Garmin Catalyst™ Driving Performance Optimizer 5-15-1 Process
The 5-15-1 Process is a simple way to think about using the power of the Garmin Catalyst™ Driving Performance Optimizer (Catalyst) in between sessions to help you constantly and consistently improve your driving. Yes, a big benefit of the Catalyst is that it gives you auditory, real-time feedback and coaching while you’re driving, but it also helps self-coach between sessions by prioritizing what you should focus your improvement on for the next session.
We all know that our time between on-track sessions can be tight and busy. Between refueling your mind, body, and car, along with socializing, you may only have 5 minutes to prepare for the next session. Or 15 minutes. Or 1 hour. And that’s what the 5-15-1 Process is all about – helping you make the most of your limited time between on-track sessions.
The Catalyst can provide you with a “quick hit” of coaching, or allow you to dig as deep as you want into the data and video to help you get an even clearer picture of what you should be a working on with your driving in the next on-track session.
If you Have 5 Minutes Between Sessions:
With only 5 minutes to spare preparing for the next on-track session, the goal is to get a clear mental picture of one thing that will make your driving performance better. Just one. And it needs to be very clear in your mind - what exactly you need to do with that one thing.
So, after clicking on the Review tab, and selecting your outing:
1. Compare Best Lap to Optimal Lap time; note the difference. No need for judgement here, but note whether it’s less than a second, or more.
2. Tap Laps, and note the number of laps (less than 5 laps and consistency will likely have suffered). If the difference between your Best and Optimal lap times was more than a second, ask yourself (and answer honestly) how much of the difference was due to traffic and how much due to inconsistency in your driving.
3. Back to the main Review page, and note the three highlighted areas on the track map. They’re the three Opportunities (places where the biggest gains in lap time can be made), so make note of where on the track they are.
4. Now, look at the Top 3 Var. –
• 0.5 or less - excellent
• 0.5-1.0 - okay consistency, but should be improved (consider the number of laps and the amount of traffic - excuses!); this could be the number one priority for the next session
• 1.0-2.0 - not consistent enough, and improving this is priority one
• 2.0-plus - very inconsistent; need to understand why, and work on this one area
5. Tap on Opportunities and review Opportunity 1
• Overview – In bottom-right corner, note where the Time delta begins to spread (where the biggest difference between the purple and white cursors are in relation to position on track map), as that’s where the priority is within Opportunity 1. From here you’ll likely be able to get a glimpse into whether it’s a braking, line, or acceleration issue. Note the biggest difference in the Speed trace.
• Braking – What does the Catalyst tell you about your braking?
• Apex – What does the Catalyst tell you about your line?
• Speed – What does the Catalyst tell you about your speed?
Note: In each of the Overview, Braking, Apex and Speed tabs, be sure to zoom in on the track map (place your thumb and forefinger on the map, and spread them apart) to see details.
6. Take a moment to understand what you should do in the next session based on the Top 3 Var. and Opportunity 1 – should you focus on improving consistency, or use Opportunity 1 to improve your Best Lap time? Be sure to get a very clear mental picture of that.
7. Watch the Optimal Lap video as many times as you can, and get clear on what it is you should do (since this is a video of you driving the Optimal Lap, soak up this video image of what it is you should be doing consistently; use this video to get a clear mental image, as it’s critically important to learning and improving).
8. Go drive! And listen to the audible coaching from the Catalyst, in addition to what you identified as the single highest priority for you to work on with your driving.
If you Have 15 Minutes Between Sessions:
With 15 minutes to spend reviewing the information from the Catalyst, and preparing for the next session, start just as you would with 5 minutes. Then, I recommend you focus on two areas of your driving: Opportunities and consistency.
Opportunities: Dig in deeper and spend more time reviewing all three Opportunities. With 5 minutes, you quickly reviewed Opportunity 1; with 15 minutes, you have time to review all three Opportunities, and really be clear on how you’re going to use the feedback from the Catalyst.
