I was sent this question by Ross Bentley of Speed Secrets from one of his followers:
“I have hundreds of hours of video of me driving, and also lots from friends in similar cars. How do I get better at reviewing video so I can learn something from it to make me drive better? What should I be looking for, beyond just comparing my line to my friends’ lines? And is there a better way of looking at my line when watching my video, especially if I don’t have anyone to compare to?
My Answer
When reviewing video just like reviewing data always make sure you are doing it with a purpose, that is you are reviewing your video with a specific reason in mind. Some drivers just watch their video without thinking, just like they are watching a TV show. With so much going on it is very easy to get lost and be overwhelmed, gaining no extra information. So review your video with a purpose looking at one or two specific items at a time.
There are so many items to look at but you can break them up into categories; 1) what are your hands doing, 2) what are your feet doing and 3) what is the car doing. You can then look at specific items within those categories. Of course, they are all interrelated but breaking it down into smaller pieces can make easier to manage and learn.
Steering
When looking at your hands and steering here are some things to consider:
Steering input: Are you creating smooth arcs with the wheel? Or are you sawing at the wheel back and forth? Do you have extra steering effort during Track-Out?
Steering effort: Are you putting lots of steering angle in? Could you reduce the amount of steering angle?
Rate of steering input: How quickly or slowly are you turning the wheel? Are you smooth or jerking the wheel?
How are you holding the wheel: Do you have a light or tight grip on the wheel?
Footwork
When looking at your footwork here are some things to consider:
Initial Brake Application: Is it soft or hard? Depending on the corner you should be using a hard initial brake to you maximum brake level for that corner, not soft and slow.
Brake Release: Is it slow or quick? Are you getting on and off the brake?
Throttle Application: Are you at full throttle or lifting through the “flat-out” corners? Are you lifting slightly before the braking zone?
Are your feet stable or sliding around all over the floor?
Are you using the dead pedal to get better feedback/feel from the car?
Car Positioning
When looking at what the car is doing here are some things to consider:
Where is the car positioned on the track:
Are you cheating the corner by steering in early, crabbing in from the track edge before the turn?
Are you cheating the Apex? Adding extra steering input mid-corner just to reach the apex?
Are you segmenting the corner? Driving a smooth continuous corner arc or are you driving point to point chunking up the corner from Turn-In, Apex and Track-Out
Angle of the car to the Apex is just as, if not more, important than where you are clipping the Apex point
How much rotation or slip angle is the car using?
How does the car respond to the steering and pedal inputs above?
Are you wrestling the car or letting it tell you where it wants to go?
Just like when looking at data don’t just watch your fastest lap and try to repeat it. Instead compare your various laps and look for consistency and areas of improvement. For all of these listed items above you can also watch them for consistency. Are you performing the same lap to lap or is each corner different on successive laps? Often the easiest areas for finding improvements in your lap time is to focus on the areas that are inconsistent or varying wildly lap to lap.
Like most questions it also depends on the drivers level of experience, comfort and performance. If you are just starting out focus on the basics. For these relatively new track drivers look at your “line". How you are positioning the car? Are you using all the track? Are you driving smooth arcs or are you chopping up corners into segments?
As you progress and become more experienced you can start looking at how you are using your driver inputs (hands and feet) and how the car responds. Look for consistency between your fastest, slowest and average laps. Comparing laps will give you clues on where you can best improve your lap times.
For those drivers chasing those extra seconds and tenths of a second look to see if you are giving up speed with too much steering angle scrubbing speed, cheating the apex, a soft initial brake application, or slightly lifting off the throttle before braking.
Bonus Tip
Bonus tip: show your video to fellow racers as sometimes you will get a great comment from them on something you are doing that you never even realized. These independent insights can really help you to look and think about your driving differently.
All that is a lot to look for in a video but make sure you are watching with a purpose. Just focus on one or two items at a time and make notes on your track map and then watch it again looking at a different aspect of your driving.
Most important have fun!
James
Further Reading:
Interested in more video review tips and tricks check out our previous articles here:
More Racer Tips
Want to be faster at the track? We share our tips and tricks on reviewing your videos and improving your lap times.