a number of trends. But I'd like to ask the drivers here - you - this one BIG question:

What is the one single technique or skill, whether physical or mental, that you struggule with the most in your track driving?

As you post your answers, please also tell me whether you're a novice, intermediate or advanced level driver, and whether you race or not.

After I see some of your answers, I'll share some of the secret trends I've seen through the years.

1) Actually doing what I know I should do when something goes wrong. 2) Eyes up. I always have a few corners where I have a really hard time not looking at the end of the braking zone instead of the apex with really really late apexes the normal result. 3) That focus thing. Everything is going great and then I forget to do something and oops, something goes wrong. I basically deal with this by driving more inside my abilities, make it all happen slowly, etc. Supposedly this is the way to go fast, but while I'm speeding up, I'm not speeding up fast.

I have a little over 100 track days. I'm a rookie racer with bmwcca, kinda sorta getting the hang of it. I've done a little instructing.

The technique on feeling, finding, and driving in the peak tire slip angle consistently.

I have over 110 days on track, mainly open track days and driving schools.

Ross, I value your books and have learned more from them than any of the pro schools I have attended. You have clarified what others couldn't. Thank You.

Well, it's good to know that everyone here is human! Everything posted here so far are the things that I see and hear about all the time - focus, sensing the limit, consistency, etc. Actually, one thing that was hinted at here, but is actually a very common challenge is fear. I bet it's more common than we know, because many drivers won't admit to it. I think it was A.J. Foyt who said something along the lines of, "If a driver says he's never been scared in a race car, he's either stupid or a liar." And that coming from A.J.

I think there's a fine line between fear and self-preservation. If you didn't have self-preservation, you'd crash and burn at every single corner, so it's a good thing. Fear, on the other hand, is not such a great thing because it can lead to "freezing up" - but then you know that.

In a way, the fear, self-preservation, and the focus challenges lead me to one thing: You cannot not think about something. It's the old, "Don't think about a pink elephant" thing. The second you read that sentence, the image of a pink elephant pops into your head, right? Same with fear and it's neighbor, self-preservation - you cannot not think about what could go wrong if you crashed, so that's what you think about. And focus is tied into this because we sometimes think about something other than what we should be thinking about, and then we tell ourselves to not think about it, but we can't.

Many drivers I work with face these same challenges, whether they're novice club racers, track day drivers, or professionals. And the one "tool" that works best is having what I call a "Pre-planned Thought." The idea is that when you're on the track and the thought of crashing, or anything else pops into your mind (taking your focus away), you don't have time to tell yourself, "Don't think about that. Think about..." But if you already have a Pre-planned Thought sitting there in the corner of your mind, ready to go and be used the second you need it, then that replaces the crash thought, or the distracted thought immediately.

Again, you cannot not think about something. Telling yourself to not think about something is about as effective as telling yourself to be happy when you're not. No, the only way you can replace an unwanted thought is with another, more powerful thought.

I have the drivers I work with write down their Pre-planned Thought (PPT), and practice using it in every day life. For example, you might use "Look Ahead" as your PPT. Every time you begin to think about something you don't want to think about, you immediately say to yourself, "Look ahead" (and do that). And the more you do that, the more quickly and easily you will be able to trigger your wanted PPT to replace the unwanted thought.

And fear, to some extent, is just an unwanted thought. Sure, if you're in it - if you're in the fear state of mind - for some length of time, it triggers all sorts of physical and mental functions. But in much of performance and race driving, the fear simply flashes by. It comes and goes as you face various sections of track. And if you can quickly replace that fear thought with your PPT, you may just find that fear goes away. Or, at least it moves to the self-preservation mode, which is perfectly fine.

If focus is your challenge - keeping it, that is - then having a PPT is likely to be the most effective tool to help you.

One more thing. I find that many drivers think they have a "problem" with fear, or staying focused. It would only be a problem if you never had those issues. That's what I meant about being human. Every single driver that has ever driven on a track has those issues. You're not alone.

