What I learned from (badly) losing a drone race

In December, Drone Zone NJ hosted our club, Safety Third Racing, for a fun holiday event. Check out this venue! Tons of cool gates and lots of holiday-themed race elements – you couldn’t ask for more as a Tiny Whoop racer.

It was a fun fly — and I did have a great time with the members of our club. It was also a practice test event for us as we gear up to hosts some races this month.

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One of my favorite features was the mirror gate! But it was also one of the riskiest if you crashed:

Even the bathrooms were themed for Tiny Whoop racing!

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I raced GREAT in qualifying – in fact, I qualified second behind Enginair with a pretty comfortable lead.

But then everything fell apart.

I went into mains thinking, “I qualified so far ahead, I should get 2nd or 3rd place! This race is mine to lose.” People at the event complimented me on my flying, and told me that I should take the win. I told them, “Qualifying second doesn’t mean I’ll finish second! Racing takes skill and luck.”

But was I feeling confident inside? No!!! I began imaging how I could crash out in mains. I started thinking about how embarrassing that would be. I pictured back to a race in the summer that was offering up amazing pink trophies that I desperately wanted. I qualified second — and then ended up in last place in the brackets.

Our race is beginning. We take off in the first heat, and I wanted to get out in front. I was flying fairly well, as I came into a more technical section of the track. Then it all started. I hit a gate and could not take off. One of my motors went bad. (This was another lesson: When you’re flying brushed motors, be sure to replace them before an important event.)

Now I would be in the loser’s bracket.

In the next heat, I was facing off against my boyfriend, Smitty, as well as some other talented racers.

Just a few days prior, I went heads-up against Smitty in our house with a few of our friends and completely fell apart.

How do you race against someone you love? The last time we faced off, the two of us raced terribly sloppy. It was almost a war of attrition – and he won. I wasn’t upset; I was relieved he had put me out of my misery.

Now at the Drone Zone fun fly, I didn’t get the hole shot and I could see a whoop in front of me. I sped up to try to catch him, and ended up hitting a gate. It was like I forgot how to fly.

It’s difficult to describe the inner turmoil that a drone racer faces when he (or she!) isn’t doing well in a heat. You know that it will be over in 2 minutes or less, but it’s torture as you wait for the timer to expire so that your public embarrassment will be over.

I hit a gate! OMG, I’m already in the loser’s bracket, and now I’m behind. If I don’t get at least second, I’m out of the race entirely. Why is this happening to me? Quickly! Get up and get back on track. WHAM! Seriously? I hit *another* gate? What is wrong with me? Everyone is watching! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Why can’t I get out of this mirror gate? I see another drone-is that my reflection? Help me! I just want this heat to be over. WHY CAN’T THIS HEAT JUST BE OVER!?!?!?!?!

Smitty asked me after the race, “What happened?” because he feared I had another technical problem. But I had just fell apart. I told him that I was no good. This was not one of my proudest moments as a drone racer.

I need to fix this. I do some soul searching. I think back to some of my successful races. At the Pennsylvania State Championship, I did NOT expect to win! I just raced. I stayed in the moment and focused on flying good lines and didn’t ask myself, “What if?” I placed 5th overall.

And in the 2019 RDQ MultiGP Sports Class Championship, I also didn’t expect to win. I qualified in the top 40 and went to the main brackets. Each time I was up, I didn’t focus on anything except flying my lines. If I won, I didn’t look ahead to see how many races were left. I just kept my head down and raced.

Mentally, there were HUGE differences between when I performed well:

• I stayed focused in the moment, not on winning.
• I kept my attention on my lines, rather than my lap times, catching other drones or reacting when other drones passed me.
• I didn’t pay attention to what place I was in, how fast I needed to race to qualify or even how many brackets there were to go.
• I didn’t allow my mind to start to question “What if?”

I take a three-pronged approach:

1. Study Sports psychology. I listen to TED Talks and audiobooks while simming. I listen to interviews by some of the most successful drone racers.
2. Talk with my mentors. I ask for advice in racing under pressure and how to handle mains. It turns out it is difficult for many of us!
3. Practice mindfulness techniques. I practice meditation and staying in the moment.

All the work paid off! I flew in a big Tiny Whoop race at the Drone Zone on January 4 — and I came in fifth place overall against some very tough competition!

My goal during this race was to maintain my composure during mains and fly smoothly and consistently – the exact opposite of the last race I flew there.

Flying smoothly was also critical, because I am flying a brushed AcrobeeLite that I love, but it doesn’t have turtle mode. Drone Zone had recently lifted the turtle mode ban, which meant I’d be facing off against brushed and brushless competitors who could turtle if they crashed.

I’m happy to say that during all of the laps I flew in mains, I only hit one gate and was able to recover. I maintained composure even when passed by other pilots. I received a lot of compliments from teammates about my precise flying. It felt good!

In hindsight, losing that December race was the best thing that could have happened to me in the off-season. It forced me to work on my mental game. That work is going to be ongoing, but it is setting me up for future success.

Here is my other advice for other racers:

Remember that others are making mistakes. In reviewing the race DVR from December, I wasn’t all that far behind after my first mistakes. I was only that far behind in my mind!!! If I wasn’t pushing so hard after my first crash, I might have had a clean run – and taken 2nd place to keep me in the brackets.

Visualize all scenarios. If there’s a particular person you’re nervous about racing against, like I am with Smitty, imagine racing with that person and doing well. Truly picture it in your mind. See that person actually rooting for you and encouraging you instead of trying to beat you.

Don’t give up! One bad race result doesn’t mean anything, and hitting one gate doesn’t mean you’ve lost the race. Keep at it and have fun. No one is judging you when you fly except yourself.

Do you have any techniques to help you race under pressure? Share them below!