What is my Intent for Speed Craft?
Before I give my opinion regarding how to use the information provided on this site, I want to make sure that my intent for Speed Craft is very clear. Driving, especially driving at the limit, is magical, and that magic is created by feel, and that feel is created by using your brain/body in a way that is in harmony with the actions, sensations, and physics of driving the car around the track.
Unfortunately, there is no way for me to share the essence of my driving (the sensations, feelings, harmony, etc.), so all I can do is try and convert them to words. But the words are like a map. The map describes (or represents) the terrain, and therefore it may be useful (particularly if you are lost), but the map is NOT the terrain, so once you have your bearings, you must put the map down and use your brain/body to traverse the terrain until you reach your destination.
Or as Bruce Lee put it:
Speed Craft covers a lot of topics and goes into a great deal of depth on most. I obviously think the information has merit, or I wouldn’t have wasted my time writing it and putting it on the internet. But I don’t take Speed Craft or myself too seriously. I don’t expect all of it to be right for everybody, and I sure don’t expect (or want) anyone to think of Speed Craft as anything more than a finger pointing you towards the magical feeling of intuitive driving; or if you’ve already found the magic, then pointing backward to show you a path you may have traveled to discover it.
Note: Never forget that only you can teach yourself intuitive driving. But also know this, your experience contains the lessons that you must learn to progress… you just have to put the effort in to discovering and applying them.
It’s simple, but it’s not easy.
How Might Speed Craft Help You?
If your experience has already taught you how to drive intuitively, then perhaps Speed Craft has nothing for you. However, perhaps it would be beneficial to understand where your magic comes from. Think of it like a gifted guitarist who plays by ear. Learning to read/write music would not diminish their skill or feel, but it might provide a deeper understanding of their gift and perhaps some avenues for its evolution.
If you are struggling with learning intuitive driving (e.g. you are lost or are stranded on the learning spiral), then I hope that Speed Craft can help you by breaking apart complete pieces (techniques/processes/concepts) of the driving process and identifying the elements from which they are created. Then we can look at the pieces analytically to identify their functions, interdependencies, and interactions. Armed with that knowledge, it is up to you to put the pieces back together, bring them to life, and master the technique/process/concept that had been giving you trouble so that you can use it to progress up the learning spiral.
This process would be analogous to learning a ‘form’ in a martial art. The instructor would demonstrate the form, and then the student would either be able to reasonably replicate the form, or not.
If so, the instructor might share insights with the student to help guide him in his journey of self-discovery as he works within his own intuitive learning process to perfect the form.
If not, then the instructor might break the form down into its components so he can teach the student the ‘steps’. Once the student understands the steps, then the real work begins. The student must practice the steps (probably mechanically at first) for as long as it takes to teach himself (and ultimately allow himself) to intuitively and fluidly perform the form… that is, the ‘steps’ must fade away into the background to provide room for the brain and body to feel and eventually ‘become’ the form.
So, as you may have already guessed, you will get out of Speed Craft what you put in. Casual observers are welcome, but there are no sweeping generalizations, quick tips, or simple secrets to speed here. I created Speed Craft for dedicated drivers; drivers who are willing to put in the time, thought, and effort to honestly evaluate, understand, and continuously improve their craft.
What is the Best Way to Use Speed Craft?
The best way to use Speed Craft really depends on your current skill/performance level (learning stage), and what you are trying to accomplish.
I’m going to assume that you are reading this for one of these reasons:
- You are preparing to start racing and are doing your homework
- You are preparing to make the jump from karts to cars
- You are frustrated with your current performance and/or your progress up the learning spiral
- You are always looking for new ideas or techniques for improving your driving performance
- You are already fast/successful, but are curious about why/how you do what comes naturally to you
- You suffer from insomnia, and believe you have found a cure here
The fact that you are reading this means that you are looking for something; for some way to improve or understand your driving. That speaks to your intention; what you do from this point on reflects your commitment.
Regardless of your current learning stage or skill set, there is one universal truth; you must TRUST YOUR SELF! For example, if you are looking through the topics in the menu and something catches your eye, that probably happened for a reason… perhaps it’s a clue your ‘self/gut’ is sending you about what you need to learn to progress.
Also, try to be open minded when you read the Speed Craft information; a lot of it may be completely new to you, or it may be a familiar topic that has been analyzed at a much deeper level. Either way, trust your gut; see if it’s saying “Hmmm, well maybe” or if it’s sounding your BS alarm.
