Helmet comms for coaching?

I have the idea that this might be a good idea for working with Kiddo at track days.

Anyone tried it?

 

Might work.

Might be a distraction.

How close to their limit is the kid riding? The closer to their limit, the more it will be a distraction.

 

He's still reaLly early on the learning curve.

 

If he's that close to his limit, he won't be learning anyway. I'd think it'd be a great idea.

 

I have wanted to do this for years at the track. i think it would be of great benefit to me with real time coaching in my ear rather than 5 laps later saying, "you apexed early on turn 3 lap 3"

And I am , "Um yeah, I'll work on that"

I have bad habits at some tracks. I think real time in the ear, "don't do X again this lap" right as I am about to do it would help

 

"Turn left"

 

I've used them in the past when I was riding with my wife. when we were two up on the track it was nice to talk to her about what I was going to do (hold on, i'm going to pass him on the inside coming out of the turn) so she could be prepared. Once she started riding on her own, it was nice to do SOME coaching when she was riding. Not all the time and I would try not to do any talking when she was in a corner, but if there was a bit of a straight, and she was receptive, I would try to talk to her some more.

I'm sure each person is different and it might be VERY distracting to have someone talking to you when riding, but from a lot of two up riding, and talking, she enjoyed the instant feedback as long as it wasn't all the time.

 

Maybe they're better now. Back yrs ago(late 80s) we tried to use some FM headsets during practice. Between the engine, wind noise, etc, I couldn't hear jack chit.

 

they are much better

 

I have access to pretty much any tool I want for coaching.....video, car driving, data, bike to bike comm, etc and video wins every time. I have worked with probably over a thousand riders over the years and comm would work of for maybe half a dozen of those. Comm would be the last on the list by a country mile.....

Ken

 

Wife and I used Cardosystems starting back in 2009. Me on my bike. Her on hers. Track. We loved it.

 

1 on 1 before during and after sessions would be better IMO..then add Video so he or she can see what's going on rather than hearing someone in their ear. I couldn't imagine someone in my ear on any track... Sitting in a car is one thing but riding a bike is another..

 

thanks!

 

Doug Polen does this for 1-1 training. The people that I've talked to that have trained with him said it was very effective. But, that is a world champion racer following and talking to you. I don't think just anyone could pull it off.

 

khill is one of the best instructors out there. He does this all day long, I'll take his word that comm is not a great tool.

 

Funny story...I just worked at AHRMA at Sonoma with the guy that bankrolled his deal. He wanted to use the comm deal and we did...for the first session...once we did video review with me, the comm system came off. His words were, "video review with you is 100x more effective."

Ken

 

Seeing it third person probably helps a lot too. You can think you're doing something all day until you see it in a different perspective.

 

Video is definitely best when teaching style. I used the intercom when teaching my boys how to ride and it was a real help.

 

Interesting...good to hear. I've never tried it myself, I talked to Polen about it and of course he pumped it up. I thought about trying it with students but never did. It does seem that there would be just way too much going on for a rider to process, and keeping the brain calm is key.

I spoke with people who were coached by Polen and they gave good reviews but that is the extent of my knowledge of it.