Consistency: The value of consistency over one fast lap time… it not only demonstrates how consistently you can produce the lap time, but the effort it takes to do so. Let’s say your best lap time is a 1:30.5, but because of track conditions or the wear on your tires, you’re only able to turn a 1:31.0; how do you know if you improved or have actually performed worse than in the past? The Top 3 Var (top 3 variance) is a great metric to indicate how much effort it’s taking to do those laps, as well as the obvious of your consistency. If your lap time is a 1:31.0, but your Top 3 Var is 0.3 (whereas it’s usually 0.7), then you’ve improved – even though your outright fastest lap time is not as fast as the 1:30.5 you’ve done in the past.
Something else happens when you focus on driving more consistently. It establishes a baseline for your lap times. If 1:30.5 is your outright fastest lap, but most laps are in the 1:31s, then 31s are your baseline. I like to think of them as being “cheap,” and you can turn them pretty much all the time. But, after turning 31s consistently, and when you combine what you’ve learned from the Opportunities, you’ll likely find that your new “cheap” baseline is in the 1:30s, and you’ll begin turning them fairly easily. Use the Top 3 Var. and Top 5 Var. as tools to help you focus on consistency.
After you’ve spent approximately 7-8 minutes understanding your consistency, the Opportunities, and viewing your Optimal Lap video, spend 5 or so minutes doing mental imagery (visualization) of the techniques it’ll take to accomplish the Opportunities. This is where you’ll mentally “cement” what it is that you’re going to do on track. It’s one thing to read and watch what the Catalyst is telling you to do, but another level altogether to mentally program it.
Start by closing your eyes, relaxing, and breathing slowly. Take a minute or so to allow your mind to slow down and get into a more receptive state. When you’re mentally relaxed and in a calm state, imagine doing what the Catalyst told you was Opportunity 1. Imagine what that looks like. Imagine what your hands, arms, legs and feet will be doing – and actually move them to build the muscle memory to do so. Imagine what this would sound like – what the sounds from the engine, tires, wind, brakes, etc. will be. Do this for at least 5 minutes.
Finally, to reinforce the mental imagery, watch your Optimal Lap video one last time… and then go drive.
If you Have 1 Hour Between Sessions:
Now is the time to dig deep into what the Catalyst can tell you, to help you understand what you should do in the next on-track session.
Again, start with the same review process you used when you had 15 minutes. But with more time to spend learning more from the Catalyst, dig in deeper into the Segments.
After you’ve reviewed and gotten clear in your mind what the Opportunities are telling you to focus on, tap the Segments tab. There are so many different pieces of information the Catalyst has for you to learn from that it’s impossible for me to tell you to focus on just one. Instead, ask yourself what you can learn from each bit of information. The idea here is to “peel back the layers of the onion” to get a more detailed understanding of how you can improve. However, it is very possible to get into information overload, and be overly-analytical. Keep it simple; keep it at a level that you can understand and use.
With an hour or more, it’s super-productive to spend more time using mental imagery to lock in what you’ve learned from the Catalyst, and to be mentally prepared to use the information. Once again, simply reading and watching what the Catalyst tells you to do is step one towards improvement (a big step), but making that part of your mental programming is the next and final step. Remember, you do what you do because you’re mentally programmed to do so; you don’t do what you want sometimes because you either don’t have the right programming, or you accessed the wrong mental program. Use the Catalyst to help you develop and fine-tune your mental programming. The combination of watching the Optimal Lap video and using mental imagery (visualization) is an incredibly powerful learning tool.
Just before you go back on track, be sure to watch the Optimal Lap video one more time. Then, it’s time to drive!
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One final thought about this process: while the Catalyst makes it easy to understand and see where you are on the track with either the video or the map (and map segments), I do believe there is a strong benefit to having a separate track map (printed, on paper!) by your side as you’re reviewing the information. Ideally, once you’ve taken in the information and coaching from the Catalyst, I strongly recommend you physically write down what it is you’re going to do the next time you go on track. As the social scientist Robert Cialdini wrote, “People live up to what they write down.” The act of writing down even a few simple bullet points will make them stick in your mind and be part of your mental programming.
Finally, understand that this is how I approach using the Catalyst, but there are different ways to prioritize the information and feedback from it. If you’re new to the Catalyst, start with this process. Then, if you want, change it to suit your needs. It is important, though, that you stay consistent with the process for some time, as you’ll pick up trends in your driving – good and bad.
Use the Garmin Catalyst™ Driving Performance Optimizer to help you keep learning, and having fun!
- Ross Bentley
