Driving Tips?

Communication with your alliance is so important. Last year I was the drive coach and this year I'm the driver, and I know that tactics can mean so much more than robot capabilities.

Great example at Finger Lakes last year: Due to some odd alliance pickings, the alliance we were in for the elimination matches had 3 robots with 3 ramps and 0 arms (us, 772, and 1728). We had no way to score any ringers (except HP's) and our first opponent (the quarterfinals) was the #2 seeded alliance, with 1126 SparX (who consistently builds the best robot out of any team in the Rochester area). We planned tactics for quite a while, and although each of their robot had an arm, we held them to just 1 ringer in each of the 2 final matches during teleop. We beat them by getting the 30 bonus points each time for ramping and we felt like we were on top of the world.

Drivers, just remember that no matter how much the odds seemed stacked against you, no matter how good that 118 or 121 or 1726 looks, don't be intimidated. Keep your cool, do your thing, and rock their socks off.