How do you pick a driving coach?

So how do you pick a driving coach? Are driving coaches like golf pros? Every golf pro will tell you the goal is to get the ball in the little hole. But is seems like every pro will break your game down and rebuild it in their image. Exposure to too many golf pros is sometimes a recipe for disaster. There is huge inconsistency in direction from one pro to the next. What happens in driving? Are the rules and dynamics of how a car works so set in stone that there is consistency from one driving coach to the next? What about driving coach personality. What are the merits of choosing a coach with a driving style like your own vs. a coach who can take you way out of your comfort zone? How much does access to data aquisition change the driving coach experience?

 

For me it's the personality and temperament of the coach. All pro drivers are faster than me, so I don't really need someone to tell me the obvious such as brake later harder, hit the apex precisely, and get on the throttle earlier, etc.. I know all that. And I know what the racing line should be. My mind is willing but body is sometimes unable.

IMHO great coaches are great observers and they can some how better identify why my body is unable and suggest ways on how to overcome my motor skill and reaction time deficiencies.

And I always look for smooth natural pros. Watching them as a passenger on hot laps make me realize I'm really lucky to have a day job.

 

I have been a coach to many clubs over the years, and have also sat in pretending to be a student to evaluate coaches for different clubs.

T one event I was spying on,I had one person screaming at me that I was taking the wrong line, tried to take the steering wheel & generally dressing me down. The prior three sessions, the instructors were amazed that I was a rookie & was so smooth. What was the difference? although we hired a skip to put on the show, that one driver was a pick up from a BMW ride & drive & had never been on a real track before in a fast car!! So do your research

Its amazing the skill level thats out there , both good & bad.Some are terrible.

First off, what is your goal?

If its to race, then ask them the last time they won a race & what kind of car they did it in. If your coach is a formula mazda champ & your driving a door car, that may not be the right thing match.

If its to casually improve your skills,

there are many different ways to go, A local Skip or Porsche Driving experiance guy may be the right fit. Not nesc. a racer , but someone skilled with the same kind of car you are driving with teh personality to bring you up to speed & correct bad habits.

 

+1

I have 2 coaches I use regularly. One is more forgiving and encouraging, the other is more ... aggressive. They are both former pro drivers, and have different driving styles. I take away different things from each, driving skill wise, but the main thing is that sometimes I need the friendly encouragement interaction and sometimes I need the more in your face interaction.

 

I went thorugh three instructors before I ran into my current instructor (I am also an instructor).

I chose (bonded?) to my current instructor because we could communicate--that is we are both scientists, and speak in terms of physics instead of the terms of feel.

So when Randy says, "You should nudge the steering wheel 1mm to the left at this point on the track"
I can say back, "You mean to put some weight on the tires but not take the car off line"
He can say, "Yes, you've got it".

Now if another iinstruction said, "put some weight on the right side of the car but don't take the car off line"
I would not have a clue what he was talking about for 3-4 days as my subconscience dwells on the info.

 

I like to use as many coaches as I can different coaches have different ways they drive and teach late braking early braking driving line ect. I listen to them all and try all different ways and what I have discoverd is that taking the info from each one of them and doing what I feel most conferable doing is a better result for me . In other words a new coach 9 of 10 time will teach me something new and different that makes me a better driver.and we all have differnt styles of driving you have to do what is most conferable for you.

 

I just called ProCoach, worked well for me.

I like someone who can make data sing.

 

I started attending FATT (Friday At The Track) events at Summit Point many years ago (1991?). The deal is that the instructors get I day seat time for 1 day instructing so there is quite a range of cars represented by the instructor corps. Until I tracked my first Fcar in 2004, I always had an American V-8 and I discovered that the car experience of the instructor makes all the difference in the world. Since FATT requires 2-3 events (days) before most get signed off to solo, instructor choice is critical. They also require signoff by more than one instructor. First day, it really doesn't matter a whole lot, thereafter I think it does matter. Small bore drivers don't (generally) understand rear wheel drive, solid axle V-8s nor do most Porsche drivers. So, interview the instructor is the best advice offered. To this day (I now race in NASA American Iron), I will take certain instructors out with me when the opportunity is there at FATT and FCA/MAR track day events. They are guys I communicate with easily with the helmet mikes and who always have something new to offer or something to remind me of. Is this a cheap way of getting coaching? Absolutely! The net result was taking the Panoz school at Road Atlanta and getting my racing license. So, if you can't afford a coach or just need to find out if you enjoy the horror of track time, see what your local track has to offer. You should know when to get a coach and it is worth paying for a good coach. But, there is an alternative.

