Just did BMW club at PIR yesterday. Thought I had a student with some potential - he talked like he could learn. We do a session, working on the proper line and sequence of operation, and he makes some progress. Then I take him out in my car, drive decently, call out all the action points as I execute (I had told him what to observe, and he said he would/could). Then we go out in his car again and he immediately tries to drive off the first turn, many of his lines are back to square one, he's going in hot and early and torturing the fronts (Jetta). I do my best to tell him where to change and how, but I think we've moved backwards. He is missing when his next chance to ride with me comes - and when I do see him next he asks (1) about being upgraded to Intermediate, and (2) going out without an instructor for the next session. I tell him to talk to somebody else about 1, and wish him a nice day in response to 2.

It was just this week that Roadracer mentioned that he really enjoys instructing. I know that when you get a student with potential and you click on the driver/instructor relationship, and they get performance reinforcement as they progress, then you can have a really good experience as an instructor. I think I've only had one or two of those so far. The rest have been less than memorable, and the worst of them frightening. I keep encountering people who don't seem to be able to learn, despite saying all the right things (that sound like good attitude).

I know that I might say, upon hearing this kind of thing, "well, you must suck as an instructor". Possibly. But I talk to other people who instruct either informally as a volunteer (like me), or more formally in a real drivers school, and they say about the same thing, and their instructional methods are not much different than the ones I've evolved.

Another guy I rode with had been to Skip Barbers school. I couldn't tell what, if anything, he'd learned there. He was able to drive the line, but at no time did he actually ask the tires to do any meaningful work. I sat there thinking: "we need to put on some speed here". I gave him my best effort at helpful suggestion and gentle prodding for more speed, and he thanked me and said that I had been very helpful. But out of the car later and reflecting on it I thought about how wide the variance is in peoples potential, developed ability, aptitude for learning, and drive to improve. You'd think the sample at such an event would be a little narrower.

I'm beginning to think that driving free in exchange for instructing is not a good deal for me. To lay an amount of responsibility and such high chances of a failed effort on top of a demanding day that's really about me just doesn't make sense. The biggest reason I have done it is to be of assistance to the club, but that can only carry me so far.

The other angle of course is to learn from a students mistakes inasmuch as they can point out areas where you might re-examine your own performance. It was great fun to have a local racer and friend in the car with me pointing out some of the exact same things I had pointed out to my main student earlier in the day - things that I had been working hard on as it was.

That brings up the idea that maybe you have to give a little to get a little. Instruction is kind of a pain, but it gives back to the organizations that keep the whole thing going - and where would I be without that?

Then again one instructor or mere passenger in a Z3 of some kind took a 50-70 mph drive straight into, up and almost over three rows of tires and moving the armco back a couple of feet. Both the people in the car were ok, but I'm sure glad I wasn't one of them.

Scott, who might not even think himself a good enough student.......


[Modified by RR98ITR, 1:11 PM 8/17/2001]

 

Point very well taken.....

Your posts are always worth reading.

 

The turth is that there are many different kinds of people in the world. Some better suited for this kind of activity then others. I think that driving well is 90% learned and 10% "gift". The more "gift" one has, the faster and better then are able to pick up the other 90%.

I am personally very greatful for the instructors that I have had over the past 2.5 years. I have learned a great deal from them and have really enjoyed the weekends at the track. I am now at a point where I can instruct with a few clubs if I wished, but to tell you the truth, i have zero desire to do so.

Free track time is not enough to get me to gamble on what kind of person I am going to take 6-8 rides at high speed with.

 

Having been in both roles on the auto-x circuit I can understand your points.

When I was pretty green I was in a novice school. The instructor was very experienced and very gifted (a National champ and always in the trophies) We were working on slaloms and I was doing ok - not falling too far behind but not terribly fast. He drove my car and it appeared to me that he was really jerking the wheel (in reality he was just moving it precisely to the exact position it needed to be) When I attempted to emulate him he incredulously asked what the hell I thought I was doing! I had so misread his moves that I drove far worse than I did before his demonstration.

