How to Shift the right way for road and track.

Bad habits when shifting...

You may think shifting is a no-brainer function, but in a sport where
the difference of winning may be 1/100th of a second, every detail
counts. In this discussion we point out how to acheive smooth, quick
shifts that are easy on the hardware. We're assuming the use of a
typical H-box shifter in a street car for this.

Many people fall
into two bad habits on the street when shifting. First, Hollywood has
taught everyone that it looks cool to always leave your right hand on
the shift knob. Wrong! You may as well tie your hand behind your back as
leave it on the shift knob. Your hand belongs on the steering
wheel--always. When you need to shift--shift, and get your hand back on
the wheel. Don't even rest it on the shifter for a few seconds a head of
time to "get ready." Every time your hand leaves the steering wheel
you've given up 50% of the tactile feedback you have from your hands,
and 50% of your capability to control the car. If you're racing with
other cars around you, you never know when you may get tapped. Even when
racing alone, mechanical failure may cause handling trouble. You'll
want both hands on the wheel when that happens.

The second bad
habit some people have is shifting with excessive force. Too tight a
grip, and slamming from one gear to another will actually slow your
shifting down, and cause excessive mechanical wear. Proper shifting uses
an open palm grip on the top of the shift knob, and a gentle but fast
guide from one gear to another. We repeat---all shifting is properly
done with the hand open and cupped over the top of the knob, not wrapped
around it like a fighter plane control stick.

To shift from the
top of the H to the bottom, start by forming a cup with your palm and
fingers. Place the palm of the hand over the top of the shift knob.
Using the underside of your fingers and your palm against the knob, use a
smooth straight-line motion to guide the lever to the next gear.
Assuming the shift lever has a fairly short travel, the action involves
your wrist for the majority of the movement. Do not attempt to slam it
or force it faster than it wants to go. If you are locking your wrist
and moving your whole arm at the shoulder, you are using too much force.

To
shift from the bottom of the H to the top, again start by forming a cup
with your palm and fingers. This time when you place the hand over the
shift knob, the emphasis of contact is on the heel of the palm. Start
with the wrist slightly bent up. Push the lever using the palm heel in a
straight line using your wrist to extend the position of the palm heel
while following through with a gentle push of the arm. This shift is
more arm motion than wrist.

When shifting across the H such as
between 2nd and 3rd gears, do not try to make a conscious jog in your
hand movements. The linkage needs very little input to make the diagonal
path across neutral. Your shift should almost look like a straight
diagonal line. Making a distinctive zig zag through neutral is
strong-arming the shifter and will slow the shift down.

Using
smooth, soft control of the lever does not imply doing it slowly. A
gentle force of the lever will allow the shift linkage to move freely
through its natural motions. If you strong-arm the motion you will end
up forcing the linkage through lines that have more resistance. This
will slow the shifting down. Use as much wrist movement as possible in
place of moving the whole arm.

Some of you may be tempted to
learn the techniques of "speed shifting"--shifting without using the
clutch--in the interest of saving time. Many schools and professional
racers have shown over and over that there is no speed or lap time
advantage to this, and it carries a much higher risk of gear box damage.



Shifting
from the top of the box to the bottom, form an open cup with your hand,
and place over the shift knob with the inside of your fingers and the
palm of your hand making contact. Guide the lever quickly, but without
strong-arming it. Push it, but don't slam it. The movement is primarily
from the wrist. If you're locking your wrist around the shifter like a
fighter-plane control stick, you will actually be slowing your shift
down.