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-   -   Pressure on Drive Team (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27093)

Rich Kressly 24-03-2004 10:59

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Excellent question. Let me frame my answer by saying I ws an athletic coach for ten years and for the past four years I have helped shape and manage Team 103's scouting and strategy operations which are designed to support the efforts of the field coach, human player, and drive team.

Pressure:
It exists no matter how a team approaches things. A drive team is in front of thousands of people representing their school, community, and sponsors. TV cameras are often rolling. You can never remove it and you ceretainly don't want them to feel overwhelmed on one side or "beaten down" on the other. A balanced approach seems best, but each driver has his/her own personality and that too is a consideration. In order to alleviate that pressure, more than 20 of our team members have some role in scouting/strategy in order to ensure we have an extremely well prepared and informed drive team so their focus can stay just on "the next match".

Mistakes:
This depends on how you define "mistake". Drivers making mistakes because of inexperience or human error is what I call a true mistake and can easily be understood and forgiven. Drivers need unique thinking, athletic, and interpersonal abilities to be successful and should be chosen carefully. Many of these mistakes over a prolonged period of time MAY indicate a need for a change.

Then there is a whole other category that may look the same to an observer, but in reality is not a mistake. This would be a driver who makes decisions on their own and ignores or discounts communication from field coaches and partners. Each person has a job to do out there and, in order to be consistently successful, complete trust and respect is paramount. A driver who displays this type of behavior may need to be replaced (for the good of the team) a lot more quickly.

Thankfully, in my four years, we have never had the need to replace a driver because of our careful selection process and diligent efforts to support the drive team with the best information possible. This is not to say we haven't made mistakes that we have learned from. We sure have! In the end, it's an important job that needs to be taken seriously, yet it needs to be enjoyed because so few FIRST participants get to experience the thrill of the player's station.

Ryan Morin 24-03-2004 11:53

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
I know as the driver of our team for three yers that the drive team alone puts alot of pressure on themselves that they don't need anymore pressure from the other members on the team. I mean sure tell us what we might have done wrong during a match but dont ridicule us for it. But as for pressure on ourselves in know that everytime we go up for a match my stomach is doing flips the whole time we are waiting for our match to start. As for sleep the leaders of our team don't make us get a certain amount of sleep each night during competitions, as long as we are able to get up at work at out best the next day.

Andy Grady 24-03-2004 15:58

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Having done just about every job imaginable in my 10 years of FIRST, I must say that being a member of the drive team is by far the most difficult job. You can equate drive crew to the Quarterback in football. The drive crew is the center of the team, they get the most glory when successful, but also get the most flack when something goes wrong. After coaching on a couple of different teams for a few years, I have learned to never insult or question any decisions the drive crew takes. Being up in the stands watching a match is completely different than being down on the field. Your vantage point is much different, the field is harder to see, and frankly its quite crowded back there...not easy to think straight.

In short...go easy on your drive crew. Keep in mind that every match is a huge emotional roller coaster for all of them. If you just keep them looking forward, and you focus on your strategy for the next round...you might just be successful more often than not. After all...we are here to have fun...right?

Good Luck,
Andy Grady

team222badbrad 24-03-2004 16:09

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Sleep is the only thing our advisors really care about for the drive team. Not that we abide by their wishes. I remember in Chesapeake I was in bed at 11:30. Then our alumni coach came knocking on the door with my jacket. Not to mention the Chilli that found its way into our room (dont ask). This mistake by the alumni room members caused us drivers to get even AHEM... The wars went on till past 1AM :D (Known as Hotel Room Wars)

MisterX 24-03-2004 16:11

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Luckily I am a memeber of the drive team on a pretty good team. I have never had any of my teamates come up to me and criticze any decision made by someone while up on the stage. They know that we hold tryouts for a reason, so the best people for the job are up on the stage when it counts. Personally the person who puts the most pressure on the dirve team is the drive team itself because they seem to always feel humble and how they arn't the best so they will often question their decision however, the team is always their to support them becuase they know they did there best and that all that they can ask for. Besides if a drive team is up their concerned about what others on their team is thinking of what is going on than the drive team si unable to truly focus on the game to the amount that is needed on the stage 110%

P.S. Besides if a drive memeber on my team slept for 15 hours after a competiton as soon as he got home he wouldn't get up till 1 or 2 the next after noon and the buses will have already left at 6:00