Each student responds to different methods of teaching. You will never have success with every student. The trick as a teacher is being able to adapt your style to the student to best help him to learn. Some will never learn. Some think they already know and nothing you can say will get through to them. Some learn by listening. Some learn with pictures and diagrams. Some learn by reading. And some can only learn by physically doing. Some spend so much of their time trying to impress you that they never listen to what you say. Others egos are so big that they MUST beat you.

The key is to make sure they are safe. Everything else is gravy. Don't forget to try to learn from them. Sometimes their "errors" may be quite enlightening.

Regards,
Alan

 

nice posts.

I just hope I become good enough that other's come to me for advise on driving techniques.

yoshi - *goes to sign up for more seat time*

 

Do I love it?:

YES!!! I have not been instructing all that long (this year only), but I have found it to be a very rewarding experience thus far. To help someone have a fun weekend (whatever their definition of fun is) makes me enjoy my weekend that much more. No, I haven't instructed the (hypothetical) 18 yr old kid in the Camaro SS who thinks he's hot ****, but hopefully when that happens, I'll be able to control him. If not, we're gonna go have a talk in the pits. It's his time on track he wastes if he's not listening to me.

In the situation described in the original post:

(1) Why did the student think he was ready to move to the intermediate group? That would have been my first question. And if he can't follow the line, I'da straight up told him he wasn't ready. This might begin a good discussion about what he needed to do to BE ready for that. Now we have a common goal. Getting him ready to move to intermediate. Perhaps then he will listen.

(2) No way in HELL am I signing off someone who's not competent to get around the track well. Main reason is that this person is my responsibility for the weekend. I don't want the track workers pulling the student I signed off out of the guard rail. If that was to happen, then the guy/gal WILL NOT end up having a good weekend. And we are all there to have fun.

General thoughts:

Instructing is hard work. I'll agree with that wholeheartedly. You have to really *want* to do it. To do it simply for the "free time on track" is not the correct attitude. (IMHO) If you find you don't like to instruct, take a step back and ask yourself why you are instructing.

 

I like it very much. Not even because of the free (or greatly reduced) track time, although that helps I find it very rewarding. It's hard work - a lot harder than I thought. As an advanced driver I found myself thinking, wow - free track time! And all you have to do is sit in the car and tell people not to hit stuff! But it's not easy. Especially if you want to be good at it.

I guess the amateur motorsports community had an impact on me early on - everyone seemed to relish in the fact that I was having such a good time. Sort of like the crack dealer who's happy that Billy is enjoying his first hit I found this contagious, and have gotten involved in organizing things (the Honda Challenge, THSCC events, etc) because of it. Instructing is no exception - in fact it might be the ultimate manifestation of this.

Something that Scott (RoadRacer) said in an instructors' meeting at TGP will stick with me for my entire driving "career." He told us all, "You are here this weekend for the students - they are your job this weekend." That really hit home. I've seen (never had) instructors who are obviously there for some seat time, and that's it - and I don't want to be that guy. Five years from now, I want one of my beginner students to be telling people on this forum that I taught him a lot. *That* is the guy I want to be. I don't think I'm there yet - but I'm working on it.


[Modified by krshultz, 1:02 AM 8/19/2001]

 

George,

I'd have to say that I would expect that most of use learn - really learn - to drive by feeling and experiencing. That's what I was referring to as "performance reinforcement". As a student starts to put it together the progress comes very rapidly - because at a certain point we can feel the direction of progress and we can then pursue it with purpose. Thats why I think it's so important to do some teaching by showing as well - the student can watch and feel unburdened by operational load.

