Thanks for all of the replies and advice. I took a guess at what would work for him, and went with the TJ Koyen speech. After I was done my son’s eyes were big as platters, but then he kind of smiled and got into the kart. First lap he did a beautiful inside block pass. So awesome to see him get over the hump finally.
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Awesome to hear. 
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That article on confidence has some very intriguing ideas! I’m a newb to legit club racing and have constantly asked myself, “do I really have what it takes to roll with these guys, or am I just having dillusions of grandeur after beating some slowpokes?” I constantly ask track attendents if they see the speed in me that deserves to compete with others. This is something I must work on, I must not need constant affirmation from others that I am where I belong. I believe there is info in your article here to help me accomplish this, thank you.
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Hi Daniel,
I’m glad the article is helpful for you!
Here is a three-word mantra to repeat to yourself often, and especially whenever you doubt yourself.
“WHY NOT ME?”
Just remember it’s not important where your performance is at the moment, what’s critical is constant improvement. MANY drivers lose momentum or plateau on the learning spiral, so if you keep the learning momentum going, you will eventually pass them.
In my experience, doggedly applying the information in the Learning, and Training Techniques sections of my site helped me keep my learning momentum going; perhaps it can help you too.
Good Luck
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I had the same issue when I was younger. I had the speed but wasn’t aggressive at all and would be terrible on starts or when passing. I was always afraid to pass someone unless I was right next to them or ahead. I didn’t want to cause a wreck and tear up parts or someone else’s stuff.
In one race I was racing with one of the faster drivers and I would get my nose just past his rear tire and he kept coming across and slamming the door. I got frustrated and forced myself to late brake and kept my kart there in the turn and he tried to come down again and just hit my side pod and nothing happened. I drove away from him and from then on I learned to be aggressive. Now I go out of my way to help new drivers to build more confidence and try to teach them to be aggressive.
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The timing of this thread has been fantastic for me.
I just recently found myself back in a kart that’s reliable enough to finish races, and running with a team whose actually paying attention to my racecraft. One of the things that I’ve been working on more lately is getting more comfortable committing to an overtake, rather than making 10 half-moves that do nothing but lose me time. That can deciding on a few overtaking spots that I want to focus on, rather than just guessing every corner, every lap.
Granted, there are some opportunistic passes that you have to just make with the opportunities present themselves, but it is much easier to have a plan going into battle!
Many of the strategies in this thread are super helpful!
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