When I ask drivers to describe what being in the zone, or flow, is like, one of the most frequent replies is about how time changes. It slows down for most drivers. It’s as if one has all the time in the world to do what needs to be done. On the flip side, when a driver is not performing well, they feel rushed, as if there is not enough time available.
Is this change in how we perceive time — what flow researchers refer to as “dilation of time” — a result of getting into the zone, or a trigger for it?
Steven Kotler, who wrote the book The Rise of Superman (a great read, all about how extreme athletes get into flow), suggests that time may be as much a trigger as it is an outcome. I agree.
Recall a time in your life when you were faced with a task, let’s say a work project. You dug into it without a specific timeline in mind, but thought you’d be done in an hour or so. Instead, four hours later your growling stomach told you that you’d been totally engaged in the process of working on the project — you’d gotten lost in it, forgetting all about time.
If, just before you dove into that project, you were told that you had just thirty minutes to complete it, and by the way, “Get it right!”, would you have gotten lost in the task? Would you have gotten into flow? Or would you have been checking the time while thinking about whether the result — “getting it right” — was doable?
I suspect you’re thinking along the same lines I am: Without the time constraints, and without the pressure to deliver the “right” result, it’s actually more likely that you would perform at your best, and get into the zone.
So why, then, do we focus so much of our attention on lap times when we want to perform at our best when driving? I know, I know, driving fast around a track is all about competition, even if it’s just competing with ourselves to turn a faster lap than ever before — our personal best. And that’s where the great balancing act of performance driving comes in. We think that balancing the car is the biggest challenge when track driving, but no, it’s balancing our desire to beat the competition (other drivers, the stopwatch, data, ourselves) with doing what’s best to perform in such a way as to do that. Whew! If this was easy, everyone would do it.
If time can negatively affect our ability to get into the zone, rather than it just being an outcome, should we remove it from our thinking? Hey, maybe we should tell ourselves that we have all day to complete one lap! Maybe that would trigger a zone performance, and in the process result in our driving in a way that we turn a faster lap than ever before. But that’s going too far in the other direction; the mindset, the approach, the focus would be out of balance.
As Kotler says, “Neurobiologically, I’ll bet this causes a decrease in cortisol and norepinephrine. It lowers stress levels, which allows us to increase the size of the challenge we’re willing to tackle. In short, time availability helps us tune the challenge-skills balance.”
Lap times are a result, something to be aware of after the fact. They’re not the objective.
If this lack of focus on time triggers better results through better performance, how do I explain a driver who seems to do their best when chasing another car? Isn’t that focusing on the result?
I’d argue that a well-performing driver chasing another car is not focused on the competition or the result. I’d argue the driver is focused on what’s going on right then and there, in the moment. The driver is very focused on where they’re going, and not so much on the result. There is actually less focus on the mechanical/analytical thought of “do this now, then that then, and then turn here, and on the gas here...” and more on “just do.” The driver is in the moment.
Of course, some drivers, when chasing another car do get overly caught up in thinking about what the other driver is doing, and that is as bad for performance as thinking too much is.
I wish there was an easily-identified procedure for balancing these competing factors, but there isn’t. And to make matters more challenging, the balance tips slightly one way or the other depending on who you are and what works best for you.
I’m hoping that by considering what I’ve written here, thinking about it, and seeing how it might fit with your own mindset and objectives, you’ll develop your own model for flow and the balance between focusing on the result and your own performance.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about how you balance the focus on lap times or results with what it takes to get into the zone. Do you think about lap times or your position? Are you aware of them? How do you react and what do you think about when chasing another car, or the faster lap time? Do you put them out of your mind completely until after the event/session? Or are they at the forefront of your mind when driving? Is time a trigger for your zone performances, a result of it, or neither? Let me know your thoughts.
Haha, you got it!
I am seeing a jump to a higher level just in the last couple of days. One of the top drivers in my ACC league mentioned during a YouTube Porsche Cup stream that he preferred a shallower turn entry. Then I watched a video of THE OTHER top Porsche Cup driver and noted that he too entered more shallow than I am. So now I am thinking about (imagining) the new sensations of balance, working the front tires more (now those tail-happy esports setups are starting to make sense), using less steering angle and steering more with my feet, and being more aware of the grip and wheel speed on the rear tires. It’s like golf, you can’t consciously think about that all at once, it needs to be “a part of you, what you feel”. And just like in golf, if your mind is clear on what you want to do, your brain and body will quickly learn to repeat those ideas. It’s also why golf instructors (the majority) that teach “positions” rarely are good instructors.