I remember my first class at PIR. I had a decent local racer work me over with the fundamentals and he constricted me with a go slow approach. We parted after two sessions. I thought he had given up on me. Years later I found out he bailed because he thought I was going to kill him. I then picked up another instructor, a nice guy who remembered my father. He let me drive several laps without saying anything. In those few laps I shed the constraints my other instructor had impressed on me. All of the several people who were paying attention to my driving that day, including my first instructor, noticed an immediate and dramatic increase in my speed and driving quality. While allowing for the considerable skills I had available to transfer to driving a car, the trigger was psychological. The first instructor laid a good base of fundamentals, but the psychological effects that simultaneously hindered me are now quite familiar in the reverse case. In saying this I am acknowledging your point. And of course I remember how much there was to assimilate during that first class.

I have had only one excellent student, and ridden with him thru those quantum levels of early successful learning. He dropped by Thursdays class on his lunch hour. He wrenches at a nearby shop. He said the kind of things to me that Karl mentioned above. That meant alot to me, even though I was uncomfortable with his apportioning of the credit. That also made it that much harder on me to fail with other students. I say fail, in the sense of the end of the game, because I haven't had it in me yet to commit to one of these casual students to be as straight and forceful as Diane would be. I could have told that one guy that I didn't think he was nearly ready to be upgraded or left on his own and that he should continue working with me, but I still can't see taking the risk of confrontation with the random hobbyist. It seems almost as risky as jumping in the car with them. I would be quite a person to combine such assertiveness with patience and do better than 50% with these guys.

As a related aside, we had to end the day early because Thursday night is Motocross night at PIR and the track is in the infield and registration starts at 4. As I was packing up an old friend of the family who happens to run the Motocross program drove past where I was pitted. We talked briefly and I said I come out later to see what was going on. I hadn't been out to watch for nearly ten years (I quit racing myself twenty years ago). We talked a bit about who races now and why. He said that none of the local Pro's come out to the night races anymore, and that most of them are not nearly as serious about their racing as the Pro's of my era. I was, and still am, stumped by this. I can only guess that it's just an entertainment option for most of them - one among infinitely more than I knew at that stage of life. That got me thinking later that night, after I'd dried my eyes of the evidence of nostalgia and heartbreak, that many of the people I've encountered in the sport (play drivers - not racers) have a sort of "check the box" mentality. I guess I'm drawing a distinction between a participant and a competitor. Forget checking the box - I'm interested in moving toward the top of the list. I guess I don't cope well with that type of person in that type of situation. I mean...think of how hard Yoda was on Luke.....

Karl,

You're right - you can't do it just for free or discounted lapping. Maybe I can't do it just to help out the club either. One thing I do know from experience: if you're not comfortable in the passenger seat, it will be transmitted to the driver. I've been on both sides of that - it's a bad thing.


I'm going to try to turn what I've observed and learned into being a better student for Don Kitch and Ross Bentley - for both mine and their sake. It's fortunate that Don knows me and thinks I'm a decent shoe already.

Scott, who's willing to learn what he can how he can.....and he will.......hell, he is.......

 

George,

I hadn't thought to mention this before, but I make a habit of using a consistent set of hand gestures as I bark out the action points. Then as the student improves and adapts I start cutting out the verbal commands while maintaining the gestures. That obviously reduces the sensory load on the driver while maintaining a link to what they're conditioning to that point. The other benefit is that then we're free to start commenting on what we just did (good or bad) on the now underused channel. Some of my students have specifically said that the gestures were very helpful, and I'm sure they are. They are cue's, as are marker cones. I've felt kind of silly doing this at tiimes, as if I were aping an orchestra conductor - but that's kind of what it's like, so whatever works I guess.

I too have had instructors who used the highly intrusive method for the big stuff - the biggest: "DON'T LIFT". So, yes...you can override or make your words part of the kenaesthetic experience. I can understand how it could be risky - it might provoke the driver to completely disengage from what they're doing, and that would be bad. But I think that on some very deep level our basic survival programming should prevent that disengagement.

