Going Somewhere !

This is another great article from appm.co.uk

The most important bits from this article, to me, is we should all be
obsessed by personal growth.

It goes to mean always asking how we can be faster on the track.

Should I driver smoother? Turn in later? Brake Later?
Take a different line? Get fitter?
There are many things we need / can do to improve.

Given each of our own resources and equipment, we should look at ways
to maximise them first. Newer equipment can make us go faster, but
with better overall skills and more practice it will carry us even further.


"Being second is being the first loser" / "Winning is everything"

These are just two of the sayings that you hear drivers repeatedly stating. The main objective of being a kart driver should be to become the best and it is very important to have firm goals that point you in that direction.

The problem is that most kart drivers have made the importance of winning overshadow their opportunity to grow and develop as a driver.

Winning on a consistent basis does not just come down to luck or skill, it is a result of someone who gets better and better each time they compete/drive. This personal growth allows any sportsmen to get to the top of, and stay at the top of his/her game.

It is important that you do not let the position you are in, prevent you from seeing the true lesson that is on offer.

The Process:

1. Before you go to each race or test it is up to you to set up your objectives –

write out what has to happen in that outing for you to have a personal victory. It might not be a position related goal, but an internal or technique one, like controlling your emotions, stringing 10 laps together within 2 tenths of a second of each other or pulling off a race start that you are proud of. There are hundreds of these internal goals that you can go for and therefore hundreds of other ways that you can win and lets face it, if you are a novice these are the only wins that are feasible.

2. Give yourself 4 or 5 of these wins –

when we say these wins, we mean these goals. Have a piece of paper in your test / race pack that lists out the rules to winning at that particular outing.

3. Become obsessed by personal growth –

change your view from winning, to making yourself the best kart driver out there instead. Always ask and record at the end of each event "How could I do better". This self growth obsession creates a 'bullet proof' driver who knows how to optimise his/her performance and one who will start to win races as a result of his/her raised levels of performance.

4. Shed the pressure –

when you focus more on yourself rather than on outside results you no longer feel under the same pressure. It is impossible to drive naturally and in the Zone if you start to worry or focus on the win. This can be seen when a driver starts to think about winning their championship a little too much. They have dominated the season but as it gets closer to the end and they realise that if they mess up then they may lose the championship, you see that their driving become less natural and they make more mistakes than ever before. This again is someone putting too much emphasis on the win rather than personal performance.

5. Learn to appreciate the mistakes –

for a karter that only cares about winning, more than personal growth, you will see that they get angry or emotionally beaten when they make a public mistake. From now on if you truly want to become the greatest, you must welcome mistakes. Always take note of them, learn from them and see how it can be avoided in the future.

Remember this statement –

"To have double the success, you must have overcome double the failure".
Every true champion has failed many times.... it is the only way to grow