Nemomoto Off-Track Coaching

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   I’d been thinking about getting some more coaching for a while but a) never seemed to get around to it and b) was already fairly happy with the development of my riding over the past few years anyway. One on one ‘on track’ coaching as I’d done before is also not cheap and whilst we know its money well invested, the expensive can and has for me been off-putting.

I’d decided I was going racing in 2015 so in 2014 I did a day on-track coaching with Mike Edwards at Cadwell Park, which was great and really useful at the time but I haven't done any third party coaching since then. 

Having seen the really positive reviews of Nemomoto Rider Development on here recently it brought the idea of off-track coaching back into my mind. I do enjoy getting into the techniques and the little details of the sport and so the idea of off-track coaching seemed quite appealing to me. It also reduces the cost of course as you’re not paying for two track days and everything that comes with running two bikes. Knowing that Lee (Nemomoto) is from up around that way anyway, and it being my first race for 10 months, last weekend’s North Gloucester race meeting at Cadwell Park seemed like the ideal time to give him a shout. A couple of message back and forth via TDR and Lee was booked for the Friday test day. It was the right decision. 

For a little bit of context, after two years of track days (including 
quite a few at Cadwell) I’d gotten my lap time down to a 1.48 round 
Cadwell, on the first days coaching in 2014 I was down to a 1.44 and feeling 
safer with it. After three years racing in 2017 I was down to a 1.37. 

We started off at 7:30am covering some broad concepts and dispelling a few common myths. We then talked about what I thought my main barriers were and Lee started to ask me questions about what I thought the causes and effects were of what I was doing on track. Lee explained his processes and how he would be asking the right questions to lead me to find the answers myself rather than just spoon feeding me some facts to try and remember. It’s a method I really enjoyed and you surprise yourself with how much insight you can gain when you start to question your actions rather than just following the same path over and over without considering why or how you’re doing what you’re doing. 

My personal goal for the day was to work on getting more feel from the front end and more confidence at turn in. I can mostly get around a race track at a reasonable pace but the point from turn in to apex has always been a weak point for me.

The first couple of sessions it almost seemed like we had gone off on a bit of a tangent to the issues I had initially highlighted. We did some work on how to steer the bike more accurately and consistently, then we moved onto some eye drills and being more disciplined with what you are looking at and when. As the day progressed we moved on to talk about body position and creating a good platform. 

As you would expect, each session was spent working on just one new element, with the time in between being used to debrief on how the previous session had gone before moving on to what the task would be for the next. I knew there was some good stuff on corner exits that Lee wanted to get on to later in the day and while we touched on it a bit in the steering sections, he made sure we were getting the first things right before moving on too fast and overloading me with information. Progress was slowed a little by the monsoon conditions that the August bank holiday weekend had kindly served up but the weather wasn’t too much of a barrier to the coaching. 

By mid-afternoon the individual elements we had worked on up to that point suddenly came together. More accurate steering gave the ability to be adjustable for different lines and speeds, the eyes were giving a better flow of relevant information for easier decision making and the better platform from the lower body gave us more ability to get feedback from the bike.

I really enjoyed the different dynamic that the off-track coaching brought. You do need a little bit of ability to self-evaluate and to understand whether you are doing the drills you have gone out to do but it’s nothing that would be beyond anyone willing to put it a small amount of effort. The deeper understanding and the ability to keep questioning yourself feels like it will be longer lasting than having someone follow you and say you’re doing this, you’re doing that. 

The elements Lee and I were working on were actually quite basic. It almost surprised me initially that we were talking about fundamentals like steering and foot position. It’s easy to fool yourself into thinking that as you get quicker there’s little secrets that you will discover which will take you to the next level, but it’s actually completely the opposite and the faster you go the more important it is to get back doing the fundamentals well and accurately. 

If you’re considering getting some coaching but you think it’s too early, you’re not fast enough, it’s too late, you’re too fast already or that you’re too old, none of those excuses are true. I would confidently say that a day with Lee will benefit any rider of any ability. The off-track day was exactly what I was hoping it would be and for me represents really good value for money for what you will take out of it. As soon as I feel I’ve gotten on top of everything Lee and I covered last week I will be looking at doing more and will almost certainly be going for the off-track route again with Lee. 

On a personal note Lee himself is very approachable, extremely knowledgeable and will break everything down into easily understandable concepts. He also has some great tips on strapping down your gazebo in a storm.   

Simon