This reminds me that the early part of the learning curve in this sport is alot about dealing with high mental load. Youth sports and military training sometimes bring physical and mental loading together - and I've had some of both. But I'm not sure I can remember anything that loaded me higher than the early phase of learning to drive. So really what we're talking about here is the problem of learning generally.

So, George, how much do you know about generic high load / high performance education, and where and how did you learn about it?

I just read Ross Bentley's second book "Inner Speed Secrets", and while it was thoughtful and psychological, it gave no clue to there being unusual educational insights underlying it's approach. I'm sure that over the millenia there have been countless humans who intuited much of what we've been discussing and applied it effectively - I have the same thought with respect to the basics of commerce (I'm almost violently opposed to "the business fad of the season"). The other thing that occurs to me is that we all know that a good student must surrender their ego and open their mind, and that learning to respond to that highly intrusive voice from outside your head (instructor, sargeant, etc) can train you to integrate inputs from your concious mind into the highly unconcious act of driving under load - sometimes I think I'm literally yelling at myself as I'm attempting to override my programming on the track.

Scott, in whose perfect world people wouldn't yell at each other too much of the time....some of my best results have come from whispers....uh-oh, I'm getting violently agitated - I'm on the lookout for any kind of whispering fad.....

 

Hmm.. wonder where that example came from?

Yeah.. that's what I thought.

 

I occurs to me that those people who are good students, are students in every respect of driving. That is to say that we practice every time we drive our car. I am lucky though, my dad was very into the Rally and Autocross/Solo scene when I was a kid, and thus was my first instructor. Now if ever you want to talk about an "in your face" instructor....It was oh so painful....

However, that mentality stuck with me even to this day. I ALWAYS listen to what the car and tires are saying. Apexing, heel toe, dbl clutch, rev match, etc....

At my first drivers school, I had my old 86 BMW 325. A slow car for the most part. However, it was a pure joy on the track. I learned in 45 minutes on that little 1/8 mile converted track, more on the cars abilities than I ever realized existed. Exactly what I could do, and how speed raises the difficulty level exponentially of good driving. I was lucky to have good instructors, and even more so, instructors that ENJOYED the sport.

 

The truth is, after each event, I beat myelf up a bit. How could I have helped that guy more? Did I give too much information? Not enough?

Funny you mention Oscar. I've had him in the car with me for one session when I was forgotten at a Car Guys last year at VIR. Your observations are very astute. He can be forceful - which is something I don't know that I could do, it's not really my personality. But it damn sure works - nobody I've ever known that's had the pleasure of getting Oscar as an instructor has had anything but good things to say - and good results. And I think I got faster that one session than I did my other five - and my other instructor was no slouch.

And yeah - the hand signals were immediately intuitive and worked really well. Thst's something I've tried to add to my repetoire, with mixed results. I think that some students don't know what I mean immediately - so I've started explaining it before we go out for the first session. "When I clench my fist like so (clenches fist), that means squeeze on the brakes." Etc. We'll see if it works.

And Jon - you're right. Peter Krause and Dan Unkefer are two that I respect very highly. Most of you east coasters will also recognize the name Ron Spencer as a frequent classroom instructr. I've learned a lot from Ron, and have been known to talk with him on the phone for over an hour, going over "what if" scenarios and trying to learn from someone who's really good.

Those of you who don't know Peter Krause - go read these gems. Very articulate guy who knows his ****.

- hot lap of CMP: http://www.trackschedule.com/wisdom2.html
- hot lap of the long course at VIR: http://www.virclub.com/pages/Article...es_Krause1.htm
- hot lap of the north course at VIR: http://www.virclub.com/pages/Article...es_Krause2.htm

I have a hot lap of the south course bookmarked at work, I'll forward that. All worth a read - I've been humiliated on track by Krause before so I think he knows his stuff.

 

I've been instructing several years, and even been a chief instructor (trust me... the hardest job of them all.).

