Light Hands Technique

Exercise Setup

For this exercise, we are going to focus on only one corner. Begin with a warm-up lap that is very relaxed to remember the cold tires. After completing the warm-up, we will set up an active reset before the second corner. After exiting the first corner, set up an active reset in the designated area. The objective is to practice being very patient through this corner to achieve a good exit, then execute the active reset.

Introduction to the Light Hands Technique

The objective of this exercise is to realize how precise your steering is and how reactive and responsive it is to any input. Notice that this particular corner does not require very hard braking—just a little bit of braking and then you turn in.

A critical point to understand: if you turn in with tense hands and add the brakes, it is very easy to spin. Just a little bit too much force on the steering, combined with pulling the car slightly and adding trail braking, can make the car spin very easily.

The Magic Combination: Hands and Brakes

The magic combination here is between your hands and the brakes. When examining the brake trace, you will see that approximately 1% brakes (what feels like 1%) should already be enough to make the car rotate very well. With relaxed hands and minimal braking, the car will turn effectively. However, if you make a mistake with slightly tense hands, even minimal brake input can cause issues.

Initial Turn-In: The Most Critical Phase

This exercise reveals several important insights about initial turn-in, which is where you should be the most relaxed. Key points about initial turn-in:

• Initial turn-in is where you should have the most relaxed hands

• If you have slightly tense hands or force the car a little bit during initial turn-in, even with almost no brakes, being too sharp can cause the car to spin

• Come into the corner relaxed, then you can apply a little bit more force mid-corner

• Mid-corner you can add a little bit more input, though you should still remain relatively relaxed compared to common practice

Trail Braking Sensitivity

As the car settles and starts turning in, you should still be on the brakes—still on that 1% brakes (what feels like 1%). In reality, we are actually somewhere between 0 and 20-25% brakes, but at first, if you don't have that sensitivity or are not super used to very precise trail braking, it's going to feel like 1%.

The technique progression is: apply 1% brakes with super relaxed hands on initial turn-in, then you can turn a little bit more mid-corner. You want to be very cautious on entry and then a little bit more aggressive as the corner progresses.

Understanding Spin Characteristics

An important observation: the car tends to spin very easily on initial turn-in, but it's actually not that easy to spin mid-corner. When you force the car a little bit more mid-corner with trail braking, it may actually understeer. This is a normal characteristic with almost all cars.

The reason for increased spin tendency on initial turn-in relates to engine braking dynamics:

• As the car gets deeper into the corner, speeds are going down

• Engine braking is also going down as the RPMs decrease

• On a rear wheel drive car, engine braking adds more rotation

• On initial turn-in, you have the most engine braking, which is where the car will tend to oversteer the most

• This is why you need to be the most relaxed on turn-in

Progressive Steering Input

The proper technique sequence is: be very relaxed with a little bit of braking on initial turn-in, then add more steering and more force mid-corner. You don't have to go extremely fast—the goal is to feel the tendency of how light the car gets and how easy it is to spin if you ignore this principle.

Late Braking Considerations

When attempting to brake later, you may find yourself braking harder on initial turn-in because you brake later and need more braking force. If you try to maintain the same light braking while braking later, you'll notice what happens naturally: when trying to stay on the line and the car is fast, if you notice the car doesn't really want to turn by looking at the apex, you will instinctively turn more. This can be a dangerous thing if you brake late.

This is why when you brake late, you tend to oversteer on initial turn-in: you're looking at the apex and trying to force the car to go to the apex even if it's too fast to do so.

Understanding the Steering and Braking Combination

The exercise helps you notice that it's a combination between your steering and your brakes that makes the car turn. Important observations:

• If you use super light hands but are not braking at all, the car still rotates somewhat, especially if you go very fast, but it might be too fast

• You really need the brakes to make the car turn in properly

• If you get a little bit of a slide and correct it, that's actually good practice

• Try to provoke oversteer on entry, correct it, and experiment to test how light the car gets on turn-in

Course Objectives

This exercise is extremely useful to help you prevent entry snaps that you would not expect. The objective of this whole course is for you to know what to expect and when things are going to happen. The exercise is invaluable for building comfort with trail braking and maintaining the brakes all the way through the corner.

Common Beginner Mistakes

A very common mistake for beginners is to brake, drop the brakes completely, and then turn. While this can still work, you have more control if you stay on the brakes a little bit more because:

• You can achieve that extra rotation when needed

• You can be in full control of the balance of the car

• If the car is very oversteer-prone, then yes, you can brake, drop, turn, and get back on power

Try both approaches to see how each feels, but the primary goal is to be able to keep that 1% braking with very relaxed hands on turn-in to gain proficiency and sensitivity that will be useful in many situations.

Expanding the Exercise

After you become comfortable with this single corner, you can apply the same technique to the next two corners:

• Exit in fourth gear with a little bit of brakes and light hands, then back on power (the car may get a little bit loose, which is expected with the loose setup)

• Then approach the next corner in third gear with light hands, forcing a little bit more mid-corner

The Light-Firm-Light Pattern

This introduces the pattern of light-firm-light that is fundamental to advanced driving technique. Light hands on entry will always help the car just point with just enough steering input, combined with the help of the brakes and a very precise steering angle. This principle applies to all corner entries, even the ones where you brake very hard on a straight line, which is actually a little bit more difficult to combine both techniques. This proficiency develops slowly but progressively with practice.