Sport Psychology Tactics - Mental Skills Training For Qualifying & Winning Pole Position In NASCAR
About the Author
Ben Foodman is a licensed psychotherapist & performance specialist. He owns his private practice located in Charlotte North Carolina where he specializes in working with athletes to help them overcome mental blocks (the yips), PTSD, ADD / ADHD and achieve flow states through the techniques of Brainspotting & Neurofeedback. If you are interested in services, use the link here! Enjoy the article below!
Table Of Contents
Introduction: The Sport Psychology Behind Qualifying & Winning Pole Position For Racecar Drivers
Part I. The Science Of Stress, Qualifying And NASCAR Driver’s Brains
Part II. Mental Training Skills To Prepare Racecar Drivers For Qualifying
Part III. Aggressive Mental Training Will Lead To Winning Pole Position Consistently
Introduction: The Sport Psychology Behind Qualifying & Winning Pole Position For Racecar Drivers
In motorsports series such as NASCAR, IMSA, Formula 1 and Rally, one could argue that one of the most high-pressure moments of the competition is not at the end of the race, but rather at the beginning during the qualifying session. For those that are unfamiliar with importance of this session during a race, qualifying is an event where racecar athletes try to drive the fastest lap on the racetrack. Drivers who complete the fastest time are rewarded by starting at the front of the grid before the actual race begins, whereas drivers who fail to post a quality time are punished by starting further back. The driver with the best lap-time is referred to as the pole-sitter and has an immediate advantage over the rest of the field.
Most racecar drivers understand that this portion of the race weekend is critical and leaves very little margin for error. The time difference between most drivers is often measured in fractions of a second, and racing statistics show that when drivers secure a quality lap-time, they are significantly more likely to finish the race in an ideal position. Because drivers and their entire team understand the potential rewards associated with winning pole position, an incredible amount of pressure can invade a racecar driver’s mind. Because I have extensive experience working with NASCAR drivers competing in the Cup series, Xfinity, Trucks and ARCA as well as IMSA, WRC, and Rallycross, I wanted to review what drivers (and all athletes for that matter) need to know about how their brain operates in a qualifying environment and how to mentally prepare for this moment.
Part I. The Science Of Stress, Qualifying And NASCAR Driver’s Brains
Because there is so much pressure during qualifying, this experience can place a disproportionate amount of stress on the driver’s mind. Many people have the misconception that stress during these moments is an expression of an athlete not being ‘mentally tough’ and that drivers in these situations need to be cool, calm and collected if they want any chance of being successful at the highest levels of this sport. The people that perpetuate this myth are either liars or have no experience working with racecar drivers. Based on my applied experience, every single driver I have worked with regardless of the series they compete in has experienced significant stress and nerves before qualifying. My professional opinion is that not only is this acceptable but necessary. When an athlete experiences high volumes of stress during these moments it actually is a signal that the driver’s brain is functioning correctly and when this stress is properly harnessed, drivers can hyperfocus with the perfect mindset. But what is happening in the brain that causes this, and why do some drivers manage this efficiently while others do not? To better understand this, we need to divide the brain into two sections.
Section 1 of a driver’s brain is called the neocortex. The neocortex is involved with executive functioning skills and logical thinking processes. Section 2 of a driver’s brain is called the subcortical brain. This part of the brain is involved with the creation of involuntary bodily functions and dysregulation behaviors (e.g. flight, fight, freeze). Interestingly, section 2 of the brain is the first region of the brain to determine safety of the environment, and if the external somatic signals are too overwhelming, then an athlete experiences symptoms such as overthinking, unwanted muscle tension, and an inability to focus. When I start working with NASCAR and Rally drivers, what I find is that the majority of these athletes just get in the cockpit and have no pre-performance routine, no intra-performance routine, and overall, no strategies to help train their brain for this moment. They either experience these symptoms as a sign of weakness or a representation of having a ‘lack of confidence’. The fact of the matter is that confidence is one of the most overrated concepts that athletes attempt to acquire. The reason it is overrated is because confidence is not what is needed to overcome high-pressure situations, but rather conviction (e.g. a strong belief in the efficacy of a process). Let’s explore this further.
Part II. Mental Training Skills To Prepare Racecar Drivers For Qualifying
Racecar drivers need to shift from searching for confidence to creating pre-performance routines & processes that give them conviction in their training and preparation. The reason this is critical is because there is a 100% certainty that at some point in a racecar driver’s career, they will experience a situation in racing that will completely destroy their confidence…and yet that driver will still need to perform under those stressful conditions. The ONLY way they will be able to do this is by having a reliable process that they consistently train with. Some people reading this may still be under the impression that confidence is unwavering once achieved. If this were true that would mean that people who are ALWAYS confident remain static and unchanged forever. This mindset is biologically impossible but even more importantly, this way of thinking will prevent the athlete from adapting to dynamic environments. Therefore, we need to review different pre-performance and intra-performance mental training routines that drivers can use to consistently qualify at an elite level regardless of the track or level of competition.
