THSCC Forums

Hi Diane!

Since you have actually *done* something like this, I would be very interested in hearing your experiences, opinions, and recommendations about it. Don't be bashful For instance, I'm puzzled about how they do the u-turns "wrong"!

Feel free to post here with your opinions if you think others can benefit, or PM me privately if you'd like

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Many of the kids are not at our school by choice. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc make them come. Usually the first demo ride gets them actually interested in being there when they realize we're not going to spend the half-day talking at them, or showing them gorey movies of crashes.

Many have to have their fears allayed before they can really learn. They get in the car all tense and/or scared. Sometimes it's because of a bad past wreck, and sometimes you just scare them a bit during the demos. I always tell the later group that it's not as scarey as when they ride along on the demo, and that we'll start out slow.

The slalom is the hardest exercise we do with them, I think it's because they've never done anything like it before in a car, and we can't give them a real-life example of what it's "like". The joke i use is ... ok, there are 7 kids sitting in the middle of your neighborhood street and here's how you avoid them... That's rediculous, but usually gets a chuckle. I do tell them that it's the first 2 turns they'll need to miss the dear, or up here a moose. (Or the car pulling out of the parking lot in front of them, etc.) We teach the slalom differently at these teen schools than I do for an auto-x school. We have them lift before the first turn to plant the nose, and then add gas steadly as they go through. In auto-x, I want them to go in as fast as possible, then still speed up.

U-turns... you'd be surprised... If you want to make a right hand U-turn on a runway, and are in the middle of the space, you would likely pull left before going right to give yourself more space to make the turn. They don't think of that. When returning to the trailer (to switch drivers), instead of going past the trailer a bit to get the turn done before they need to pull alongside it, they turn such that they are aimed directly at the trailer and there's no way they can pull straight alongside it. Those are the 2 biggies that come to mind.

General hints...

(1) Remember these are kids that might not want to be there and haven't been driving all that long.

(2) Be patient.

(3) Every kid will have their own limit, and not all will be as good as you want them to be.

(4) If you're not getting through, switch instructors. Sometimes I get Sandy (owner of the school, been doing it for 25 years) in the car to help me out. He says the same words I've been saying, but somehow the kid "gets it" from him and not me. Just make sure the kid doesn't think it's their "fault" you're not getting through.

(5) If you use radios, be careful what comments you make. About cones hit, whether a run looks good or not from the outside, who's taking to long, etc. The weirdest things will set these kids back and you'll feel like you're starting over.

(6) You'll be able to tell the kids that play a lot of x-box or playstation driving games. Their depth perception is off to begin with.

(7) Have fun watching them improve, and watching a lot of the "I don't want to be here" and scared ones really have a good time by the end of the session.

(8 ) This is about teaching the kids, not seat time for the instructors.

I'll keep thinking and post up here again if I come up with other things.

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Diane (Hall) Bundas
1992 Spec Miata #48 - 1997 Chevy Tahoe - 2007 Honda Civic Coupe