Every so often, someone (usually a new team.netter) expresses
disappointment that there's not much discussion on team.net about actual
driving (as opposed to rules debates). Today, I got an idea about why that
might be. I have a driving question to ask, and I almost didn't ask it,
because I was thinking that a) everyone will think I'm an idiot, b) this
has probably been discussed before I joined the net, c) they'll take my
National Tour trophy away and kick me out of the Harrisburg Pro if I ask
this, and d) won't all the good drivers out there who have ever told me
anything (including the McKamey instructors I've had) be disappointed when
they hear me ask this question. But after checking the team.net archives &
spending some frustrating time trying to follow links that didn't work on
the Physics of Racing and not being able to get my version of Adobe Acrobat
to decode the unzipped files, I decided that it's o.k. if you think I'm an
idiot because someone might actually be able to answer this question for
me--and if all else fails, I'll just try drag racing (hey, I've got good
reaction times).
HOW DO YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT LINE TO DRIVE?
As anyone who has ever walked a course with me can attest, looking ahead
does not get me to the place I should be walking/driving--I can have the
course memorized, know exactly where the next turn is and what it leads
into and still have *no* clue where I should be/how it should be set
up/whatever. Maybe all other autocrossers are spatial-genius-types, but
I'm clearly not (yesterday someone told me I was "pinching off corners" and
I was too embarrassed to tell him that I had *no* idea what he meant).
So, any great "ah-hah" experiences or breakthroughs? Rules? Suggestions?
Thoughts? Things I can try with Hot Wheels cars?
mlc
Mari L. Clements
Department of Psychology
Penn State University
442 Moore and 160 University Support Building 1
University Park, PA 16802-1012
(814)863-5664; fax (814)863-7002
http://www.personal.psu.edu/mlc4
|