How to concentrate?

C

C. Ludwig

New member
Looking for a book, old wive's tale, secret potion, whatever to help make myself a better drive. The problem? My mind wanders. In the past I've had random thoughts like doing the laundry pop into my head while I'm behind the wheel. No lie.

I'm a decent driver. We won the Cen-Div Area 4 ITS championship this year. We've been competitive where ever we've gone since I started in IT four years ago. I'm not new to racing. I raced jetskis at a national level before strapping into a racecar. But I have this concentration problem. Lost a ski race one time because the race was televised and FOX Sports was interviewing the winners. I lost the lead on the next to last lap because I was going over my interview in my mind instead of racing. What a bone head!!!!

So seriously. There is a distinct difference that I can feel in myself and see in the lap times when I'm "in the zone" or "up on the wheel". Has anyone read anything they can recommend that relates to maintaining a high level of concentration either in auto racing or in some other general form that they can recommend? Or does anyone have any good techniques that they've picked up along the way that they'd like to share? How can you just close your mind to outside distractions and thoughts?

Thanks!
 
Ritalin?

Hey, don't help this guy - he's kicking everyone's butt already!

I think it's natural, Chris, and that is why it is one thing that separates the great drivers from the rest of us. In the top pro series a driver will be beaten and criticized for making 1 or 2 minor bobbles in an entire race. I blows my mind to think that they are so focused and precise that they can do that. Not that I do this but one suggestion might be to pretend you are an astute play-by-play announcer for the race and you are describing the action from an in-car camera - you point out every aspect of the situation - cars ahead, behind, track condition, gauges, strategy, etc. Indeed, I think it would be interesting to rig up a recorder and do it out loud so you could review it later. Just don't play it in the presence of young children! :o
 
Ditto on the book, but you also might try racing competively on a quarter mile banked oval with 20-30 other Dale Earnhardts buzzing all around you, for 20 laps. Drive that with out concentrating and see what happens!!!.....there isn't a turn at Orlando Speedworld I haven't spun out of. ( there is only 4)

David
 
Originally posted by Despr8dave@Sep 22 2005, 01:49 PM
Ditto on the book, but you also might try racing competively on a quarter mile banked oval with 20-30 other Dale Earnhardts buzzing all around you, for 20 laps. Drive that with out concentrating and see what happens!!!.....there isn't a turn at Orlando Speedworld I haven't spun out of.  ( there is only 4)

David
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:lol:

Hey Dave, was that you?
 
Chris,

There are some psychologists who specialize in this, or at least include it as part of their practice. Some driving coaches swear by it. PM me if you want a reference.
 
Thanks for the help guys. I'll pick up the book and Gregg you have an PM.

Bill, vitamin R was on my mind when I was writing this. I have a friend that's eaten up with ADD. He can't keep his mind on one task for more than a couple minutes off his meds. I give him a hard time about it constantly. And here I'm guilty of the same thing. :) Those one or two bobbles you mentioned are exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I can review all my tapes from this year and there is one glaring mistake in each one of them that I'd like to eliminate or at least make less frequent.
 
Originally posted by gsbaker@Sep 22 2005, 06:13 PM
:lol:

Hey Dave, was that you?
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Were you there the night I lost it in two and went gliding through the infield mud or the night the left rear wheel came off going into three????........lol funny man
David
May see you again this year at the ARRC
 
if im not in traffic and my mind wanders, which is normal, i try to plan a different line on a familiar track to see if my rpm's increase at corner exit from previous runs through....recognise when it happens and think about how you can better your lap times. works for me
 
Originally posted by Despr8dave@Sep 22 2005, 03:39 PM
Were you there the night I lost it in two and went gliding through the infield mud or the night the left rear wheel came off going into  three????........lol funny man
David
May see you again this year at the ARRC
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I don't think I was there, but so many oval racers hit so many walls it's hard to keep track. :)
 
Sometimes that is why its nice to have a radio in the car. My wife and/or brother will provide some pep talks or reminders during the race. They've learned when to call and when to leave me alone. Sometimes I ask them to talk to me because I'm loosing concentration. If you have more points to follow on the track (and that means down the straights), you will quickly realize when you're loosing concentration and hopefully correct (wake up) sooner.
 
One of the very best ways to improve your consistancy on a familiar track is to play your laps over and over again in your head between events.