Lisa Rodriguez 24-03-2004 16:31

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Drive team is a job under pressure, in fact that's one of our team's requirements to be on drive team, you have to deal with pressure, we test this on thursday and friday (usually mostly thursday) same with human player, anyone can try, we will narrow it down at our facility, and then put you under pressure and see how it goes.
One thing about our team, is that this year, we started having committees and drive team was one of them. Suddenly, our mentor of the committee says that kids on build cannot be on drive. The mentor, who knows little about actually driving (he actually DID say this, and admits he just wants to be the person there when we drive) thinks that this is a most excellent idea. I personally, being the coach, got to do both, because i don't actually DRIVE the robot, and i get to split my time (even though they often are NOT during the same time) I disagreed with our adult, and explained my reasoning to him, yet he did not seem to understand my points and simply warded off my opinion.
Now, 3/4 of our drive team knows next to nothing about the robot, although we are teaching them, and this scares me. Drive should know a LOT about their robot and how it works, how else can they make simple repairs without freaking out needing engineers? (not that there is anything wrong with needing engineers, but we don't have any onstage)
Also, a bunch of the adults on our team puts pressure on the drive team to do well, and strategy and things like that. My drivers have some experience, but are constantly worried about pleasing everyone the entire time (i'm trying to stop that). We got to such a point between kids and adults telling us what to do (mostly the same thing, like when we did one thing wrong in a match, it was like EVERYONE needed to tell us 3xs) where we had to make everyone go through our drive team adult mentor so that all 30 people in the stands were not telling us the same thing. People often also put pressure indirectly on the drive team, making jokes that they take way to seriously (i'm trying to stop them from thinking too much, but they do) I try to explain to my team to come to ME when things go wrong, but sometimes they just don't listen.
Pressure is mounted on drive team. The only thing many drivers need to know is to listen to the coach, they will tell them what they need to do.

(btw--126, you guys have AWESOME strategy, you made us get as far as we did @ UTC, you guys ROCK)

The Paco 24-03-2004 16:50

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
as everyone as already established, a certain amount of pressure on the drive team is inevitable, but how the drivers deal with it is what separates the caliber of robot performances on the field. the most imprtant thing is to put as little pressure on yourself as possible and to have the complete support of an amazing team. no matter if our alliance wins or loses, there is ALWAYS room for improvement, and often times it is upto the drivers to figure out their mistakes and take action to correct them. after every match our drive team, coach, and other mentors who observed the match from the stands, watch the match on tape so we can all give constructive criticism to better our performance in the next match.

the robot and the drivers are only a small piece to any team's success. all the strategists, scouters, and the best coach in the world (in my opinion) come together to give us direction and hopefully sucess on the field.

Andy Grady 24-03-2004 17:10

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Keiko173
(btw--126, you guys have AWESOME strategy, you made us get as far as we did @ UTC, you guys ROCK)

Thanks! Believe me, we couldn't have done so well without you guys. I told your alumni and former driver Joel that he left your team in good hands. You have a very inteligent coach, and an excelent drive crew.

Also, now that I think of it, there are good ways to select a solid drive crew for the field. As teams may or may not have figured out, it takes more than just drive skill to do well out on the field. You have to have a very stable mentality and almost a type of hungry agression in you to succeed. Back when I was with team 42, I used to run certain tests to train the drive team. Instead of basing our decision on one simple test, I told all the students that we would select drivers based on how they reacted in a series of tests over the weeks, that way the pressure was always on. These tests included game intelegence and strategy quizzes, drive accuracy, knowledge of controls, and of course my favorite...Perfection. Yes...that is Perfection, the old game with the odd shapes and the board that would pop up if you didn't get all the parts in time. I would have all the students on the team gather around a table. One student would sit at the perfection board as everyone around him/her cheered and yelled. As the time dwindled down, and the crowd got louder, you could really tell exactly how someone would react under pressure. I highly recommend this technique for teams who do driver training. Remember, its those closing seconds which can be the most key in a match. If you chose a driver who is liable to freeze up, it may be the difference between 1st place and 2nd place.

Good Luck,
Andy Grady

LauraN 24-03-2004 18:55

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ali_rockon22
Our Drive Team is not just team members that just drive the robot. The Drive Team are made up of the hardest working people on the team. I mean the ones working on the robot.

We work in a similar way. Driving is seen as a "senior privelege" on our team. The people who have been around the longest and been the most dedicated get rewarded by being able to, as you said, "play" with the robot.

I agree with Ken, this has nothing to do with your driving abilities, BUT...

We have a very small school (about 250 students) and consequently a very small team. By the time we get down to "crunch time" a week before ship day, there are about 10 people in the basement doing work. I dunno, maybe that's a lot, but that's really our core team. Everyone else either only comes every once in awhile or works on the Photoshop or Animation teams. A lot of people see driving as the "fun" part, the part where you get to see all your efforts come together.

So we reserve the right for the seniors on the build team. It's maybe not the best solution, but as I said, we have a pretty small number of people to work with. And we feel it's fair that those who worked the hardest get to make it all work.

We're pretty supportive of our drive team and we don't really take matches too seriously. I mean, we want to win, but I think we're one of the more laid-back teams. If we win we're completely ecstatic, but if we lose we don't worry about it too much.

In the last of our matches at SBPLI our driver and operator made a really...I'll say "silly" mistake that pretty much cost us the match. We were all good-natured about it, and afterwards I greeted them with "what was THAT about?!" in a joking way. But once we saw that they were really upset about it, we stopped joking and made our (albeit feeble) attempts to cheer them up. And if we had a match after that, we would have given them some chocolate and sent them back out on the field with encouraging words. :) We wouldn't "kick them off" the drive team for one mistake, or even multiple mistakes.

