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I start the race weekend off faster than last year, but then I stop improving. Why?
Want to know where almost every driver in grassroots racing goes wrong? They do not have a plan for every session or they have a broken plan. Today, we'll discuss not only the importance of having a plan but also how to properly form your own.
The formula to improving is actually quite simple, but very difficult to execute. The formula that drivers performance improvement is:
proper planning + proper preparation + execution = results
Sounds simple enough right? In my experience, grassroots racers do an excellent job of implementing this formula in regards to their car preparation ahead and during race weekend. But, they totally ignore this formula when it comes to their actual driving which is costing them seconds of lap time.
For example, in pro racing I didn't start thinking about setup or learning much about setup until I was within 1 second of other pro drivers. In grassroots racing you are going to gain far more lap time focusing on yourself vs. your setup.
This formula is something I do between race weekends and then once we get started I work through this same formula in-between sessions as well.
Okay, let's dive into this formula.
It all starts with not just having a plan but having a correct plan.
Let's think about your next race weekend or track day. Do you have a clear idea of how exactly you plan on improving your driving? If you're heading to a new track do you know exactly where to focus on?
Part of our jobs as coaches is to not only give you a plan and help you prepare, but also help you understand how we come up with plans so that you can create your own plans between sessions as the race weekend starts.
When I develop a plan it's always rooted in the fundamentals of motorsports:
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Vehicle placement
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Vision & focus
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Motor controls
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Brake adjustability
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Turn in point & turn in rate
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Body position & body timing
If your plan is working on technique that's out of order then you are skipping steps and your plan is broken. With a broken plan, no amount of preparation is really going to give you the performance gains you want to see.
The second part of forming a plan is focus. We don't want a plan that includes notes for every single corner. We need to keep it simple and identify 1 or 2 focus areas max for every session or every weekend.
Once I'm in the middle of a weekend this is where I use my own data & video to identify just one or two places to focus on. You can see how I do this in just 3 minutes here.
After your plan is set, then it comes down to how you prepare. This is the step you work on visualizing, breathing, physical fitness, etc. One of the things Blayze coaches focus on is how to visualize properly, when is the right time to visualize, and finding the right mental state for when you get out on track.
Finding that right mental state is what really allows us to get out of our own way and execute (that tricky final step in the formula)!
So, what does a proper plan look like? Here is one that is totally made up, but a good example:
Turn 3: Minimum speed needs to come 1 car length later (2nd red stripe at the apex curb). Work on working off heavy brake pressure earlier.
Turn 8: Priority here is getting back to full throttle earlier and I need more rotation to do that. Delay initial throttle until mid curb and work towards higher brake pressure earlier in brake zone. I want to slowly ramp up peak brake pressure until I feel abs early in the brake zone and then dial it back a little bit.
At the end of the day the process of forming a plan is critical but it can be time consuming. So, if you don't want "homework" and you're looking for an expert to give you your own plan each weekend and help you find speed that's what our Blayze+ program is designed to do.
Have a question you want answered? Shoot us an email at [email protected].
Article of the week: Why Smooth Inputs Matter Explain in 46 Seconds
We have all heard "Smooth is fast". But, why is that true? Find out here!
Video of the week: MikedUp: Creating 1:1 World-Class Coaching with Dion von Moltke
Racing at NASA Championships or the SCCA Runoffs? Get a Blayze Coach to work 1 on 1 with you during these race weekends
Earlier this week Blayze coaching co-founder, Dion von Moltke, joined Mike Dicioccio to discuss what the team at Blayze is trying to build and where they're going next.