Every time I see a picture of a smashed BMW or hear the "jumped over four tire walls and cleared a bank of small trees" stories I pause for a minute and re-evaluate the whole right seat thing.
I always come back to the same conclusion... I just plain LOVE instructing.

It's an assload of hard work, especially on a hot day. You CAN'T be out there for the free seat time, it's just not worth it.

I've had some less than stellar students, and I've had a couple of fantastic ones (both on this board BTW), fact is, that's just the way it goes. They won't all be rewarding, enjoyable experiences. Once you accept that, you just write off the bad experiences and move on to the next one.

In my opinion, the best possible student is the proverbial "open book." Look this up in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of Adam Richman (phat-S). This guy has flown from novice to advanced (and now poking into instructing) in no time flat because he is the textbook learner. He checks his ego at the door and does everything you ask him to do. He also provides feedback so you can adjust your instruction to meet his needs.

Why do I bring this up... certainly not to stroke Adam's ego (god knows I hate doing that). I bring this up because Adam is why I instruct. For me, one weekend with a guy like Adam wipes out 5 weekends with shitty students.

Then, of course, sometimes you draw a guy like Shultz as a student and you actually LEARN FROM THEM!!! Just a little added bonus.

I really do love instructing. Can't help it. Hope nobody wrecks me.

PS - For what it's worth, I've learned that taking students out with me can be a bad thing. Seems like no matter what I tell them (usually "OK... don't do what I'm doing in this turn, you're not ready to go this fast") they try to go out and flatfoot a turn like I did and nearly ball us up. At this point, I'm torn between just wasting a couple of my sessions driving 6/10ths to show my students the line or just leaving the passenger seat at home.
I haven't decided yet. I left the passenger seat at home for the last event and that seemed to disappoint a few people.

 

One thing I haven't heard mention of on this thread is the different motivations some students have. For example, I think one of you mentioned that you couldn't get the student to make the tires do any work. I'm not quite *that* much of a wuss, but there were two corners at SIR that I didn't feel good about (1 and I think 7), and I just took it easy in them, because to me going fast through them wasn't that important. And also with a car that's my only car, would cost $35k+ to replace, I still owe $24k on, and with insurance that explicitly excludes coverage of an accident at a racetrack, I'm only willing to get so close to the limit before it's not worth going closer to me. For example, I won't track out all the way because that extra foot or two isn't worth the possibility of putting two wheels off, or I might slow down a little more for 5a and 5b because I don't want to bounce off a curb and spin off the "cliff", or into the hill. Etc...

I've only ever done one track event, and my "instructor" was just one of the people who had done more track events than the droves of beginners and intermediates. However, I've done lots of autocrosses, and had a fair amount of instruction in that medium by a several different experienced instructors. Almost invariably what I find is that, for me, there's only so much an instructor can do for me by *telling* me what to do. I had the basic line down (in my head, I still didn't drive it right) half way through my first session at SIR. When I did the Evolution/McKamey Phase 1 school, for the last 1/3 of the day, all the instructors were really doing was yelling "look ahead", which helped a lot, but it's not like I didn't KNOW I needed to look ahead, I just needed a little reminder.

After I achieve a certain basic level of proficiency with a given car and track, what helps me the most is riding with instructors (especially in my own car). That goes back to the kinaesthetic learning thing. I watch and more importantly feel what the instructor is doing, and then try to do it next time I drive. If I'm not sure why s/he's doing what they're doing, then I ask and try to get them to explain it. For example, not just when s/he's hitting the brakes, but how s/he's hitting the brakes, to put the weight where s/he wants it to get the car to rotate the right way, etc. And also the more general sense of feeling what the car is doing at 9.5/10 instead of the 8.5/10 or 9/10 I can get it to. Or to see that my car can, in fact, go that much faster through one area, or to see that I don't really need to downshift for one corner because if I set up the previous two properly then I'd be able to carry more speed, which gives me something to shoot for the next time I drive.