Speed Craft Content Recommended Reading by Menu & Driver Type
Below I have listed the Speed Craft menu items along with my recommendation for what skill level drivers should read the information:
- Introduction
I recommend all of the information in this menu to all skill levels because it will give you an overall idea of what Speed Craft is, what Intuitive Driving is, and why I created this site.
. - Learning
I strongly encourage ALL skill levels to read the Types of Knowledge page.
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Unless you are already an Intuitive driver (and even if you are, you may find it interesting), I also recommend reading the Learning Strategies for Racers page (AND IMMEDIATELY PUTTING THAT INFORMATION INTO PRACTICE)
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If you are just starting out, and/or have plateaued somewhere on the learning spiral, having a look at the Learning Stage page might help you identify, your current stage, the next stage you need to progress to, and where you are relative to the highest learning stage.
. - My Big Lessons (my spiral to speed)
This information is not complete yet (it’s next on my list), but when it is, it will essentially be a step-by-step accounting of the most important lessons I learned as I progressed up the learning spiral. It will include: the experience that contained the lesson, how I identified and extracted the lesson from that experience, and how I applied that lesson to improve my performance. I hope this information will be very helpful for both aspiring drivers, and all drivers who are working their way up the learning spiral towards becoming intuitive drivers. However, intuitive drivers may also find this information interesting as well.
. - Enlightening Experiences
This menu documents the unusual experiences I had when racing, which change the way I think about my driving and the mental processes.
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I recommend the information in this section to anyone who wants to make fun of me, or for anyone who is curious about what might cause a seemingly normal F1 World Champion wannabe, to contort his thinking into ‘Speed Craft’ and then share it in public.
. - A Racer’s Brain
I strongly recommend everything in this section (except perhaps the Mental Processing Flow Charts) to all drivers. This stuff is not an ‘easy read’ but I really believe that if you have not already learned this empirically, then learning it intellectually can help you to understand and use it intuitively, which can have a profoundly positive impact on your driving.
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If you have already learned intuitive driving empirically, this information may still be worthwhile because, I believe that gaining an intellectual understanding of the things you do naturally, can open avenues for the further development of your craft.
. - The Spiral to Speed (the 5 CORE skills of intuitive driving)
The bad news is that I have only completed/posted one of the five core skills (Reducing the Sensation of Speed [SoS]). The good news is that it is BY FAR the most important core skill. Intuitive drivers already instinctively reduce their SoS, but this mental skill is so critical to being able to drive well, and certainly to being able to drive intuitively, I recommend that everyone should read this.
. - Techniques
There are currently only two completed items in this menu, located under the training techniques submenu: Race Walking and Imagery Training for Racers. This is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. All of the rest of Speed Craft is just information, which will only improve your performance if you put it to use. The two ‘tools’ under this menu ARE how you put it to use. That is, imagery (either static, or dynamic – aka Race Walking) is how you turn knowledge and ideas into intention… how you write the ‘code’ for the change you want to make to your driving. Then you rehearse that code until it’s habitualized (second nature). Only then do you test and fine tune the change on the track.
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Know this; for most driving changes, if you do not code and rehearse them ahead of time, there is no way your self-preservation system is going to allow you to actually change your driving.
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That is why I implore all drivers to read, and most importantly consistently USE the information in this section.
Improving your Performance with Speed Craft
To summarize, for drivers who are working their way up the learning spiral, this is the sequence I would recommend:
- Read the Learning Stages page and try to identify your current stage.
. - Read about the Types of Knowledge.
. - Review the Spiral to Speed’s CORE Skill 1 – Reducing the Sensation of Speed information.
. - Read Concentration for Racers, Staying in the Zone, and Memory for Racers, but most importantly, put the effort in to see how they interact, how they support each other, and especially how they are intertwined with CORE Skill 1.
. - Use the information in the Learning Strategies for Racers page to start digging through your experience so that you can extract the lessons hidden within.
. - Use the Types of Knowledge information and the Imagery Training for Racers information to prepare yourself for applying the changes to your driving that the lessons you discovered indicate are needed.
. - Read Race Walking and then always, Always ALWAYS Race Walk!
. - Use the numerous training opportunities that Race Walking affords you each day to habitualize (make second nature) the change you want to make to your driving.
. - Apply the changes on track, and make any small fine tuning adjustments that may be necessary.
. - HAVE FUN! Racing is fun, learning is fun, incremental progress is fun, so enjoy the process – you can’t get there from there.
And finally, remember this…
The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.
— Chuang Tzu