Practising, improving, and psychology

Week 13th.. The dreadfulness of no races being available.. I ended up doing 150 laps of testing/practice at Okayama this evening.. Why? I don’t know, it seems like that’s what Vettel does on average in a day in pre-season testing so I figured why not try and do as much laps in week 13th as Scuderia Ferrari does in a week of pre-season testing before the F1 season. Seemed like a brilliant idea and a good challenge.

Here are some cliff notes on what I experienced, do take note that I went in with nothing planned as to how the session was going to go.

– Best time set at lap 55
– Lap 1 to 5 was figuring out the track.
– Lap 5 to 20 were qualifying ‘hotlaps’ but on race fuel and setup. Trying to quickly get a feel for the pace on this track and to set a decent lap from which I can work from.
– Lap 20 to 30 were just going around the track, overdoing it most of the time, still trying to set ‘the lap’. All of those laps ended up slower than the ones previously set during lap 10-15 or so.
– Around lap 36 I realized I previously was overdoing it chasing a lap time that I wasn’t ready for. I kept going around a bit, trying to test different lines into the last turn of Okayama which is the one that was causing me the most issues.
– Lap 40 I thought to myself why don’t I try to set the same lap time I previously established between lap 10-15, but consistently over 10 laps or so. While at it I should also try to set the same lap time but cleaner, smoother, eliminating the jerking motions that happened about twice maybe thrice per lap.
– Lap 45-55 Lap times started to melt and I was starting to go way faster than my previous best (lap 10-15). in a much cleaner, safer, and consistent way.
– By lap 60 I had eliminated the ‘trouble spots’ that were causing me to jerk on the steering. Those same spots are where I would spin when first learning the track (laps 1 to 30 or so).
– Lap 60-70 I started changing things in my baseline setup, mainly aero and fuel levels, just messing around with different combinations. (I’m running in the FR2.0)
– Lap 70 I figured I’d repeat my previous impulsive process, try to go Sonic the hedgehog fast with my tweaked setup, then try to eliminate the problem spots and inconsistencies. I kinda went around for 10 laps or so with that thinking in mind but not really applying it. I kind of zoned out and was just driving and listening to music. During that period I was setting similar lap times as I was during laps 30 to 40 (my previous WORSTS).
– Lap 80+ Eventually managed to refocus a bit, enough to set times within the hundredths of my previous best nut never beating it. I abandoned my previous idea to repeat the whole process, I thought I wouldn’t have the focus to redo it all so to speak. I also kind of decided that the tweaks I had made were not good, that the setup I was using when I set my best time and worked at it to make it consistent and smooth was the setup I should stick with. But I still had more laps to get in…
– Lap 85 or so, figured I had my race setup down okay for the time being, went and repeated the entire process but with a qualifying setup, which was pretty much the exact same setup but with the minimum fuel level, a tick up on tire pressures, and a tick down on both aero settings. Very mixed results. I Did set a very good qualifying time but not a smooth nor consistent one. Which is okay I guess, it’s for qualifying after all.
– Lap 110 and on I just went around the track with no purpose in life.

– The very lonely nature of this activity. I come from a team based esports background where one of the main reasons to keep going for long sessions and not to quit practising was simply enough as not to be the first one in the team to quit. To not be branded as the guy who doesn’t want to practice or ‘put the hours in’. In Simracing, unless you are at the very top, you don’t have a team, you are turning laps alone, on a barren track. You can quit whenever, no one is there to hold you to your commitment.

– The sheer amount of focus and willpower required to stay focused on the task at hand and not just zone-off. The moment where I noticed this the most was before I thought myself okay let’s take my previous best lap and try to repeat it as smoothly as possible. So from lap 20 to 40 I was mentally suffering, and doing nothing, essentially wasting time, not practising, not improving. I realized this by lap 40 or so. The level of concentration required to actually put in meaningful laps for that long is way more than I expected.

– Wanting to get done as soon as possible. Not sure how to make that statement make sense in context but why was I trying to set a REALLY GOOD lap on my 5th lap at a track that I have previously never raced at? It doesn’t make any sense that I instinctively try to do that. Sure, get a feel of the pace. But to already be chasing lap times from lap 5th to 20? That’s dumb. What I was doing was trying to get it over with as quickly as possible like set a sick lap and say to myself boom I’ll never beat this we’re done this is what this setup can do; hell maybe this is what I can do on this track, lets moooovvveeeee oonnnn. Not a good approach to practising and improving..

