Commanding your eyes in karting: The Worrier vs. The Warrior

Understanding looking ahead, surviving the war between competing instincts, and triumphing with god-like driving.

Welcome to a 🔒 subscriber-only edition 🔒 of my weekly newsletter. Every week I take a deep dive into driving technique and unique racing driver perspectives, to keep you fully lit as a racing driver.

If you aren’t a subscriber, here’s what you missed this month:
1 Defeat concentration killer for karting perfection
2 Building your own overtaking confidence - deliberately
3 How to get super accurate with your steering

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A junior Verstappen looking way round the corner Photo Alan Dove

Who the hell thinks about what their eyes are doing? What our eyes do is like any other natural process that doesn’t need thinking about…

But, what your eyes are up to can make you incredibly fast, or actually drastically hinder your speed. You can be second guessing yourself and looking at your apex too long, or your focus can be way down the road, pulling you along like an invisible force to go faster.

It also makes you feel like an entirely different creature. One is focussed on not making mistakes and checking we did things ok, the other trusts itself and only cares about the next target.

Here’s how this week’s article will help you really get a grip on ‘looking ahead’ and mastering it:

1. How to perform ‘looking ahead driving’ in simple illustrated steps.

2. How to conquer the internal "worrier" who wants you to check everything and unleash your inner racing "warrior".

3. How to use simulators and games to master the ‘looking ahead’, and resist the powerful worrier temptation.

4. How to transition from cautious driving to a thrilling, instinct-led experience and feel like a driving god.

Worrier vs Warrior - One looks ahead, the other wants to look short and check

Worrier Vision - Am I going to get this right, did I hit that apex?

The worrier keeps their eyes on the target, like an apex, until they know they have hit it. What happens after the apex, is only considered once the apex hit has been confirmed, visually. By the time they’ve processed that, they are already heading for the exit point, and its too late to make refinements to maximise exit speed.

Warrior Vision - I’m know I’m going to hit that apex, now I’m looking for the next target.

Warrior vision lets go of the target once they are certain they will hit it, which is early. They then charge forward, looking ahead to the next one, ignoring how well they did with the apex, it no longer matters.

When you feel in total control your eyes can focus way ahead. The next target is always more important than the current one. When approaching an apex, adjustments are being made to maximise the exit speed and exit point accuracy.

How to do looking ahead - Get early sight of your target and lock on

Here’s a quick refresher (I’ve pinched from my book) on the basic principles of looking ahead. It’s almost always significantly further than drivers find comfortable.

For a simple hairpin, since its the easiest to illustrate

1. On the preceding straight focus on the apex of the hairpin, probably a late apex.

2. As you approach, keep your eyes on that same apex point. Let your peripheral vision and awareness deal with hitting your braking point. Keep your eyes on the apex.

3. As you turn in, get ready to point your eyes to the exit point.

4. Just after your turn in, well before hitting the apex, focus your eyes on your exit point.

5. Stay focussed on your exit point as you allow your peripheral vision to deal with how close you are, or not, to your apex

What happens when you actually try this - WAR