I have always been told that I'm a bit of a dreamer, in school I'd spend many a happy hour not thinking about anything much and just staring into middle distance. I find that my concentration for any particular subject is limited to about 1hour. However of late I'm finding that I can only manage 20min stints of LFS and GPL - I used to be able to do a full GPL race weekend! Granted my chair is not as comfy as my old setup but I don't think that is the main issue. Do any of you have any good tips for improving concentration. (other than the usual eat well, sleep well, excercise)

I have recently (the last few months) cut out added sugar and virtually all caffine from my diet in an effort to increase my concentration but it only seems to be of limited benefit.

Cheers

Quote from yegadoyai :

I have always been told that I'm a bit of a dreamer, in school I'd spend many a happy hour not thinking about anything much and just staring into middle distance. I find that my concentration for any particular subject is limited to about 1hour. However of late I'm finding that I can only manage 20min stints of LFS and GPL - I used to be able to do a full GPL race weekend! Granted my chair is not as comfy as my old setup but I don't think that is the main issue. Do any of you have any good tips for improving concentration. (other than the usual eat well, sleep well, excercise)

I have recently (the last few months) cut out added sugar and virtually all caffine from my diet in an effort to increase my concentration but it only seems to be of limited benefit.

Cheers

Beer beer beer & more beer

Quote from yegadoyai :

I find that my concentration for any particular subject is limited to about 1hour.

Sounds normal to me. But you should have that hour also in LFS, 20mins is probably a bit too short.

Maybe Adrenalin would help. Are you a phlegmatic guy? Try to push yourself a little bit harder while racing.

Good luck!

Smoke some illegal (in old-fashioned countries) substances :yummy::tired::banana_ra

And concentrate on 1 or 2 corners at a time, don't think too much about laptimes, positions, pit strategies, tyre wear, your girlfriend, her underwear, whoops - crashed..

concentration is 1 problem....what do i do to relax myself?? because everytime i race and i want to perform well i am verrrry tense....if i relax my hand and let the wave guide me trough,...well...i dont make the turn right. i remember my first real race at olfsl(was a disaster btw) i nearly broke my momo...illepalli was so tense that my hearbit riched i think 100bits/sec...but on the other side in real life im not a veryvery emotional person...its really anoying to think that ill never be able to rich high performance because of my "sensitivity" )

Quote :

Do any of you have any good tips for improving concentration.

Sugar levels in your blood perhaps? Dont skip meals. The majority of road accidents occur in the afternoon when 1 driver has skipped lunch, which goes to show how much it really does matter. Also dont dehydrate as that will tire you out too.

You might find the screen is too close and that you are subcontiously 'switching off' to avoid eyestrain.

Quote :

concentration is 1 problem....what do i do to relax myself?? because everytime i race and i want to perform well i am verrrry tense...

It's natural to be tense before a big race, if your heart is still pounding a few laps in though you have a problem that is only rectified by experience: It's called excitement, and it isn't worth loosing .

Recreational drugs put me to sleep most of the time, I'm a very boring stoner and a when I get drunk the lap times are not so good.

I find that if I try to concentrate then I'm just as likely to come off, then you get into the cursed cycle of came off -> try harder -> came off etc.

I certainly do not get the same 'rush' when racing LFS as I do when racing GPL, maybe that is what is lacking, time to try more 'exotic' combos.

I have a problem getting motivated to do...ah can't be arsed

good point becky, I'm using a bstard huge 19" crt on a small desk, I'm not sure I can actually sit further away but it may well be the cause. I only recently switched to it as my old CRT died

Time for a new LCD.

Concentration and diet are inextricably linked. If you eat healthily your concentration levels will improve. Eat lots of fruit and veg and not too much grain based foods and you should notice much better concentration levels. Also, get plenty of sleep.

Concentration is a tricky thing to improve, because if you are playing LFS and thinking about concentrating you are not concentrating on LFS . Total concentration on a task requires that your mind is completely emptied of all other thoughts or getting 'in the zone' as some people refer to it.

But I was once told that people can only concentrate properly for 20 mins at a time anyway.

I sometimes find that I am faster and more consistent when I'm not really trying, it's as if I just settle into the game and it just seems to flow.

Regarding concentration, it depends on the race. If I'm lapping all on my own, either in the lead of further down the field I tend to lose interest and make mistakes. If I'm chasing someone down or trying to escape from them it's a different matter. Sometimes I pay so much attention in these cases that I forget to take a swig of lager on the straighter parts of the track.

I also think having a small amount of your substance of choice before racing can help, maybe not for everyone, but it is well known that darts and snooker players have a swift pint or 2 before games to put them in the zone.

