Nemo Moto Off track coaching

First off a bit about me, I am a long time track day rider, been doing track days for 6 years however my riding level has been a bit of a rollercoaster. First few years where alright t was lower inters at best but it wasn't until I got my gsxr 1000 that I took things seriously. Soon I was getting lower fast group pace but then I high sided and that knocked my confidence. Gradually got faster and started only doing cadwell and ended up doing a best of 1:45, not consistently mind you then mechanically failures stopped me riding and constantly played on my mind.

Now up to 2020 I'm excited to get back on the bike, first 2 days the mechanical issues I had played on my mind and then a month later to the next trackday and the week before there are 2 fatalities and now they play on my mind, coupled with some really close overtakes on me I just didn't enjoy myself, I even left before lunch on a open pit day and didn't really mind. (which has never happened before) 

At a bit of a loss I saw Nemo Moto's generous offer of £100 off, off-track coaching and while I as I am sure some of you are quite sceptical of how beneficial off-track coaching actually is (oh how wrong was I) I decided it was now or never to try out coaching.

So the day comes, we start off by him getting to know me as a rider and me knowing him as a coach. From the get go I could immediately tell this was going to be different from any instruction I had in the past we started off by dispelling some myths and talking about the theory of riding. However rather than just simply telling me he would ask me what I think would happen, what I think and rather than just tell me the answer he would feed me information to come up with the correct answer myself. This in turn makes the answer my own rather than me just blindly using someone else's answer as if I just copied their homework which in turn made me more certain of myself.

During the day we focused on improving one corner and each time before I went out he would set me a exercise for that corner. I actually feel quite bad as the feedback I was giving when I came in was quite vague and I believed to be useless but it was that lack of feedback which lead him to point out what i was possibly doing wrong and how to improve and sure enough he was right. As the day progress we covered more about how the bike works and how to make up time. We went through how to take some of the other corners and went through some misconceptions I had.

Then came the last session, the plan was to tackle 2 corners but in the end I could only focus on one at a time which he was fine with but wanted to make some progress on the other before the day was over which was Barn. So we discussed how I wanted to take it and how I can take it to maximise my exit out onto the straight. Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the exercise he ask me to do at barn as it was still a bit daunting to me and before he felt came up with a plan so I could improve it as I was also riding that evening and the next day (without him coaching me).

So going into the evening I managed to take his plan and teachings and apply them to barn so that by the end of the evening I was both comfortable and consistent around a corn that not too long ago always made me feel a bit nervous. 

The next day I felt on top of the world, I started applying the same method he taught me to more of the circuit and felt in control and confident doing it. Throughout the day he would ask how I was getting on, while this may just sound simple it made me evaluate my riding and actually lead me to realise a few areas of improvement which was great. Come the end of the day I found I was so comfortable going round barn I even managed to get my knee down right on the apex (and getting my knee down is very rare).

So in conclusion then, I came into the day with a lot of experience but not much confidence and thinking of giving up riding. What I ended up with is a lot of knowledge that wasn't just handed to me on a plate but was drawn out of me or in the case that I was wrong he would provide me with information so that I could come to the correct conclusion myself. This style of teach made it so all the answers weren't just his but were my own, giving me confidence in those answers and in turn making my actions more assertive. I ended the 2nd day going consistently faster than I have ever been but most importantly I was doing it comfortably and in control. The teaching have allowed me to be able to identify where I may be losing time and how to improve whereas before it felt more like I was riding purely based off experience and wouldn't dare go fastest at the risk of falling off.

So to sum it up it was the best £250 I have spent by a longshot and has given me the tools I need to ride confidently, safely and quickly which has rekindled my love for track days again. For that I can't thank him enough.

I would also like to apologise to Nemo as I must have been a pain to work with, being tired for most of the day, giving vague answers and not sticking to the plan sometimes.

Barn scares me too ha. Being blind you have to commit to it on entry. Plus my mate had a proper bad highside coming out of it. Definitely a tricky corner I think.

Following and being followed by Liam I learned one thing. That was the first lap following him as he took a steady pace to gauge my pace (novice group) he was going about 80% of my normal pace until we hit the flat right after going under the bridge. From that already slow pace I would have still slowed some to go round it but he just kept going at the same speed. Followed thinking everything else has felt slow so why should this be different and instantly learned I had much more space and time than I'd previously thought. Never would have entered that speed before following him and it was his slow pace up to that point that gave me the confidence to follow.

Aside from that it felt more or less like a normal session with nothing else really learned. It was speaking after the session that was most helpful. Taking later apexes, using more track etc., it was that stuff I was working on the final day and a half. Actually that kind of stuff you take with you through every subsequent time on track don't you. 

Likewise the MSV instructor spotted me in the paddock and said he'd followed for a while. Said I was top heavy in that I was committing a lot with my upper body but my lower half was planted in the middle of the seat. Quite tall so I guess it looked unstable as f**k from behind. I know a lot of people say it, and I'd already read about it, but from then on making that little bum shuffle to the inside has made every corner feel more stable and confident. 

So when I see off track coaching (Lee, Mike Edwards, Ken Hill, maybe Sylvain Guintoli now too) I think it's a great idea because to me the off track stuff is going to give at least 80% of the benefit. I guess everyone learns in different ways but makes sense to me