My son and I hit the track to get some long-overdue practice in and to also start getting ready for the racing leagues coming up. During his first run, he started complaining about steering issues of his kart. Then he continued to complain about them along with some inconsistent driving, like missing apexes, adjusting for the snap-in and track-out. Soon enough he was hitting walls and I could hear his frustration over the comms. He put down a respectable time for the class of kart he was driving but he pretty much walked straight from the kart, past me and to the room where we keep most of our gear. Then he started to cry.
I threw some words of encouragement to him but he had already shut himself off from me and any other input. So I let him have a moment or two to get his frustrations out. After he had a couple of moments, I knelt next to him and asked him to answer a couple of questions: Did you drive the best that you could for the kart that you was given and did you give up?
When you are the parent of a beginning racer, there are a couple of things that I voice quite often. We need to know when to be a parent, a coach, a cheerleader, a mentor, a competitor and a listener. Frustration comes in many forms, which include things that are outside of your control and things that are within your control. The things that you should work on are the things that are within your control. Do your best to avoid the things that are outside of your control, like unpredictable drivers or drivers who are overly aggressive to other drivers.
His answers to my questions were: yes, he drove the kart the best he could and no, he didn’t give up. Those were the only two things that I needed to hear, but more importantly, it was more important for “him” to hear. After a moment, I reminded him that I’m okay with him being upset that he didn’t get the result that he wanted and I’m proud of the fact that it upsets him when he doesn’t do well. It tells me that he cares about winning within himself and not because of me telling him he has to win. I have never told him that he has to win to please me, nor do I plan to. I see it time and time again where parents put kids out onto the track in hopes of fulfilling their dreams, rather than the dreams of their child.
Having said all of that, I also reminded him that we are out here for practice and to have fun. The moment that it’s not fun, then it’s not worth doing (sound familiar?). When we are at practice, we want to be aware of all the right things to do, however, it’s also a time for experimenting and trying new things. Sometimes the day or the kart doesn’t equate to getting the fastest lap times of the day. Instead, we can use these sessions for trying new things, taking different lines, looking for grip where there may not have been before, trying different driving techniques, etc. As a coach, you’ll need to be aware of these days or sessions and have an alternative goal for the session. An example of this would be: make every corner a late apex corner or make every corner an early apex corner or try late braking with a sharper snap-in, etc.
Remember that frustrations will happen and that’s okay. This is all part of the learning process. Remind your new driver (or yourself) that you’re there to learn. You are not getting paid sponsorship money, you’re not a professional driver and you’re not going to be the fastest driver out there all the time. If you do want to become one of these, then now is the time to learn from your mistakes on the track and learn how to overcome them. If you do decide to become a professional later on, you will have all of these experiences to pull from and know how to overcome them. As a beginner, remember to just go out there, have fun and learn about the sport as much as you can. The rest will come later. This is a fun process for any sport and it’s what makes it worth it in the end. Enjoy this time as challenges will continue to get more difficult but also more rewarding.
This is so well said, explained and broken down that even a non-kart driver wants to hop in one and make a couple of rounds on the track….just for the fun of it!
I remember once in the Oregon Indoor Karting Championships OIKC. I had just made poll in qualifications and after winning this race the year before, I was feeling pretty good about my chances. But next thing they asked us all to stand up and they made us pill pick for new karts. I think Mike Smith, the national champion was given my kart.
As I sat in my new kart, I pulled to memory all the average and bad ideas that were passed around about this new kart. I had lost the rocket for the dog.
The voice in my head started to tear me apart.
Within the first 2 laps I could feel the pressure of the other drivers and I was having trouble making apexes and keeping the kart stable. In anger and frustration I just let Mike pass me without trying.
It wasn’t until I had fallen back to about 5th position that the angry voice inside settled down. I said to myself, “oh well.. I might not win this race, but nobody is going to be able to say they drove THIS kart faster than me.”. From that moment on I started to drive the kart and do everything I could to compensate for it’s short comings. I started to pull away from the drivers behind me and reel in the drivers out front.
I managed to make and hold 5th spot and put all kinds of pressure on Peru.
But this was the devastating thing, when I got off the track and checked the time sheets. I had a best time that was faster than some of the guys in front of me, and I was on par with the leaders.
I realized right then, that I had not missed the podium because of the kart, but I had missed the podium because of the voice in my head and my attitude.
Here’s some of the weird things I tell myself now to help with that.
“Lets see what’s up with this thing, and see how we’re going to have to drive it”
“Nobody is going to drive this kart faster than me”
“This kart is your friend, it wants to be respected, it wants the world to know it’s a champion, it’s as happy as a puppy dog with a new ball”
“Hi kart, its you and me, let’s show them all what we got.”
“Hey baby, you’re awesome”
“If it pulls I will lean”
“If it pushes I will snap and brake”
“If it slides I will lift my head”
“If it has no brakes I will adjust my brake points”
“If its loose I will create cross tension”
“There’s no excuse for missing an apex, no matter how broken the kart, there is always a technique and way”
I have asked many of the best drivers in the world “What has been your biggest challenge with karting?” they’ve all told me the same… “Getting command of the voice in my head”.
Sometimes the best you can do is to just find the limits of that machine and that building, its not a competition between you and the others or the best the location has to offer. The challenge is just to see what you can do with what has been given. If you can get to that place inside, then you can settle into it, and just find your awesome.