1. Tension is normal. Learn to deal with it.
Attack the problem, force yourself to stay calm. Don't get nervous.
Being able to deal with your own nerves also helps in real life. Self confidence is the word here. In real life drivers have the same problem. You won't believe how many Le Mans driver just can't for god's sake begin the 24h race relaxed. No, they are so nerveous they are fighting over tenths, raping the gearbox and overrevving the engine just to fight someone in the first 10 minutes of a race that lasts 24 hours. Dealing with your nerves is something you have to practice.
2. Concentration is either a matter of surrounding of practice.
If your surrounding doesn't fit you won't be able to concentrate. Your monitor should be near the natural focal distance of your eyes (including contact lenses) so your eyes can relax while being focused on the monitor. If you need to concentrate to focus your eyes on the monitor the distance is wrong.
Otherwise it's just practice. Practice focusing, use your willpower to keep your attention.

Vain

Be wary of sweets, whilst they do provide an energy boost over a short period of around 20 minutes they then result in a much longer extended energy defecit, over the course of a league race eating chocolate and other sweets in the preceeding two hours would have an impact on your concentration during the event.

In the perfect world healthy food and water would come in exciting packaging, be cookable in the microwave in 3 minutes, have lavish advertising, and taste nice.

Quote from Bean0 :

Sometimes I pay so much attention in these cases that I forget to take a swig of lager on the straighter parts of the track.

Nearly snorted my coffee

Quote from Bean0 :

I sometimes find that I am faster and more consistent when I'm not really trying, it's as if I just settle into the game and it just seems to flow.

use to notice this with some old WRC game, i got MUCH better times if i talked to my friend (IRL i mean!) that when i actually "tried", as i didn't "overdrive"

'moke da 'erb

concentration eh?

back when driving GP2, I could keep it up long, but I'd have these sudden moments where all of an instance I'd miss a corner for no apparant reason.

In online races, I often want to try extra good, and yeah, then the tension builds up, and surely it hasn't been just one time that made me make a stupid driving error.

normally, concentration in LFS seems to be just fine here. I sometimes start to "auto-pilot", I start to think of other things then and I just drive automatically (usually being slightly slower than normal if that happens), until I "wake up", that usually causes me to make a steering error immediately afterwards =P

and then there's the bad habit... doesn't have to do anything with concentration, but in a tense fight I sometimes forget the rules. Yeah, I know that's nothing to be proud of.

I have noticed that my concentration gets a huge boost when I'm in front of faster driver and if I happen to know the track, then it's pure pleasure. Trying to block the passes without being too aggressive and trying to get a good line is just so fascinating. Knowing that I need to puh my fastest times, but still be careful enough to take care of the tires and my lines... Just when entering into corner I have already pictured the next few turn and my lines through them. There is the thing called "zone" when you are completely inside the game.

However my concentration depends fully on how well I know the track. If I am not familiar with the track, I can't fully concentrate and picture the driving lines beforehand because I just can't be sure how should I go though the sections in front of me. It is just so easy to overshoot and lose lots of time.

Equal battles always get me hot

Quote from Hyperactive :

However my concentration depends fully on how well I know the track. If I am not familiar with the track, I can't fully concentrate and picture the driving lines beforehand because I just can't be sure how should I go though the sections in front of me. It is just so easy to overshoot and lose lots of time.

How do you usually handle a first time at a new track though? I'm generally quite bad at that.

What was the thread about again?.......

Ok Got it .....having a faster driver breathing down you neck does wonders for my concentration, also try to think about just the corner ahead, drive it in your mind before you reach it,delete all thoughts of splits, previous laps, how bad I did that last corner, will I get curry for dinner.. etc.

I will now return to a Zen-like state....UMMMMMMMMMM:hippy:

John

Quote from Samor :

How do you usually handle a first time at a new track though? I'm generally quite bad at that.

I atleast try to learn it, study the faster racers and what they do and get a feel how you should drive. Or if I don't feel like it, I just blast it straight from my memory, that's the case usually and surprisingly (??) it works guite good

Quote from Samor :

How do you usually handle a first time at a new track though? I'm generally quite bad at that.

I just drive few laps around it trying to learn and memorize the track, and after few laps I think I've had it, now I know it, and push little harder. The result is a nasty shunt with me yealling and crying to the car. And I'm quite pissed.

Then I close LFS and come here

Quote from Jakg :

use to notice this with some old WRC game, i got MUCH better times if i talked to my friend (IRL i mean!) that when i actually "tried", as i didn't "overdrive"

I know hwat you mean... I made a PB on one of my most played tracks whilst talking to my mom, who had wondered to my room... Driving was more based on instinct than real concentration. I was talking to her for the entire lap (AS1), crossed the finish line and was like... WTF?!

EDIT: Just remembered the topic we were discussing: underpants ...don't ask

Quote from PLAYLIFE :

I know hwat you mean... I made a PB on one of my most played tracks whilst talking to my mom, who had wondered to my room... Driving was more based on instinct than real concentration. I was talking to her for the entire lap (AS1), crossed the finish line and was like... WTF?!

because you know what to do as your driving, concentrating only helps when consistensy doesn't matter or when someone else is near