Another interesting thing I've noticed having done both autocross and a track event (and lots of Gran Turismo 3, heh) is that autocross and track events are good for learning how to go fast in different ways. On the track, things happen relatively slowly (relative to autocross). You've got a fair amount of time to get your brain working on the next corner after you've finished the previous one. The track is also static, and clearly defined, so you can go back time after time and refine your line and your technique, and compare notes with other people. However, on the down side, there are more consequences to making a mistake when you're going fast, which means you have to ease your way toward the limit. However, with autocross, the downsides are that it's a one-day thing, usually. The course isn't as clearly defined, and isn't static, so there's no well-established line to be taught, and it can be hard to know what the line you're taking actually looks like, and how you could improve it. But on the other hand, the consequences of making a mistake are almost nonexistant. So it really gives you freedom to try something stupid and see what happens. Trial and error is one of the most fundamental ways that people can learn things. Learn what to do by learning what not to do. The problem is that on a racetrack, learning what not to do can be anywhere from a little scary to expensive or even fatal. Which brings us 'round full-circle to where I started, talking about student motivations and desires.

-Mike

 

Since you mention this...a story about sacrificing a session.

My most challenging student ever was "Turbo Civic Guy." Those of you who were at TGP will remember Turbo Civic Guy, who took me off three times in the first two sessions. Fancy body kit, fairly fast car, lowered below the weeds (no suspension travel at all ever). Scott was ready to take over for me knowing that I was pretty much a rookie instructor - with (arguably) the toughest student at the school.

I sacrificed most of a session to take him out and show him what he was doing. Short story - he was scaring himself, and it was obvious. Every time the tires (street tires) started to make any hint of noise, he'd panic, and lift and/or brake. Around and around we go. So I ended up taking him out at 7/10ths, and (warning him in advance), making mistakes on purpose.

"OK, the reason you're spinning a lot is that you're lifting in corners (blah blah blah). I'm going to do that up here, and you'll feel the car step out." ...... enter corner, lift, car goes sideways, catch it, etc. "See what I mean?"

"You mentioned [note - after much in-the-paddock talking] that the squealing tires scare you. Listen to my tires - see? No problem." Go through corner at 10/10ths with full tread depth Toyos wailing. "See what I mean?"

This session didn't turn him into Schumacher - but it did help get his head screwed on right. I didn't think about how I was giving up proper seat time on a new track - all I had time to think about was getting this guy around the track safely. A strange kind of red mist for that one session. By the end of the weekend, he was on the paved part and starting to "get it." Having him as a student really grew me as an instructor.

This thread makes me want to go to the track soon. And not just to drive.

 

Can you do it just to help the club out? My gut reaction is "probably not." I mean, you can do it with that reason - and it's a good reason, don't get me wrong. Amateur motorsports is about a coming together of people who want to help make something cool happen. It's just not "the best" reason.

I dunno Scott - you're extremely articulate and thoughtful - and from the little I know, a fine driver - so I have a hard time believing that you "failed" (to quote you) with some of your students. My suggestion is to step back and look at your expectaions of how much your students should improve on a weekend. Sometimes you've got to pick a few (or maybe just one) things to work on, and set that as a goal.

 

I ask every student... first thing...
"What do you expect to get out of this weekend."

Many times the answer sets the tone for the entire relationship (and it is a relationship).

My last novice student was an older retired guy that was a hand full because he couldn't remember ANYTHING from one session to the next. He'd progress through a session, but when we went out again it'd be like someone hit the reset button.
It was frustrating to a degree, but his answer to the above question had been "I'm just here to have fun." I had to keep that in mind.
He was easily the slowest car in the novice group (which is damned slow) and he even stopped upshifting to 4th because he could never remember to downshift back to 3rd (seriously). So we just tooled around the track in 3rd gear. Him having the time of his life (BIGGGGG SMILE PASTED ON HIS FACE) and me keeping him on line, watching the mirrors and telling him when to let people by. I honestly don't think I managed to teach him much, but I met his expectations for him. He was just as happy as a pig in slop. Really... isn't that what counts?

