Originally Posted by
BSR6
Good teachers can help us identify our capabilities, but cannot change how fundementally capable we are.
On my first track day when I was told the basics of cornering, one of the things I remember thinking was stay on the pegs and off the bars. I THOUGHT I knew what this meant. Initially I was putting a little pressure on the pegs and trying not to lean on the bars too much (but still grabbing them tightly). Then it started raining and the track was soaked, meanwhile I got bumped to the intermediate group and it was my first time out with them. I felt like I couldn't keep up. If I started to increase my speed even slightly the bike would start to slide in a way that I would compare to the feeling you get when going really fast on a roller skate. In several places the tires actually slipped out a bit, scaring the absolute shit out of me. But how was everyone else going so fast? I was scared shitless.
It was then that I realized that I was dead wrong about what I THOUGHT my instructor meant. Stay on the pegs pretty much means stand up but not quite, and stay off the bars means as little input as possible, as in almost letting go of them but not quite once you are in the turn. I then started squatting over the seat, leaving just enough pressure on my ass to keep me still while using my knee to hold me in place, and almost let go of the bars after I set the bike into the turn. The difference was night and day and keeping up was no longer a problem.
A truly talented person might not have needed that session in the rain, hell they may not even need an instructor to tell them. Their sheer talent may lead them to understand this technique simply by riding the bike and noticing how it feels. On the other hand, someone with zero talent might never be able to understand those concepts regardless of how well it is explained to them.
A good instructor can help us in areas we struggle by explaining them in a way that is easier to understand, but in the end its our own talent that leads to us figuring it out. More talented people figure things out faster with less assitance. They can also understand things at a level that most of us never will.