Well, there I go again... rambling along with a long post. I'd be interested to know if any of you can relate to what I've just written - have you been there, done that?

I've been there, done that, but not with driving...

I've been a pilot since I was 16, including a short stint in the air force, and I find that when the SHTF, the memorized checklists and procedures do exactly what you've just described.

By recognizing the dangerous or fearful situation, and then knowing you have a response for that scenario, you automatically begin to run through that process.  This does 2 things for you, I think.  Not only does it remove you from the current "drama" of the situation by distracting your "AHhhh!" brain centres and focus you on your pre-programmed/practised response, it also gives you a subconscious sense of comfort and confidence, because it IS a situation you've practised for.  "Hey, I know how to deal with this! Cool!"  After all, I think we're genetically predisposed to fear the unknown, so by making something as "known" as possible, we help to eliminate that fear.

For example, when I was a student pilot doing touch-and-go's, I lost an engine very shortly after takeoff (at about 500').  We'd rehearsed that scenario over and over again, not only mentally visualizing the event, but going over and over the response while sitting in the static aircraft on the ground.  When it happened for real, there wasn't really any fear... I was already reacting to the situation, making radio calls, setting flaps, checking engine settings, fuel selectors, etc, before my conscious thoughts had a chance to catch up.  It seemed like I blinked and it was over, and had safely landed the little Cesna on the runway and was climbing out to meet all of the safety vehicles rushing at me in with their lights and sirens going.  During the emergency I was consciously removed from the situation, for the most part, but still highly focused on the situation.  Now, when it was all over and I had a chance to think about it, my knees buckled and I had to take the rest of the day off, but that's another story.  ;)

That being said, I felt way more aggrivation and anxiety when performing a touch-and-go if I'd totally messed up the previous one.  The funny part was, it was just a rough landing, and wasn't dangerous or anything... it was just a case of "DOH! I messed up the last one, and I can't believe I did that, and I don't want to do that on this one!".  There were none of the life-threatening consequences that existed in the engine failure, it was only a matter of personal pride and ego, and yet my hands were sweating and I was nervous as hell.  The anxiety levels were way up there, and that greatly affected my abilities... FOR SOMETHING THAT HADN'T EVEN HAPPENED YET!



It seems to me that your PPT could be described as a generic mental response for any scenario that doesn't have a specific response, such as a performance mistake.  And it makes sense to me.


Funnily enough, we used to teach something similar in our flight instructor's class to help deal with those potential students/passengers that were easily air/motion sick.  We were taught the trick of absolutely distracting them and getting them thinking on something other than being sick, and it generally gave you way more time to deal with the situation.  If someone was starting to get green, or said they were nauseus, we'd start asking them about baseball, or hockey, or SOMETHING that would get their mind off of things.

Again, it seems this is kind of the same thing, but you're doing it to yourself, and in a more refined manner.



As you know I'm starting my race season this year, and having taken your workshop (which was awesome, BTW!).  I've already started to develop my own version of "car dancing" to help with my mental focus for those times _WHEN_ I mess up.

I'd never really thought about the mental aspect of driving/racing before, and haven't really seen it presented anywhere else other than your books.  Thanks for the insight!


...jeff

 

Having experienced a 'teachable moment' last year (AFTER attending one of Ross' Speed Secrets courses)...... ....in the wet....on cold tires.....when I consciously said to myself: " Nigel go really slowly till you know what you what level of grip you've got".......and I was feeling good and thought everything was under control......and got on the gas AFTER the apex "a little to early, a teensy bit too much' ......and THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN found myself going sideways and off the track , skidding to a halt. I didn't see it, feel it, thinki it was coming AT ALL and by the time it had come it was way too LATE.

So now I'm THINKING I've got a concrete butt and need to get me one of those dang PPT's for my first track event since my little excursion.  Just need help figuring out what the heck it should be.....

  ideas welcome ??? 

Nigel