Doomah

there was this older guy at the states, he was shaking so bad i could feel the driver stand vibrate.... was so distracting i had to move to the opposite side of the drivers stand lol

never lift

i think we all where shaking our first time . but not like that .

killingtime

iTrader: (3)

I don't know about you guys but I take the advice I give my kids before we go anywhere... Go to the restroom. Nothing takes your mind off the race if your dancing on the drivers' stand.

jbrow1

iTrader: (28)

Hahaha. That's funny. My M8 batt tray likes to be just right also. But at least my hands don't shake. My leg sometimes gets going like a jackrabbit and it's very annoying. Doesn't always happen and never know when or why.

I find myself having to make myself blink also as it helps stay out of the pipes. I like to take a lap or two before the race slowly just rolling jumps. Nothing worse than popping a ballcup before the race even starts. Dave I don't like to get there to early and practice a ton either. A few runs to feel the track, and the truck and usually I like that best.

My buddy I race with runs losi and I run ae, so we stay pretty loose in the pits just talking smack back and forth. Makes the day pretty enjoyable. We're usually only 1 to 3 seconds apart which makes it fun.

And I'm a tweaker.. Meaning I'm always checking my camber, ride height, and whatnot enough to the point guys like to joke about it. Funny how when you start beating guys they start tweakin away too!

never lift

that's so true . it's happened to me a couple of times ..

SG_Racer

I have been racing for around 4 years now i have some, maybe you could call it rituals before and after the races to keep my mind in the zone. One of them is to never clean the body, I race the touring gas class and the body gets dirty but I keep it that way to keep the feeling and esence of the race in the car, I know it sound weird but it works for me.

Apart from that I never set my mind to "something wrongs going to happend", I go to races thinking with a clear mind, thinking about the track, turns and how I am going to drive. During the time I am not in the track (on the pits) I think of what I did wrong during practice and qualf. to try and get better in the main. That helps a lot. But the best mentallity is to get your mind set to I will have a good time with my friends in the track, doing what we love racing!!!

Hope this helps!

JL

iTrader: (1)

Great question! I've ony been racing for just over a year now and in this short time I've had a chance to stuff up a few races as well as win one or 2. My 1 A-final victory was when EVERY other car had crashed out! Obviously being prepared and feeling prepared is key.

My quickest times always happen when I:
1. don't shout at marshalls - when I get all aggressive I drive bad! Too late on the brakes > too much speed into the corner > understeer > too slow out of the corner > the car feels like rubbish and I get even more frustrated with it!
2. Think about NOT how quick you want to (or have to) drive the car - same problem as above. I just try to think about where I want the car to BE on the track. I find that this way I get really consistent even when I'm nervous and after a few consistent laps I really get a feel for where I can go a little tighter and tighter to the corners and where I can be a little harder and earlier on the throttle. This is the ONLY thing that has worked to get me "in the zone" where I'm not thinking about what my fingers and hands are doing but where I want the car to be.

Now my 9-5 job is working with kids with coordination difficulties. Stick with me here.... There's one theory of motor learning and performance that says that "novices" learn very differently from "masters". Take a pianist for example. When a novice learns, it's been shown that they're thinking of what their fingers should be doing, which hand should be doing what, when to do this and when to do that. In short they're spending a lot of effort and mental energy in getting the mechanics of movement down. The master pianist learns a new piece by thinking more about the harmony and rhythm and much less about what their fingers are doing. In rc terms it's like thinking of where the car should BE on the track rather than when to turn, when to brake, how much to turn, how much to brake, etc.

NOW HERE THE INTERESTING BIT..... Research has shown that in times of stress, the way the "master" does a task can revert back to a "novice state", where it all goes pear shaped and rather than thinking about the harmony and rhythm, they're thinking about what their fingers should be doing, which hand should be doing what, etc, etc. In sports like tennis and golf they call this the "choke". Now all of us RC racers have choked at one stage or another right?!

Anyway, that's a bit of an explanation for you. The basic thing (and we all know this) is to be calm - try a few of the things people suggest but it's whatever works for you. Breathing, having your own space, sharing a joke with a fellow racer, doing something that needs your concentration that takes your mind away like cutting a comm or gluing tires can help too -whatever.

Good luck,
Jason

Brandon Melton

iTrader: (7)

Dave Mac- what's up. Easier said then done, lol. I try and treat every race just like a club race, no matter what the "title" of the race is. I prep my car a little more, but don't do anything out of the routine that I normally would do. As soon as you break your routine, unforseen things happen, and those aren't the best times for it to happen. You can only be so good as a driver, and when you try and take yourself to another level, you just make mistakes. Just tell yourself to keep doing what you know how to do, and if that's good enough, you will get your best results.