– Compartmentalizing? I’m not sure yet whether this is actually a good approach or not, time will tell, or maybe you guys can help me with this? Should I look at things like lets do ‘this process’ for setup 1, repeat the same process for ‘setup 2 and 3’, etc. Compartmentalizing per setups. Or doing so as I instinctively did: Learning the track >>> Figuring pace >>> hotlaps >>> smoothing things out >>> repeat good lap time in a consistent manner >>> change setup <<< >>> repeat entire process.

– Not having a plan of action. Just hitting the TEST button on iRacing and thinking I will easily do 150 laps and that somehow during the process things will fall into place and I will just keep on improving and chipping down at my lap times from lap 5 to lap 150… (holy shit, I’m retarded; AlexJones.gif)

– Will it stick?
I don’t feel like I have achieved unconscious master fullness or whatever the exact term is but you know what I mean. I did accomplish something, I did go fast, I did improve, and I learned a lot. But will the improvement stick? Say I don’t practice at Okayama again, when week 13th finally comes to an end and the next season begins, will I be as quick at Okayama as I was tonight? I have solid doubts about that?

To overcome not having a plan of action… Well,
– Have a plan of action or strategy going in a practice/test session as to how exactly are you going to practice, and how will that lead practice lead to you improving.
-Having goals would also be great, such as a number of laps (which I actually do not recommend), a lap time, a time period (such as practising for 1 hour, or 30 minutes, etc.)

To overcome wanting to get it over with
– Again the strategy/plan of action + goals here will help.
– Thinking of this practice exercise as a way to over time build focus, concentration, willpower, and good practising habits.
– Compartmentalizing?

To overcome the concentration problem
– I think this is something you work at overtime. If I had gone in with a goal of 50 laps, I may have noticed the things that I was doing and wasn’t doing faster, and adapted my practice strategy faster. Maybe not though? Maybe you need a big mountain to climb for you to realize that you will need a strategy to accomplish the feat.
– Build at it slowly overtime.
– Think of your long-terms Simracing goals for motivation or to find purpose in the tasks at hand.

To overcome the dreadful ‘loneliness’ of the activity
– Write a novel on a forum and ask for advice… lol I honestly don’t know, perhaps this is also something to be chipped away at overtime, and as I put in more practice sessions perhaps I will realize I don’t need anyone else? Uncertain..

Overcoming the ‘will it stick?’ self-questioning
I’m going to throw this one at you guys as a question, I have no idea how to overcome this; nor even if it’s something that should be overcomed. Doubt can be good, it can lead to more practice and better preparation.

How do you guys go about practising/testing?
What’s your strategy/plan of action for a given session?
Do you compartmentalize the process instinctively, by force/strategy; or not at all?
Do you zone out? What tends to cause that to happen? Do you have a remedy to put yourself back to work and in a productive mind state?
Do you feel lonely when practising for long periods of times? Do you do anything about it?
Any overall tips for me based on what you’ve read?
Have I forgotten anything?
Do you feel as I do after a long practice session, thinking to yourself what if it was for nothing and that when it’s time to race you aren’t faster? ‘What if it doesn’t stick?’

Mike Cannon replied:

As someone that really enjoys practicing, and hence why I probably do 300-500 laps during the week in preparation for a race at the weekend, I’ll give you my take on this.

The biggest issue I see here right off the bat, is the 150 laps. That is FAR!!! too many for a single practice session. The problem with long practice sessions is that your concentration will start to go after about 40 – 50 minutes, and the practice will start to become less productive. In a race you can concentrate for much longer, but in practice there is nothing really to hold your concentration, especially if you start to get bored.

I will usually practice for 40-50 minutes with occasional longer sessions but never much more than an hour. Three practice sessions of 40 minutes in one day would be much more effective than one 2 hour practice session. So that’s the first thing, split your practice up into smaller sessions.

