Defeat concentration killers for karting perfection
Concentration in racing is so evasive, the distractions are endless. Know what to focus on and why, to become mega quick and like perform like clockwork.
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What’s better than getting behind the wheel and letting it all rip? Driving flat out, especially when you have some skill, is beautiful.
Speed, screaming engine, freedom, peril, exhilaration, sliding, a dab of opposite lock. Magic…
The word that really comes into play here, when talking about concentration, is freedom.
The freedom of driving flat out is so precious to most drivers, that we get really protective of that feeling; especially when you can just get in the seat and drive - just drive…
Unfortunately, if you are anything like me, it also makes you crap!
It’s a great deal of fun, but soon enough it becomes a nightmare of driving:
looking at your MyChron with disappointment at the same useless lap time,
trying again with no particular purpose,
just driving again trying harder creating mistakes
continuing on and on like this forever.
For most drivers that’s how karting is…. Just going back out on track, pretending we are experimenting with a torsion bar setting, that we’ve tried before anyway, and hoping for a miracle that never comes.
There’s no laser focus, no real deliberate concentration - just driving free and hoping for a lap time.
So, of all the concentration killers I go through in this article that’s number 1
Number 1 karting concentration killer is…
We, as drivers, don’t want the burden of having to concentrate during the one thing we love to do in life; which is to freely drive fast with abandon. like:
Leave me alone with your concentration rubbish Terence… I want to fly!!
In other words, most of us don’t concentrate because we don’t want to! It ruins the fun of driving….
That’s fine, but if you want results, continuous improvements and eventually wins… you’ve got to get out of that attitude.
You must have a precise list of critical points, live and hungry in your mind, ready to go, before you dare set foot in the kart.
Sorry. This is where racing goes from fun and free, to serious professional fulfillment. It’s still mint though!
Concentration tip no.1. Be aware you hate concentrating
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