The Light Hands Technique

The light hands technique is one of the secret tools you're going to learn in this course. This technique allows you to gain and develop precision and sensitivity at the most subtle driving inputs that will be more and more important as you reach the limit. In this lesson we are going to talk about how gripping the steering wheel too hard is dangerous and how we can fix it at a professional level.

How the Steering Wheel Communicates with the Driver

The steering wheel works in two ways. First it will respond to your inputs and turn the front tires. Pretty obvious, but the second and not so obvious way is that it will physically resist to your inputs, giving you information on what's happening with the car. If you pay very close attention to it, you can improve your driving precision dramatically because it not only talks to you, sometimes it actually whispers.

Understanding Self-Centering Force and Force Feedback

Whenever you try to turn the steering wheel, a self-centering force is created. This force will try to bring the front tires back to a straight position. Different cars will have different self-centering force levels. Let's call this the force feedback. This feedback depends on how much load there is on the front tires.

For example, if you start braking slightly mid-corner, you can feel the steering getting heavier as the self-centering forces are higher because you're shifting more weight and more load to the front tires, adding more rotation and more self-centering forces. These force variations and responses are pretty immediate. More load, heavier steering. There's literally no delay between the input and the feedback.

Two Ways to Use Force Feedback

We can use the force feedback in two ways:

• First, we can metaphorically listen to the front grip levels by feeling it with our hands. The forces vary all the time consistently and you can always be aware of what's happening with the front tires.

• Second, if you let it happen, these forces can actually help you find and adjust the best steering angle you should be applying at any given moment. The steering will literally correct itself for you if you let it happen.

So how do we allow the steering to correct itself or to help us find the best steering angles at each corner by relaxing our hands? If you hold the steering with just enough grip and turn it with just enough force so that you can still feel the feedback with precision, you can actively use the force feedback to help you.

Light Hands Technique Under Threshold Braking

Under threshold braking, meaning full braking power on a straight line at the limit of the tires, the most effective lateral weight distribution is always 50/50. In a car with no ABS, for example, if you want to reach peak braking pressure without locking, the car has to be fully straight. If you turn to one side, the weight will be transferred to the other side and you will lock the unloaded side. If you turn to the left while braking the limit, you will lock the left tires.

Why Gripping Too Hard During Braking Is Dangerous

Now let's say you grip the steering wheel very hard while you're braking. You have a reason. You're trying to hold the steering at exactly 0 degrees to make sure the car is 50/50 pounds. In theory, that makes sense, but in practice, that doesn't work. Actually, you should almost never be at exactly 0 degrees under straight line braking. Here's why.

Remember the self-centering forces that happen naturally? They're always there. So any bump or imperfection on the road will turn the car slightly and the self-centering forces will immediately fix that for you. Because no road will be absolutely perfectly flat, the tires will consistently try to adjust a few degrees to the left or to the right to keep the weight balance 50/50 and compensate for the road imperfections.

But if you try to hold the steering at 0 degrees, then as soon as you hit a bump, the car moves slightly to one side and by holding it at 0 degrees, you're actually preventing the car from doing its own micro-correction, which will then offset the balance and make one side more loaded than the other just as if you're turning the car.

The Correct Approach: Zero Force Application

So instead of thinking of 0 degrees of steering angle trying to hold the steering in place, think of zero force application on the steering. You're holding it very lightly and letting these micro-corrections happen. In the end, the steering will be doing many micro-movements to adapt itself to the track and you will stay at the ideal lateral balance.

The Light-Firm-Light Pattern Through a Corner

As you start releasing the brakes and turning to the corner, you can slowly steer the car while adding a progressive turning force to the steering. The point at which you will be able to firmly turn the steering is closer to the minimum speed of the corner where you must rotate the car the most before accelerating and spiraling out towards the exit.

Finally, under acceleration, you should start relaxing your hands again, reaching peak lightness of the steering when you reach the exit. With the speed going up and up as you accelerate out of the corner, you should respect the fact that the car will be able to rotate less and less. And if you continue gripping the steering wheel far towards the exit, you can get a late oversteer and spin.

Summary of the Pattern

So in summary, we reach a pattern. Light, firm, light:

• Light hands under braking to maximize longitudinal grip

• Firmer hands at the lowest speeds to maximize rotation

• Lighter hands on exit to spiral out of the corner as you gain speed

Another way to describe this is that the steering force is always inversely proportional to your pedal and put application. The more you use your pedals, the less you should force the steering wheel.

Developing Muscle Memory

With time, you will develop a natural reflex and always relax your hands as you shift weight to the front tires under braking or as you start getting into full throttle. Just by developing this muscle memory, you decrease your chances of spinning and crashing dramatically.

Application in Medium Speed Corners

Even when you brake lightly into a medium speed corner where you don't have to decelerate on a straight line before, the light firm light pattern will be incredibly important, if not even more. This is because whenever you brake lightly, you shift weight to the front tires and they become lowered enough to point the car into the corner very quickly, which can cause a snap and a spin if you're not relaxing your hands enough.

Again, this should become a natural reflex. Every time you touch the brakes while turning, you relax your hands a little bit more. This will give you the sensitivity needed to rotate the car just enough without oversteering.

Conclusion

Consider this concept properly learned only when you can feel this while driving. We will work together on some simulator exercises to help you get up to speed in your light hands technique. I can easily say that this is the reason I've never ever crashed in real life.