It's definitely not the best way to run things, but that's our philosophy and we're sticking to it! =)

Ryan Albright 24-03-2004 19:09

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Excellent question.

Well i find the pressure over whelmining, but that is just not from my team that is from myself ripping me apart. Our team is split up into sub teams, such as drivetrain, arm, scouting,etc etc. While we are not competeing its the time for those teams to shine. Then you have the driveteam, To be one of the drivers on your team is a honor. When you are in a driving position it shows that you have been given the respect from the team and the backing of the team to go up and compete. NO matter how much work someone does it all comes down to you. For those two minutes you are the deciding factor on how the team reacts and how were you are placed. When you are in the driving role you are looked up to, not only by your own team but by every other team. I remeber when i was a freshman i looked up to our driver and always thought i want to be him someday. Last year i got my chance and i didnt think it would be a big deal, then i got up there. Its a totally different world up there, for those two minutes you are the MAN or WOMAN. When i get up there i put alot of pressure on myself i want to succeed for the team, for all the hardwork they have done. For the sponsors giving us all that money, i want to have a winning result and then just for myself i am a very competitive person and i like to win. When we have a good match i am over joyed and it seems like nothign can bother me. When we lose i tear myself apart, i replay the match in my head over and over to see what we did wrong and what we could of done different.

when we win i feel like i have highlighted all the hardwork the team has done
When we lose i feel like i have let down the team

I guess all i am tryign to say is when i get up there i feel like i have a responsiblity to bring a win to the team cause they have put the trust of the robot and its performance to the driver, cause no matter how good yoru robot is it all come's down to the skill of the driver

Scott Shaw 237 24-03-2004 19:19

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
Well I can tell you that being on a drive team is probably the most demanding, but most rewarding of all the jobs that a team must do to run. While there is always the heavy hold on you from the team to do good and try to win all of your matches, i really dont feel nervous until we hit the finals. When we lose, i fix what i did wrong or what happened to the robot and when we win, the burden of winning is lifted slightly from my shoulders and i am relaxed. As Andy stated

The drive crew is the center of the team, they get the most glory when successful, but also get the most flack when something goes wrong. After coaching on a couple of different teams for a few years, I have learned to never insult or question any decisions the drive crew takes. Being up in the stands watching a match is completely different than being down on the field. Your vantage point is much different, the field is harder to see, and frankly its quite crowded back there...not easy to think straight.

And I believe every single word he said is the truth.

BillyGoats 24-03-2004 19:58

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
as for the driver and I, I dont think theres to too much pressure during the compition becuase we know if we do our job right we will accomplish what what need to accomplish. it helps having a robot you know will perform 100% every time you go out there.

As for bed time since we are from MA and we go to the FL regional we got down there 5 days before the regional to go to disney and have a good time. curfew was 11:30 those nights. Wendsday night i'd say we where in bed by 10-10:30ish for practice. Then Thursday curfew for the whole team was 9 so every one got to bed early. Then Friday nights curfew was 2am because we did well and won the Judges Award. Our mentor did not say ne thing to us he kinda figured that we would make the right choice and be in bed by a reasonable time. We where in bed by 11:30 witch was not bad. No need for 15hrs of sleep just 6 or 7 will do good.

Robohawk-master 24-03-2004 20:22

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
here's my 2c's

I feel that pressure is nessesary in a sense to give driver (like me) that this is a task not to take lightly. Just as any role of the team, you make the pieces of the puzzle work.

It's what you do with your robot,
Not how you use it.

westfalia 24-03-2004 21:45

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
On our team, being a driver is more or less an earned position. We have tryouts (when the robot is capable) and that usually puts us in the right direction. I've been more than fortunate to have been a driver or operator for all four years now!

It's funny, but I feel absolutely no pressure when I go into the booth anymore. It's almost like riding a bike- the confidence that I've achieved is all because I'm familiar with the stance I'm in and the manuevers I'm going to make. I usually worry more about the robot working correctly, or a program put in the correct way for a given place. I usually do a little dance before each round- watch for me (the guy with long hair for 341) and you'll notice it.

With our team, we have our coaches and whatnot in the booth as well, and they are always told to do the strategy, but it always ends up being the drivers who both do all the stategizing (play by play during the match) and when we mess up, we're the ones who face the consequences of guilt and worry about repetition of the same problem.

So yeah- that's the story. I LOVE being an operator, I'll tell you that though!

One more thing- all us drivers seem to agree it's a difficult task. Let's all try to realize that when either one of our robots doesn't perform well during a match, it's not what we intended!

FadyS. 24-03-2004 21:54

Re: Pressure on Drive Team
 
In our case, we're trying to put as little pressure as possible on the drivers. We're writing out tactical scenarios pages long that the drivers must follow precisely. If the driver panics, the mentor will be right there to simply tell him to execute stage 3 for example.


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