What do you do in the off season to stay sharp

[Bobby Fazio]

Originally Posted by Chad Rhodes

I've had a practice tree for years, but never really developed a routine. I set my practice tree up on my desk with the pedal underneath. I created a spread sheet, which analyzes the data over every 100 hits (but does average the green lights every 10 hits as well). One of my new years resolutions is to take 100 hits at it every day. So far I've learned quite a bit about my own driving, what I've been doing wrong, and where some inconsistency is coming from. I haven't solved it yet, but i am seeing the patterns and noting what I'm doing differently. With lots of data, I've been able to find some things I was doing, that I would have sworn i wasn't. Hopefully I'll be able to eliminate my self from the list of variables on the starting line soon.

What are some of you guys doing to stay sharp, or improve yourself?

Chad, 100 hits is way too many in a day. You never get that in a race day. You will get faster and faster and start red lighting as you go. 5-7 very spaced out hits are all you need. When you are walking past it, do one, just like you would in a real race day. Try to simulate that pressure of having one shot at it. That's how you build confidence. Practice trees build confidence, that is all, they do little else to simulate a real race situation, that part you have to do on your own.