the perfect driver

[jakp993]

michael lang wrote:

when you do have a student that you can tell is nervous or on mental overload, what do you tell them or what do you do to help settle them down?

There are lot's of things you can do. However, the first thing to do is to find out what's causing the majority of the nervousness and anxiety.

For some folks it's just an overload situation. So many new things happening at once. Where do I park? Will the car pass Grid Tech? My instructor is in a Black 911 - there have to be a hundred Black 991's here - how will I find him/her? Where is staging? Others may have a fear of damaging their car, and still others may be afriad of not doing well.

Each of these root causes require a different response from the instructor. Being able to sort this out quickly is one of the more challenging (and rewarding) parts of being an instructor. Responding in the wrong way can, in the best of situations, be ineffective. However, in some cases, it can make the situation worse, adding anxiety to the student.

The good news is that we have a training program for our instructors that assists them in diagnosing this type of stuff and helps them respond appropriately.

I'll let others chime in with techniques that have worked for them.

Take care,
Jack