And when you go up on the stand, have a confident attitude, if you tell yourself that will choke or be slow, then you will, if you have confidence in yourself, you'll do fine most of the time. See ya at the track some this winter.

Greg Sharpe

iTrader: (15)

Yeah, kudos for starting this thread!

I used to be far more sucessfull about 5-6 years ago. Took a break from r/c since then, only to come back without any skillz. This got me thinking that maybe age has crept up on me. Anyone who knows me is laughing right now 'cause I'm only 29 years old. However, my ability level has gone down significantly enough to warrant this train of thought.

As was said just prior, I remember "thinking about where the car should be" instead of "what my hands are doing" back when I was sucessfull. Also, I vividly remember watching my closest competitors car instead of mine. This gave my mind something else to do, which felt very exhilirating! In ther words, my awareness was greatly hightened by this additional task.

No mas! Since returning to the hobby I barely make the A-main (with tons of help from friends) and have not been able to wheel a clean run (no less a TQ, etc.). I find my mind wandering for no apparent reason. Nothing productive is going on inside my brain while the car is on the track. The only glimmer of emotion is disappointment when my half-hearted driving buries the car in the wall.

I've tried listening to music during the race. Kinda helps. I've tried using ear plugs, also kinda helps. So far the biggest improvement came from simply running Modified instead of Stock. The shear power kept my mind firmly on task. But alas, nobody runs mod nearby, so I'm SOL.

asw7576

You get hand shaking because you feel under pressure is mounting on yourself..... no one can help you except yourself. I usually try to think the race is regular race or doing practice.

fastolfart

With the half century in age is just around the corner and after too many years of racing to remember, I still get the shakes at bigger meetings, even just clubbies some days.
I find what brings the shakes on is self expectation to perfom better than the rest of the field and put in that perfect run.
Earlier this year i was laid off racing with a broken thumb, 8 weeks out of action. The weekend following getting the pin removed from my hand, i had entered a major race meeting and approached it with very little expectation of doing any good. But after a break from racing and not putting the preasure on myself, I found that I was more relaxed than ever and enjoying the racing.
I also like to have a holiday from driving when I find that I am getting too uptight with my performance, just to remind myself that we do this all for the fun and entertainment values.

BTW Qual 6th and finished 3rd, a happy return to competition.

HardcoreRC

Really interesting thread. I like it!!

My prep goes something like this:-

I do all my car prep at the track on the day so that I know that nothing has happend to the car on the way. I do a few practices waiting till the quickest guys go out to have a play then I go out and try to overtake them or stay with them (sometimes putting a faster motor in just so I can psych out the guys). What this is doing is boosting my confidence and if you overtake them it knocks them down a peg or 2.

I smoke lots of dope in my normal life and this also helps me in racing, Before I go out for any qualifiers I roll a litttle smoke (1 skin) and have a few draws on it depending on how long before my run I start it. This seems to help increase my level of concentration but also relax's me.

I go onto the rostrum in every run believing I can TQ and win the meeting. I think self belief or PMA is the way to go and setting yourself goals like 'I know if I just have a clean run I can beat 'whoever'.

I am now trying out 1/12th scale racing atm and I am hoping to train my brain to concetrate for 8mins rather than 5, then when the outdoor season starts again and I go back to TC (5mins racing) I am hoping to find it very easy to concentrate for 5mins.

I have the same problem with blinking but if my eyes aren't watering I don't even think about blinking I find it too difficult to do.

In finals I feel a bit of nervs never hurt me as said above it gets the adrenilin going and can push you on to go faster. Adrenilin and fun is the name of the game isn't it.

So my suggestion are PMA, training your brain and smoking LOADS!!!

jbrow1

iTrader: (28)

Sometimes I take a weekend or two off also. Sometimes racing every single week of the year gets to be to much. I also find I usually seem to do better when I come back. 1/12 scale is a ton of fun. It does help running 8 mins and with dealing with traffic. Where it hurts is if you go from 1/12 directly to a slick offroad track. But going to a groove track from 1/12 is a ball.

elvo

There's agreat book about this subject, calles 'Inner Speed Secrets', by Ross Bently.
Highly recommended!

asw7576

Drink 1 ectasy pill and you'll be the most relax person in the race