Q: “I am very comfortable using left-foot-braking and have found many situations where it seems to be an advantage, but other than lap times, how can I know if I’m really using left foot braking too often or too much? I switch between right and left foot, depending on the corner, and sometimes I feel that I over-slow the car when braking with my left foot.”

A: You’re not alone in sometimes over-slowing from left foot braking. Because it’s usually not as well-trained and sensitive as our right foot, it’s easy to apply just a little too much pressure. Of course, you’re right that it can be a big advantage in some places, too. If you could drive on the track every week for a couple of years, for sure your left foot would be more sensitive and you’d be even better (wouldn’t that be a shame to have to drive that much?!!!).

How can you tell if you over-slowed? What does the engine sound like as you go back to power? Can you tell from the engine note whether you over-slowed and now the engine is bogged down a little? As you come out of the corner, can you check your RPMs or speed, to know whether you over-slowed? If you have a data system that has a predictive timer, then you can tell if you’re plus or minus on your best lap time. You can look at data after the session (but that’s too late sometimes). You can have someone take segment times (but again, you usually don’t know the results until after the session, unless that person is on the radio to you and giving you immediate feedback).