How to improve your driving concentration by using your sim rig.
Developing your mental bandwidth is a challenge in a race car. Driving at speed on track you are presented with a constant stream of critical decisions. Get them right and you will brake perfectly, turn in accurately and exit every corner with maximum acceleration.
Start getting these decisions wrong however, and you will be at best slow, at worse in the barrier.
No one wants to be slow or in the barrier.
What you want is to have good day at the track, be on the pace and take your car home again in one piece.
Simple way to improve your driving concentration
Developing a drivers ability to consistently execute the right skills at the right time is one of the key challenges as a driver coach.
Here is an exercise I’ve used successfully with several drivers to help them improve their concentration in the car.
The idea is to use your sim rig as it if were a piece of gym equipment for your brain.
Just like developing your fitness, interval training works really well for the brain too. The important part, I am reliably told, is the recovery piece – not only the activity piece.
Here is a simple exercise you can try.
- In your sim, setup a solo practise session.
- Your challenge is to drive fast 5 laps consecutively to within 0.5 second.
- That is actually quite hard.
- If you fail then you start again.
- Give that a go for 20 mins.
- Then take a rest for 5 minutes – as in get up and walk way from the sim kind of rest.
- Then get back in and try again.
- You’ll be better straight off I assure you.
- Do another 20 mins and if you do 5 then see how long a streak you can keep up.
- When you get to 20 mins stop.
- You’re done.
It is the mental equivalent of doing reps for your brain. If you try it be sure to sign up to Ahead of the Curve and let me know how it went.
One thing, don’t be tempted to do longer than the second 20 mins on this. The recovery part is really important.
What is the difference between good and great race drivers?
One of the biggest differences between the good and great drivers, I understand!, is their ability to keep concentration.
This will help you with that.