A story I heard (poss old wives tale...dunno) had a driver (EFR?) who was so good at replaying a lap that he could sit in a chair, drive a lap with his eyes closed, including all the upshifts, downshifts and braking, and would complete the entire lap within 2 seconds of the actual time he would do it in a race car.

Go back over your old videos and give that a try!

As I understand it, it greatly improves your muscle memory, thus making laps "feel" easier, reducing fatigue on your body and improving the consistancy of your lap times.
 
If I find I'm wandering, I check the belts (They have usually loosened!) and then start to focus on improving exit speed, imprving my braking/ downshifting or babying the tires.

Marcus
 
Originally posted by Chris Wire@Sep 22 2005, 07:17 PM
A story I heard (poss old wives tale...dunno) had a driver (EFR?) who was so good at replaying a lap that he could sit in a chair, drive a lap with his eyes closed, including all the upshifts, downshifts and braking, and would complete the entire lap within 2 seconds of the actual time he would do it in a race car.

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I've heard that same story. I remember hearing it during a race broadcast but forget which driver it was as well. They said he even does it with sound effects. :D
 
Originally posted by John Herman@Sep 22 2005, 04:57 PM
Sometimes that is why its nice to have a radio in the car.  My wife and/or brother will provide some pep talks or reminders during the race.  They've learned when to call and when to leave me alone.  Sometimes I ask them to talk to me because I'm loosing concentration.  If you have more points to follow on the track (and that means down the straights), you will quickly realize when you're loosing concentration and hopefully correct (wake up) sooner.
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Damn John, when I read the first sentence, I thought you were going to tune into the local <insert favorite music genre here> station!!!! :blink: :lol:

Staying focused is a tough thing, especially if fatigue is setting in. If you're not racing w/ someone, it's even harder. I had a friend once tell me, that he actually forgot where he was on the track!!

Wish I had some sage advice to offer, but I don't. I have to admit though, I've struggled w/ staying focused as well.
 
I have to admit, I’m guilty of this too primarily if I have no one near me on the track and I’m just out there doing laps. Even when I’m light traffic…for example, at Summit Point I found myself looking in the stands to see if I could locate my wife and friends. Ooops, pay attention Dave! (And no, that was not when I spun.) It is a tough thing – that’s why psychology is such a big part of sports and professional athletes spend so much time in this area. What I do is try to give my mind something to focus on or a new objective to accomplish. Something that really requires a bit more attention.

I really should look into this more myself; I’ve been a bit lazy. My wife is into Reiki and other forms of psychology. She has talked to me about learning some of the various methods of meditation. My mind tends to wander so I haven’t gotten into the whole thing. All the more reason to, right?!? I do believe it is all about training the mind and don’t limit yourself to resources that are specific to racing. If you find anything good (other then Inner Speed Secrets which I’ve read; well most of it) let me know.
 
If you need to take a break because your mind is packing up, do it in a place where it doesn't matter - like down the front straight. Take 1 second to relax, breath, look at the gauges. Stop looking in the mirror where that car is. You can't do anything about it once you're on the straight. Then you can get back to business. You'll find there are lots of places that where you're comfortable w/ the car & the track you can stop thinking about it w/o harm - usually towards track out on straigher sections. Same thing if you find your hands get tired, rest one in your lap while going straight (and not shifting), which leads to - being comfortable makes it easy to concentrate on driving.

Doing laps in your head against a clock is a great way to improve. JP Montoya was asked in an interview once to describe a lap at what ever track. He narrated the entire lap and only once got out of sequence with the in-car video that was being played. I guess that's why he gets the big bucks. I like to do this if I'm headed to a track I haven't driven in a while, makes the learning curve in the first session faster. (BTW the parts you can't visualize are most likely the parts you need to work on driving better).

Also, treat mind wandering like any other mistake, recognizing a problem & correcting quickly goes a long way on to minimize the damage.

In car lap timers are a good motivator too. Positive results through negative re-inforcement.
 
Originally posted by gran racing@Sep 23 2005, 02:35 PM
Even when I’m light traffic…for example, at Summit Point I found myself looking in the stands to see if I could locate my wife and friends. 
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I'm glad someone else has done something like this. At IRP earlier this year, I found myself glancing at one of our track photographers (we do photo trophies so we take a lot of pictures at the track) as I was coming thru T12.
The fact that he wears a giant sombrero didn't help much...
 
On the other hand if you can win the CenDiv Championship AND think about laundry you might already be in some comfortable Zen-Place and not need any help at all :)
 
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