{"id":111753,"date":"2025-09-14T23:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T06:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/speed-secrets-how-to-be-a-better-driver\/"},"modified":"2025-09-14T23:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T06:00:15","slug":"speed-secrets-how-to-be-a-better-driver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/speed-secrets-how-to-be-a-better-driver\/","title":{"rendered":"Speed Secrets: How to Be a Better Driver"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a dumb question: Have you ever known that you could improve something in your driving, but weren\u2019t really able to identify it?<\/p>\n

I say that\u2019s a dumb question because I\u2019ve never met a driver who hasn\u2019t had a moment (or many!) like this.<\/p>\n

That leads to the big question: <\/span>How do I identify what I should be working on to improve my driving?<\/em><\/p>\n

So, let\u2019s pretend you\u2019ve just come off the track after a practice session, you\u2019re sitting down with a bottle of water and a track map (you have one of those, right?), and you\u2019re reflecting on how you did. If you\u2019re like most drivers, the first thing you do is look at your lap times, especially the fastest one, because that\u2019s such an easy metric to use to rate how well you\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n

However, whether you\u2019re a novice in HPDE or a seasoned race driver, lap times are just one tiny bit of the equation that tells us how well you performed. But if lap times are not the only metric to rate and dissect your driving, what else is there?<\/p>\n

Oh, how about heart rate? During a track session, if you were to match your best lap time, you were consistent, and your average heart rate throughout the session was lower, wouldn\u2019t that indicate a better performance? Being as consistently fast as your best laps, but able to do that with less effort is a strong indicator that you\u2019re a better driver. And it means that you\u2019re ready to take another step up in your outright speed, as well as providing a glimpse into your mental bandwidth.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n

Yes, heart rate is an indicator of how hard you\u2019re having to work to function at the level at which you\u2019re performing. I once coached a driver who was wearing a heart rate monitor, with telemetry sending the numbers back to the pits where I was sitting. The squiggly lines on the screen in front of me were speed, throttle position, brake pressure, steering angle, gear, and heart rate. Within a session, the driver had trained me to focus as much, or more, on heart rate than anything else. It got to the point where I could predict whether the lap was going to be fast, faster or fastest simply by where his heart rate was. Too low and it would not be a fast lap; too high and it would not be a fast lap; but right in the middle of the window I recognized as being ideal for this driver and it was going to be his best lap.<\/p>\n

Of course, the ideal heart rate is not the same for all drivers, but it sure has given me a great insight into a driver\u2019s performance and capabilities.<\/p>\n

Let me go back to the last indication on the list (self-reflection ratings) because these can be powerful ways of identifying areas where you can find opportunities for improvement. A simple 1 to 10 rating scale with the following is where I\u2019d start:<\/p>\n

Ask yourself each of these questions, and write down a number between 1 and 10 that reflects how well you did\u2014on average\u2014throughout the track session you just finished.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/figure>\n

This self-reflection process does two things:<\/p>\n

If you keep a regular log of these ratings, over time you\u2019re likely to see some trends, especially if you add notes about the weather and track conditions; how your car handled; the amount of sleep you had leading up to the event; what you ate throughout the day; and a general check-in on your state of mind coming into the event.<\/p>\n

Almost magically, you will begin to focus in on what areas of your driving will lead to the most improvement. Of course, it\u2019s not magic! It\u2019s a process that will help you dissect your driving, and prime your mind for change and improvement.<\/p>\n

Now that you\u2019ve identified what to focus your improvement on, the next step is to use the best practice methods and approaches to make the improvements as efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n

All of what I\u2019ve shared here is a glimpse into a small part of what I\u2019m going to cover in <\/span>The Breakthrough Masterclass<\/a><\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a dumb question: Have you ever known that you could improve something in your driving, but weren\u2019t really able to identify it? I say that\u2019s a dumb question because I\u2019ve never met a driver who hasn\u2019t had a moment (or many!) like this. That leads to the big question: How do I identify what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-driving-directions"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}