[Fundamentals] Protocols and Peak Performance

Quick fixes and catchphrase advice promise fast results with minimal work, often with little merit or real knowledge of your individual situation. “Hey, I noticed you’re slow through turn 2, you should just get on the throttle more…” or, “I read you should downshift before you brake, I’m doing it so you should too…” With so much noise circulating in the opinion world, often dominated by bad takes and click bait, how do you recognize true expertise and find the information that addresses your specific needs?

While quick-fix and catchphrase advice has always been around, particularly in our sport, I’ve been seeing quite a bit more of it lately on the front lines of track days, schools, and amateur racing events. Combine that with the culture of social media, in which everyone can have a voice, share their opinion, and pass it off as expertise, it is increasingly frustrating to see growing numbers of unqualified or outright misinformed people sharing wrong, unhelpful, and sometimes explicitly harmful “advice”. The broader consequences of this trend aren’t trivial for our sport, given the physical and financial risks involved. So much time and tribulation could be saved simply by embracing the tried and true path to mastery: consistently working the fundamentals.

Brad Stulberg’s article, “Protocols and Peak Performance”, from The Growth Equation, addresses this very issue. Speaking more generally about the principles of peak performance, he writes:

“The truth is that anyone who is being honest and is worth their salt will tell you that peak performance is not about supplements, cold plunges, or fancy protocols. It’s about a steadfast commitment to nailing the fundamentals of your craft for years and having the right people around you.” (emphasis mine)

This will sound very familiar to those of you who follow my work and understand my approach to motorsports training, namely the process of improvement and developing mastery. In this podcast, I read Brad’s article with interjections and perspective from the motorsports world, including lessons learned from decades of teaching this sport.

I’m also trying something new with this podcast. I’ve recorded it within Substack’s own platform and will release it separately on my Soundcloud. You can find more of Brad’s work on distinguishing signal from noise at The Growth Equation. As always, all my other podcasts are archived on Soundcloud.