[AmyPrib]

Well, being a new coach, I think there is a very fine balance of "pressure" or rather teamwork that needs to be applied within the driveteam. I do not feel that a driver or operator should be the ones making all the strategy decisions. In this game especially, there are so many things going on, that there is no way the driver can see what the best move is all the time. That's why you have a coach, operator, and human player as extra sets of eyes.

Now depending on the experience level of the operators, they can make their own decisions at any given moment to the best of their ability. Veteran operators have a hand up in the decision making capability. Rookie operators would probably need more coaching. Rookies may also feel more "pressure" simply because they don't have the experience at operating or strategy choices, and they are always trying to do their best.

I do feel that the driver and operator need to have a very good line of calm communication, because they literally have to work together in operating that robot. As far as the coach is concerned, I think one of their main roles is to guide the strategy, while taking as much input from the student operators as possible. I think that some level of strategy should be thought out before you get to the field because that also eliminates confusion on the field. I think if all 4 drive team members have good communication, trust, and teamwork, the confusion factor will be minimized, if not eliminated.

As far as one of the original questions, I don't think that so much pressure should be put on the student operators that they get flustered and pressurized on the field, or they may wind up making unnecessary mistakes. Nor should they be "fired" if they make a couple critical mistakes. It's a learning process for everyone in many aspects. Each team needs to figure out what the right balance of seriousness/pressure and fun is for them, because we are to have fun, as well as go far in the competition.

This year we had driveteam try-outs. We had several candidates for each position, gave them all chances at our first regional, and by Friday morning, felt comfortable to narrow it down to one person per position based on various aspects of their performance.
Regardless, the drive team needs to know how to work calmly under pressure. You may have other team members critiquing your performance each match, but it's typically constructive criticism to help you improve and tell you things you may have missed.
There's always times where students/adults will freak out during matches, but in my opinion, as long as it's not 100% of the time (or even 51%), you're probably doing ok.

Everything's not always about winning (even though it's great to win!). Mistakes happen, everybody makes them, learn from it and go on. And the amount of sleep... depends on the person, but 7-8hrs should do.....

and by the way, I don't think any member of the drive team should feel they need to take full responsibility for losses, mistakes, etc. And nobody else should make you feel that way. If the drive team is being "blamed" for everything that goes wrong, then it would seem there's something wrong with the level of team support. If you put the blame on yourself, buck up and remember that you didn't (and shouldn't) make every single decision that led to any result. Same goes for winning. Chances are, there's a large number of people involved in the team's results, not just the driveteam.

I think that's how we do it....