{"id":32665,"date":"2020-11-16T03:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-11-16T11:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/?p=32665"},"modified":"2020-09-03T18:13:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T01:13:34","slug":"q-how-do-i-get-faster-when-i-feel-like-ive-plateaued-with-my-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/q-how-do-i-get-faster-when-i-feel-like-ive-plateaued-with-my-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"Q: How do I get faster when I feel like I\u2019ve plateaued with my driving?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q:<\/strong> \u201c<\/em>My question is this: I\u2019m kinda at a plateau where the improvement curve has seemed to flatten. I really don’t have resources for a $1500 per day coach\u2026 well, my wife says I don’t! I want to improve my times with better driving and not HP, and I do enjoy chasing down GT3s! So, Ross what do you suggest for a 58-year-old guy who loves the track and wants to be smoother and faster?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> I recently wrote an article for Speed Secrets Weekly<\/em> about how, as we get better, we get tougher on ourselves and may think we\u2019re not improving, when we really are. Lap times are only one way of measuring our improvement, right? When you say you\u2019re on a plateau, are you? Maybe your fastest lap time is not improving much, but are you getting more consistent? Are you able to turn the same lap time with less effort, meaning it\u2019s coming easier – and may also be easier on your car? All of those things mean you\u2019re improving, but it\u2019s just not showing up on the stopwatch.<\/p>\n

The other thing to consider is that the closer you get to the limits of your car, it gets tougher to find the last few tenths of a second. If you\u2019re measuring improvement by lap time, are you getting close to the limits of your car? There is a limit, right?<\/p>\n

How often do you get on track? To improve, you need to practice. I\u2019m not saying it\u2019s all about getting more seat time, because there\u2019s more to it than just more time doing the same thing over and over again. You need to practice the right things. Quality seat time is what it takes, not just the quantity of it. Yes, a coach would help that, and the right coach might just save you more than anything else – even if you have the coaching for just one day, the benefits may last years.<\/p>\n

Beyond what I just said, I believe that the deeper your understanding of all things driving, the more you\u2019ll improve in a shorter amount of time when you do get on track. Reading, watching videos, training sessions, etc., all help. Yes, that\u2019s my business, but it is because I\u2019ve seen how it helps drivers.<\/p>\n

If you use a simulator – a simple one works – and practice the right things, that will pay off, too.<\/p>\n

Mental training, specifically using mental imagery (visualization) will make a huge difference. But make sure you\u2019re doing that the right way, too.<\/p>\n

Many of the techniques used on track can be practiced at legal speeds on the street.<\/p>\n

Without seeing you drive, it\u2019s hard to recommend a specific thing to work on or practice. So\u2026 take a good look at whether you\u2019re really on a plateau or not, do more \u201cstudy” away from the track, use a simulator, do mental imagery, get more strategic practice on track, practice on the road, and reconsider a good coach (not all are good) for a day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: \u201cMy question is this: I\u2019m kinda at a plateau where the improvement curve has seemed to flatten. I really don’t have resources for a $1500 per day coach\u2026 well, my wife says I don’t! I want to improve my times with better driving and not HP, and I do enjoy chasing down GT3s! So, Ross what do you suggest for a 58-year-old guy who loves the track and wants to be smoother and faster?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-ross"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32665","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=32665"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32667,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32665\/revisions\/32667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/speedsecrets.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}