Coaching Karting Kids

[daledunston]

Coaching karting kids
Being a parent and a coach is challenging, especially young children in karting. Race teams all over the world use race team coaches.
Many times now being approached to coach either their son or daughter. And most times it’s all about coaching the parent just as much as the racer.
Confidence with children in karting is the cheapest tool to gain those extra tenths of a second. After a race or a practice session, one of the worst things you can do to a young driver is tell them what they had done wrong, how they could have taken a turn better or passed another competitor differently, keeping in mind kids are making these decisions in fractions of second. Building confidence is as easy as asking them what turn they took well or passed they had made, this is a very effective way you can get the most of your little driver is to ask them what they could have done better and always give positive feedback.
Children all learn differently, an effective way to get feedback from your driver is for them to write it or draw it. A note pad is cheap option to do this, get them to draw the turns and how they drive them, even getting them to write what the kart is doing, giving you a better understanding how they perceive a turn, braking point or kart performance.
If you are tech savvy a really great way is to use google maps. Find the track you are practicing or racing, take a screen shot from google maps and paste into windows paint so they can draw lines over an actual picture.
And for all the IPhone and IPad users a really great app www.karttuner.com this is a great tool not only to keep all your data in one place it also has a track function to draw, all these options are great tools in helping discuss lines and kart setup with your little driver.
A really bad habit to form with your driver is giving last second pep talks on the grid just before a race. This is very harmful on race days; the entire time all your driver is thinking about is not letting someone down with a specific turn or who to follow on starts. I haven’t met anyone yet that can predict the future so telling your little racer to pass someone in a particular way or take a turn, in race conditions with so many other variables (how do you know what the other kids are going to do?). The most effective thing you can do is a simple high-five; you would be surprised how effective this is.
Planning practice days with your son or daughter, helps with getting them involved not just jumping in the kart and driving, plan out your practice days with them. Some examples are;
Session 1: Base run.
Session 2: Change front setup.
Session 3: Test 50mm Hubs.
Session 4: Try Motor A
The session plans are endless every junior sport has training plans, taking this approach is no different for children in karting.
A great way for helping new young drivers even experienced ones to help on practice days with specific turns or braking points that feel the need to focus on is using masking tape. Loop up a small piece of tape and stick it on the track resembling a flap a few inches high, either on entry/ exit or a braking point, put it on the track so it hits the middle of the nose cone, get your little driver to look up for the tape when coming off the previous turn and it’s as simple as getting your driver to run over it.
This also gets them looking up as far ahead as possible, helping with smoother and more consistent lap times. Another added benefit of this, when in race conditions this will help them avoid accidents, potential passing moves and better starts.
The most important thing to remember is karting is an amateur sport. Karting provides a space for young people to learn responsibility, develop their confidence and participate in a sport that provides exceptional grounding in driving skills. Young racers learn defensive driving skills and to appreciate the dangers of driving through years of supervised training on the track. These fundamental skills benefit young racers later in life, both on and off the road.
SO KEEP IT FUN!.