The 2nd thing I would suggest is never practice offline, always practice in online practice sessions. With other drivers on track it removes the lonely boring aspect of practice, you also get to practice racing wheel to wheel with other drivers (i.e don’t always just jump out of the way if a driver comes up behind you)

3rd, before each practice session you have to have an idea of what you are going to practice, is this session just for learning the track, or to work on your setup, or, if you know the track and have the setup pretty much how you like it, improving your speed. If its to improve speed you have to know what you need to practice to improve your speed, otherwise you’re just doing laps achieving nothing.

Initial improvement can be quick but you then get to a point where it can take weeks or months just to gain a 10th or two. You know what you should be doing but you just can’t do it consistently, or at all. However, as long as you keep practicing the improvement will come.

Subscribe to VRS and use the tools to show you exactly where you need to improve. I always have the blap from the VRS driver set to comparison sector, that way through the whole practice session I can constantly compare my sectors against the VRS lap.

4th, always make a mental note of where and ‘why’ you spin out or crash in practice, it will save you from doing the same thing in the race. You wouldn’t believe the amount of times I have seen people spin in front of me, and I know exactly why they spun, because I did exactly the same thing in practice.

Every time you return to a track you do bring with you what you learnt from the previous season at that track, but you also bring what you’ve learnt from other tracks. The corners may not be exactly the same but techniques you have learnt (or improved on) at other tracks, can still be used.

To do lots of practice you have to enjoy it, if you don’t enjoy it, do whatever is necessary to make so you do enjoy it. Some people prefer to just race and use that as their practice too, and that works just fine for some people, if you find that is you, then go with that method. Slogging it out practicing when you don’t really enjoy it, will just make you burn out and quit.

Good luck and have fun

John Murphy replied:

How do you guys go about practising/testing?

Repeating what others have said, they are two quite different features and I’d suggest to always practise rather than test. Unless it’s a car or track variation you don’t know.

What’s your strategy/plan of action for a given session?

Drive as fast as I can with as few incidents.

Do you compartmentalize the process instinctively, by force/strategy; or not at all?

Not at all. If it was my job to win races, or I felt I needed to win for some reason – then I guess I would get down to planned compartmentalisation and strategy. I just really enjoy driving well/fast with other like minded individuals.

Do you zone out? What tends to cause that to happen? Do you have a remedy to put yourself back to work and in a productive mind state?

Ah, ‘the zone’. Yes I do zone out. I wonder if any of us don’t. I expect some would say they don’t, but I think we all do to some extent. It’s a good place and I find I’m more easily there if I have a lot of things on my mind. A good place while everything is going predictably, that is. Takes too long to snap out of it in an emergency. Fastest laps are therein. Sometimes a green delta bar makes me snap out of it and then ‘I’ mess up the last corner. Should have left it to ‘him’

Do you feel lonely when practising for long periods of times? Do you do anything about it?

Not at all. I feel I’m among friends with similar skills doing what they really enjoy. Unlike actually iracing, where I feel everyone is my enemy and would celebrate my virtual demise

That said, I don’t spend that long in sessions. Unless I’m in that zone and the time just flies by…

Any overall tips for me based on what you’ve read?

Winning isn’t everything and there’s no hurry. You can play the long game. There’s no way you can fail to improve over time. Even if you aren’t actually racing or practising! I’m convinced I/we dream laps.

There’s wisdom in the old saying ‘If all else fails, lower your expectations.’

Have I forgotten anything?

I expect so. I may have skipped some.. Skip.. Skippy! Why am I not racing?

Do you feel as I do after a long practice session, thinking to yourself what if it was for nothing and that when it’s time to race you aren’t faster? ‘What if it doesn’t stick?’

Nope. I guess I’m just here for the thrills. It has never been “for nothing”.

May the force be with you, but don’t force yourself if it isn’t

——-

Did you mention ego? Maybe you have one of those. Could be problematic if you listen to it. It’s an ancient inherited trait which served us well when our worlds were as small as we could walk/run. It just doesn’t understand that you’re up against the best in the known universe here and it thinks you’re a loser. Would rather you gave up than lose – regardless of your self consoling words. Damn thing takes the fun out of life, if you let it. It’ll make one justify a decision to stop doing something you otherwise enjoy, but aren’t ‘the best’ at, with all sorts of reasons, as you may have seen expressed on forums like this one, but really, it’s just ego.