 

Proper, professional driver coaches are a pretty rare breed. If you're looking to pick a good one, you ought to interview before hiring them, vet references and come to a pretty good understanding of the desired outcome to make sure you will not be disappointed. Many folks call themselves instructors and even coaches to add cachet and credibility, although their credentials may not support that. <grin>

In the upper tier, there are typically two types you should look for. Accomplished and aspiring professional drivers that have a DEEP AND PROFESSED background in professional instruction, stress learning and are offering coaching as an integral part of their programs. Guy Cosmo is a perfect example of this.

The others are lifelong, full-time professionals whose ONLY business is private, personal instruction of high performance and/or racing drivers. Bruce MacInnes, E. Paul and Jim Pace are those kind of people I think of contemporaries in this neck of the woods.

Any coach considered should show:

1) Continuous commitment to learning themselves new ways to deliver information
2) An insatiable desire for data and video as learning tools to benefit their clients
3) Familiarity with a wide variety of cars
4) Have intimate (and I mean bordering on perverse) knowledge of MANY racetracks
5) Ask more about YOU and YOUR goals than talking about what they've done
6) Show a substantial commitment to the industry and to their own teaching infrastructure
7) Demonstrated and substantial competence behind the wheel themselves

Just my .02 <grin>

 

Thanks!

The last but perhaps the most important quality for a proper instructor and coach to have is the ability to explain complex topics, observations and concepts, both concrete and abstract, in terms completely understandable and relevant to their clients...

A very good translator, if you will!

 

My rule of thumb is great drivers are not always great coaches. I like to find coaches that are committed to their art rather than a pro driver that is chasing a ride while trying to make money coaching.

That said, I found Peter Krause (procoach) to be an excellent example of a great coach. Most drivers are aware of the mistakes made on the track, but it takes a good coach to convey the solution in a positive way. I clicked immediately with Peter! He was full of energy, enthusiasm, loved coaching, and made a weekend of car problems seem secondary.

 

Thanks for the kind words, Bill! Hope to see you at the track again soon!

 

+1

It seems this applies across pretty much all sports - In fact, I'd go as far as to say very few make great coaches.

The "great ones" (Gretzky, Maradonna, etc) never turned into good coaches - I think it may be difficult for them to recognize the struggles we mere mortals encounter - "I can do it, why can't you?" kind of thing.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Commitment to YOUR success comes first, then Communications Skills, then Driving Ability. Dean Smith couldn't hit 3-pointers like M.J. but M.J. wouldn't be where he is without D.S. To quote Tom Landry: "A great coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear and has you do what you don't want to do so that you can be everything you always knew you could be." In other words - someone who will tell you the unbiased truth and have you stretch yourself to achieve the highest potential which you have within you - even when YOU can't see it.

Look for someone (through reputation, personal interviews, interviewing others, etc.) who will elevate your skills, mental ability, and attitude towards striving for personal greatness. Most else will take care of itself. Of course, to be a masterful coach, one must have lived the game they coach. Same applies for a masterful instructor (there is a MAJOR difference - not to say one person can't be good at both, just that coaching is different from instructing...)

One size does not fit all. The tools available today (data acq, etc., etc.) make many sizes available.

Cheers & C U @ d'Track!!
C

Chuck Hawks,
Pro-Driver, Coach, Instructor & Facilitator
rEvolution Performance Driving System

 

Very true, Chuck!

 

Verify his LM credentials?

 

here's mine
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Well, since you asked...
here's mine:

Cheers & C U @ d'Track!!
C

Chuck Hawks,
Pro-Driver, Coach, Instructor & Facilitator
rEvolution Performance Driving System
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