Funny thing is that I didn't realize I HAD actually done a good job as his instructor until I was thinking about it on the ride home. Sometimes it's not obvious.

 

This is a fantastic thread...

Let me try and relate some of the same stuff as has been said... but from the other seat.

I have been to a grand total of two HPDSs' along with a year of autocrossing so, in most senses, a newbie.

At my second HPDS at Summit Point this past June, my assigned instructor never showed up so for the rest of the weekend, I was tossed around with three different instructors.

On Saturday, for my first look at the track ever, Jonathan(I think... ) "Box" Boxwell was my instructor (He wasn't even there to run, he was trying to sell his GTI and got suckered in). He was VERY much the way Oscar and others have been described, very vocal, a LOT of talking, LOTS of gestures, and including... touching my steering wheel. The first couple of laps in the first session was excruciating. I was trying to learn a brand new track while it was sopping wet, I was driving in the Intermediate group (no small amount of apprehension there... )and my instructor was doing everything he could to distract me from finding the line.

But after the first session, I had learned the track (well, at least remembered which direction to turn next), the track had dried off, and I had swallowed my ego about him touching my steering wheel... and started to really hear what Box was telling me. And it was precious. For two reasons:

One, having been an accomplished racer himself, he knew not only the line to run, but he had valid reasons as to WHY certain techniques were used and what you could gain from them. He would constantly tell me to stay wide THROUGHOUT turn 1 and 2 including the access road... and his reasoning was geared towards under-powered (heh..) FWD cars. I wish I could remember a quarter of what was yammered at me...

Two, he showed great delight at even the smallest improvement. He would literally leap in joy at me drifting from turn 6 through turn 9. His pure excitement on my behalf was crucial in maintaining my confidence throughout the day.

Even though, he was overbearing at first, I would absolutely love to have him sit in my right seat again. However, had I not swallowed my ego and told myself that he had something to teach me, it would have been a VERY different experience and possibly much worse. But the combination of his very relevant knowledge and his delight at my successes made him a fantastic instructor to me. (He did stop touching my steering wheel after the first session...)

On Sunday, I was paired with a guy who drove a silver M3 with a huge wing that I remember sucking my helmet off a couple of times on Sat. He... was a lump. He had little to say and literally said fourteen words a session. He was weakly complimentary at times and suggested a slightly different line in turn 1 and 2 but never offered any reasoning or justification for it. It was basically practice with a 200 pound weight... At the end of the day, he told me I was "flying", gave me nearly all 10s in my logbook and bid me a good day. I would much rather have been told something to work on than an Olympic judgement.

Anyway, my $.02.

Andy

 

Outstanding topic. I am certainly not an expert instructor. I sometimes find it hard to instruct someone on one particular part of the track and wish I could just mind meld with them. I've definitely had my project student that drove off track if I ever stopped talking. I've also had students who were just interested in going fast on the straights. Here's what I try to tell all my students, especially the beginners, on Saturday morning:

You are going to have fun
You are going to be safe
You are going to learn
You are going to drive your car home in the same shape as it is now

I have found it frustrating and rewarding. I've almost told one student that other sports beckon (no Max, not you ) That's when I begin to second guess doing this instructing thing and my ability to instruct. But I reach a moment of zen when a student "gets it". You can almost see the light bulb go on in their head. That's when it's really cool. Someone on this list povided me wiht a zen moment at the Speedtrial event in February. I can't remember who it was but it was a white Type R. He was having trouble with turn one at VIR. After one sentence, he got it, was increadibly happy, and we had a blast for the rest of the session in the rain. I've concluded that some people just don't get it. They may eventually (I'm talking years of practice here) be able to get around without major incidents, but they'll never get beyond an intermediate level probably. When you get one of these, all you can do is do the best you can and keep them safe.