Eyes Up Drills

[Ducati Hap]

So I've been riding for 2 seasons now and I'm still struggling with keeping my eyes up and looking through corners so I'm looking for some suggestions from you guys on here. I understand the principle of looking through the corner to prevent triggering the "in too fast" SR however I"m only able to look where I need to be about 20% of the time. I've read Twist 2 and own Keith's DVD and everything I see says to simply look through each turn where you want to go however every time I'm approaching a corner my attention is immediately diverted to all the ###### I want to avoid, crack here, sand there, curb 10 feet out, etc. The end result is I'm going through each corner much slower than I know I can because my attention has been diverted from where I want to go.

 

Do any of you guys have some tips or drills that helped you get your eyes where they should be and not on the things they shouldn't?

[Mika]

Hap;

Welcome to the Forum. You have the materials and now need a plan. Do you remember reference points and how we should use them? They are pretty important tools to help us figure out where we are and where we want to go.

 

It' s a great place to start finding the answer.

 

Mika

[BLSJDS]

Hap;

Welcome to the Forum. You have the materials and now need a plan. Do you remember reference points and how we should use them? They are pretty important tools to help us figure out where we are and where we want to go.

 

It' s a great place to start finding the answer.

 

Mika

 

+1 Reference points (and WHEN you look at them) for turn-in, apex, and exit are the key to your issue. Read up on the two-step & three-step drills.

[warregl]

Welcome to the forum Hap!

 

I have the same issue (along with many, many others) and what has helped me are the vision drills in TOTW II and using them to develop my "wide vision". This is perfecting your ability to see with your peripheral vision and mitigate your natural reaction to focus on potential hazards. Opening up your vision will allow you to see those cracks, that sand and that curb without removing your focus through the corner. I know it's easier said than done, as I said I'm struggling with it myself, however using the vision drills in TOTW II has helped me. When I have my "wide vision" on, it's like everything slows down. And this is one of those skills you can practice while driving your car so it's not like you don't have time to practice.

 

Vision is extremely important...and (to me at least) very difficult to master. As Keith says, we were not designed to travel triple digit speeds, leaned over, and looking where we want to go, not where we are! It takes a bit of parctice to get past that basic design flaw .

 

Good luck,

Carey

[Crash106]

I've had the same problem. I still struggle with Sticky Vision--especially when anything little thing goes wrong. Try this:

 

Park the bike and get in your car as a passenger. Try to watch the vanishing point: the place where the two sides of the road meet. Practice letting yourself see the road immediately in front of the car in your peripheral vision while you focus more attention on that vanishing point. As a game, try to tell if the vanishing point is getting closer (the corner is tightening up) or further away (the corner is opening up). When you can do it as a car passenger, try it as a car driver. When you are comfortable doing it as a car driver, try it on the bike at the posted speed limit or even less, then gradually bring your speed up.

 

Working through this series of exercises helped me a lot.

[Jasonzilla]

This is more where the two step comes into play. When I'm coaching riders about doing this, it's a repeated problem. I'm on my 4th year riding track and have just gotten to the point that I can go wide, enter a corner way too fast, and still keep my eyes in the corner without panicking and picking the bike up or looking ahead. It takes work.

 

RP's are going to tell you where you are in relation to where you want to be. You watch them in your periphery while you're going through a corner to make sure you stay on line. Using the two-step is going to keep your head up and ahead of where you're going.

 

Redundance in training is the best way to learn. Early on Sunday mornings, so there's no traffic, find an empty parking lot (we use the one at the mall), make a "track" to ride around and keep working on just that. You're in a parking lot, so you're not trying to go fast AT ALL, but working on the two step. Over and over and over and..... Head up, finding your turn point then your apex, then your exit. Staying ahead of the bike. It will help on the track.

 

The video doesn't focus on the two-step, one of the best things you'll learn at the school, in my opinion. It's a GREAT tool.

[richard_m_h]

somewhat bizarrely practicing slow riding and u turns helped sort out the problem for me. slow riding you pick a point at the other side of the parking lot, focus on it and ride to it. its not threatening and I got used to using peripheral vision. u turns you have to turn your head right around and not look in front of the bike.

[Crash106]

+1 on the value of slow speed visual practice. Turn point. BIG head turn. Find a new reference. Tip in. Travelling at idle speed, you might drop the bike, but you can't really "crash."

[ktk_ace]

ride at 75% ^^