T&H Tips: A New Feature

I thought i'd try something new here. Joan suggested perhaps doing some articles on handling strategies in addition to the training articles, and i thought that was a great idea. I think i'll try doing this as a regular feature - T&H Tips (Training and Handling Tips). These will be more concise and to-the-point than the full articles (hopefully! We all know i can get wordy. ;-) I'll start the title of these with T&H so they're easy to pick out from my other useless blabbing.

First up -- Hitting the Crossdrive Panel, Part 1

Get on the course before your class and watch someone walk the crossdrive line, picking out markers as well as you can. Don't pick out so many that you get confused while you're running. For me, 3 is ideal. Find something at the beginning of the crossdrive, fairly close to the drive-away panel (maybe 10-15 yards into it) so you can check that you're online soon after making your turn. Next, find something somewhere around the middle of the crossdrive. Note where that marker is in relation to the fetch panels, so you can find it quickly while you're actually running. Next, and most important, find something fairly close to the crossdrive panels so you can tell if you're online or not going into the panels.

Next up: Hitting the Crossdrive Panel, Part 2, or "My Depth Perception Stinks, what do i do about it?!"

(Photo of Spottie above courtesy of Christine Henry)