Target Fixation

By Andy Ibbot
At the California Superbike Schools I have witnessed how students can make a significant improvement to their riding by teaching them to change a physical aspect of their riding - counter steering is a very good example.
However, the biggest gains come from improving your vision rather than any physical aspect of your riding. It's also the hardest to do because our eyes are one of the biggest triggers to survival reactions that we have.
On the schools we have a drill called reference points. After students have been out to do the drill I'm always amazed at the things people have seen out on the track.
It ranges from the really detailed: "There's a small patch of grass on the outside of the second turn. It's three kerb stones to the right of a small scrape in the surface."
To the vague; "There are no reference points at all on certain parts of the track." This last statement normally gives rise to a heated debate as other students tell of all the points they have seen. Meanwhile I wonder if some riders tackle corners with their eyes closed!
The most dangerous of all the vision related survival reactions is target fixation. This is when our brain tells us to keep an eye on the danger ahead. This was great when we needed to watch the path of a bear or wolf when we were still living in caves but not so good when you are about plough into the side of car that has pulled out in front of you.
When we target fix it seems that our vision narrows down. This is called 'tunnel vision'. Our concentration is so focused that we are less aware of the things gong on around us. Has our vision really narrowed? Do are eyes suddenly get smaller and funnel out the rest of our field of vision? No, of course not. In reality the opposite happens and our pupils get wider not narrower.
And when we target fix on something while riding a bike what happens? Yep, we head straight towards the very thing we don't want to hit.
I was recently racing in an off road hare scramble or enduro. As I came around a tight, fast left hand corner I lost traction from the front end of the bike I was ridding. Nothing so severe that I was off but it lead the bike toward a wet log at the side of the fire road. That log, should I hit it, lead directly to a very large, immovable and painful looking tree. The very last thing I wanted to do was to hit this log and end up ploughing into the tree.
But the more I looked at the log the more the bike seemed to want to hit it. In the end it took an extreme amount of will power and effort to get my eyes to stop fixing on the log and to look where I wanted to go. The instant I moved my eyes away the bike suddenly started to head in the direction I was looking. It didn't slow my heartbeat down though!
There are hundreds and hundreds of examples of this phenomenon in any form of racing. Someone crashes and goes off the circuit and the rider behind follows them into the gravel when all they had to do was keep looking around the corner. I'm afraid that there is no simple formula to cure this genetic habit we all have. However, I hope that bringing it to your attention will make you aware of it when it happens to you. At that point you might recall these words and examples and force your eyes to go make your body go around the danger in front of you. And it will always be in front of you because you will be fixing and heading towards it!