First, drivers need to create a pre-performance routine that can prepare the athlete for the psychological demands of qualifying. Based on neuroscience research, one of the first pre-performance routines that drivers should utilize is diaphragmatic breathing before entering the cockpit. Diaphragmatic breathing is a breathwork routine that allows the driver to directly tap into their parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn can increase the sensations associated with security that the brain is looking for prior to performances. Research shows that when athletes utilize at least 20 minutes of deep breathwork that is based on diaphragmatic breathing, they are more likely to improve focus, reduce unwanted muscle tension and maintain situational awareness. The reason this can be critical for qualifying is because it creates what is referred to as a ‘preload’ sensation that the driver’s body needs in order to drive the perfect line during qualifying. There are many other potential tools that athletes can use in their pre-performance routine but for now, let’s introduce an effective intra-performance routine: quiet eye.
Quiet eye helps athletes manage the symptoms that occur as a result of performance-related stress. In the book Motor Learning And Performance by Richard Schmidt and Craig Wrisberg, the authors provide an excerpt that helps explain the importance of focal vision and the quiet eye phenomenon: An important challenge for scientists is determining how performers use vision to control their movements. Research by Vickers (1996) suggests that an important difference in the visual control of expert and nonexpert performers is a pre-execution period of visual fixation Vickers called the ‘quiet eye’. The four characteristics of quiet eye are a directing of attention to a critical location or target in the performance environment, an onset that occurs prior to the intended movement, a duration that is longer for elite performers than for those of lesser skill levels, and of course a high level of stability. Recent research examining the quiet eye phenomenon has substantiated Vickers’ predictions and shown that preperformance visual fixations are fewer and longer but cease earlier (as the movement is being executed) for highly skilled than for lesser skilled performers in closed skills such as basketball shooting, billiards, and small-bore rifle shooting, as well as in open skills such as goaltending in ice hockey.
The authors conclude: In the study by Janelle and colleagues (2000), participants attempted 40 rounds of target shooting on a simulator. In addition to recording shot accuracy and duration of aiming, the researchers obtained eye-movement and brain-wave data that allowed them to estimate visual gaze behavior of the shooters. Performance accuracy was significantly higher and the visual fixation period preceding shot execution longer for experts than for non-experts. Brain wave results also indicated superior engagement of visuospatial resources by experts compared with nonexperts. The results of all these studies suggest that superior performance in some close and open skill situations is attributable in part to the performer’s capability of achieving a fixation of the eye (i.e. quiet eye) prior to movement execution. When I teach Quiet Eye to drivers, it’s not for them to use during driving…that would be incredibly difficult to do on most parts of the race except for the straight away. Instead, I teach this as a preload method to help drivers get their brains ‘warmed up’ and ready to focus while they are in the cockpit. As helpful as these tools are for drivers to use for qualifying, there is an even more important concept to take away when preparing for qualifying.
Part III. Aggressive Mental Training Will Lead To Winning Pole Position Consistently
The previous mentioned pre-performance and intra-performance routines for qualifying are for rookie drivers, and veteran drivers competing in the NASCAR cup-series, IndyCar 500 and F1 hopefully are utilizing more advanced technologies such as DARPA protocols, Brainspotting/EMDR, Aggression Training, exercise psychology and other techniques. But there is an even more important concept for drivers to consider when mentally training for qualifying: preloading. I used this term several times in the previous sections, but preloading is the process of intentionally synchronizing your body and mind before a performance begins. You are essentially committing your central nervous system to the action you are about to undergo, and any driver will tell you that when you are trying to qualify, you need to be fully committed. When I introduce preloading to racecar drivers competing in elite motorsport series, I need to make sure that these athletes are committed to the process before I begin training them with this technique.
While I have thoroughly enjoyed the work, I have done with all of the drivers that I have worked with, some of them were not ready to commit to or trust this process. It requires hard work, focus, and an aggressive mindset to successfully preload for qualifying and winning pole position. The techniques I mentioned earlier are introductory aspects of preloading and are used to help athletes begin the process of what is involved with regularly using a pre-performance and intra-performance routine. But when racecar drivers (and other athlete populations) commit to the preload process, I have seen all of these athletes quantifiably improve their qualifying times and, in some instances, secure winning pole position for the first time in their careers. If you are a motorsport athlete and you are ready to take the next step in your career, use this link to learn more about my services to see if they are the right fit for your needs!
Note To Reader:
If you are an athlete reading this segment of the TRAINING REPORT, hopefully this content was helpful! I put the Training Report together because I felt like many of the discussions on issues such as the Yips/mental blocks, strength training & other subject matter on athlete performance concepts were really missing the mark on these ideas (e.g. how trauma is the direct cause of the Yips). If you are interested in learning more, make sure to subscribe below for when I put out new content on issues related to sport psychology & athlete performance! Also, if you are looking to work with a mental performance specialist, you are in the right place! USE THIS LINK to reach out to me to see if my services are the right fit for your goals!
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