Should I be harder on the brakes then? Did the kart seem boggy off corners? Is gradual braking wrong? Should I change my style then?
Your braking application should be rapid. If you are slowly squeezing onto the brakes, you will always lose time in the braking zone. This does not, however mean you should slam on the brakes. It will take a little practice. If you watch TJ’s application, it is rapid and quick, the kart skitters under brakes, but it never gets sideways. This is threshold braking at its best. OTK karts especially love this type of braking style, and require a lot of front loading to really work well. At least, that has been my experience.
Do you ever look at your driving data? If you’d like, we can look through it together, just looking at a braking trace. they should look like they fall off of a cliff, rather than roll down a hill.
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Should I practice just locking the brakes to find the limit of the braking? And should I always be locking the brakes?
Great question!
The answer as you suspected is “sometimes.” I wouldn’t always lock up the brakes, but into hard braking zones you do need to maximize how much you are braking.
I would go out and practice braking at the limit. Find a style that works for you, to where you can turn consistent lap times, but also drive into the corners and braking zones with adequately aggressive braking. Into higher speed corners you likely don’t want to lock up brakes.
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my home track is usually green. Does that mean I can be more aggressive on the braking?
Yes practice braking, even if it’s green. It’s arguably the hardest think in Karting.
You need to attack. If the motor is shutting down, you’ll probably need a carb adjustment too.
Maybe we can have a brake-off at Stockholm when it warms up 
Also, worth listening to the podcast series we did with Mr @Terence_Dove on driving techniques if you haven’t already. It’s on SoundCloud and iTunes.
Episode 20: (Part 1) "Learn How to Master the Art of Kart Driving" with Terence Dove
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Okay thank you!. If the weathers alright I will be practicing in March. Have you done a lot of laps at SKC?
That’s a good question. Probably 300 or so over the years. I haven’t been able to get out as much as I’d like. Last year was the first time in three years that I was able to get out.
Okay. I have been racing there for a year and a half. Are you racing this year?
I hope to get out there a few times. Either the 206 and/or an outlaw. But I don’t have any specific plans yet. I’d like to get my daughter out for more laps next year too 
Hope to see you out there! Thanks for the help!
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I’m a relative n00b and just got back from 4 days of coaching where my objective was to git gud at braking. Or at least not be awful.
So unlike what I thought, it’s not stand on the brake, back starts to kick out, reduce pressure.
It’s actually much more pedestrian and repeatable.
Inititally it’s unlikely you will be unable to consistently find the 99.33333% pressure which represents max pressure without lockup. So don’t try. Settle for 98.
Each time you approach the major braking corners use that exact same pressure. That pressure is your constant. Now pay attention to your braking point. That’s the variable. With each pass, move the braking point in a bit closer. Don’t mess with the pressure though. It’s going to feel like you are going too quick as the brake point gets further and further in. Trust your 98%. Repeat a hundred times.
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All great advice here on KP as usual!!
I give away free the braking chapter in my book, it should give you some more insights…Download it here:
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Thanks for the advice!
Every single corner requires something different. Going into the cell-tower corner for example, you are barely using the brakes, so you don’t need to slam on them. But getting slowed down into the left hander (old turn 4, new turn 5) requires hard braking on the very limit, as well as the I-70 corner at the end of the first straight.
It just takes experience and practice knowing how hard and how fast to brake for each corner.
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Okay thank you TJ. Are the x30 braking points similar to the Ka100 braking points? I have been watching yours and Braden eves videos to help. I noticed you both hit the brakes to the limit and then slowly get off them at or before the apex. Is that considered trail braking or threshold?
Yes, KA on MG Reds vs. X30 on MG Yellows have very similar braking points.
Threshold braking = braking at the very limit, just before locking up, so you’re getting maximum stopping traction. The tires should just chirp slightly.
Trail braking = carrying braking application into the turn-in point of the corner, sometimes up until apex.
So you’re seeing me do both. I brake hard and get the kart slowed down quickly, but I’m braking at the maximum latest point so I’m carrying a little brake to the apex usually. This means there is minimal coasting, and I’m almost instantly back to the throttle as soon a I come off the brake. Some drivers don’t trail brake as much, and they get the kart slowed down a little sooner and are able to get on the gas a little sooner. I’ve found that because of my height, trail braking helps me load the kart onto it’s nose a bit better, and transfers the weight better since I don’t have a high center of gravity. A taller driver might not be able to get away with trail braking because they’ll overload the kart with their higher center of gravity.
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Did you ever have to worry about too much grip for the mg reds? Being that the tires have less grip, should I run more caster in the kart?
The Reds aren’t that hard, they still can bind the kart up.
And not necessarily. You should run whatever amount of caster makes the kart work properly. I always tell people, you can’t tune the kart at home.
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Thanks for the advice! Are you racing this year? Otk baseline is neutral all the way around correct? Seat at 62,62.5, and level with bottom of the frame? Bar flat, N short or N long?