Quote:
Originally Posted by Katie_UPS
Remember that correlation is not causation.
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I'd like to reiterate this point.
While your observation of correlation is, as an observation, not without merit, one must remember that correlation, as usual, does not imply causation.
There are a great deal of factors that contribute to driving skill, but, since your original post focuses purely on the practice factor, I'll address that only. The majority of this thread has focused on driving practice within a certain specific season with a robot. Before considering this, consider that a great way to gauge ability of drivers is competition before the new build season even begins. Put simply, it would be great to have a full practice field and practice robot for the 2012 game that drivers could practice with; however, the ability to deal with pressure of competition and general driver awareness, which are both factors that contribute a great deal to driver skill, can be developed BEFORE the new season's robot is even built.
For my team, drivers are almost always seniors who drive for one year. In that sense, each season the team brings in "rookie" drivers. That said, after the regular competition season ends and the senior drivers graduate, prospective drivers for the next season are selected to drive at offseason events, and, in that way, can be judged for general ability while simultaneously getting a number of matches under their belts. Even if the following season's robot is different in every way, the experience of driving at one, two, three, or even four off-season events can be invaluable in that it gives coaches/mentors an idea of what students are suited to driving under conditions that simply cannot be judged in a practice facility.
In reference to the original observation that practice field availability has some effect on driving skill, I'd like to refer back to Basel's comment, essentially that teams who have access to practice fields are often those who go looking for extra resources, are often teams with the manpower and proven efficiency to build a practice bot, and to utilize them effectively. So, while it is not necessary to have access to practice facilities to be skilled at driving, there is frequently a connection between the two.