Pull push steering - how to do it properly
Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 12:43 pm
Having spent Saturday driving with some friends on here, and part of the route being up and down a hill with some very tight hairpin bends on it, I was struck once again by how what is a very simple technique shows many variations, and how it's easy to get frustrated with it, and lose the efficiency of what is a brilliantly simple and effective technique, when done well.
The bends on this particular hill needed, in my car, on average one big pull, and one push of the steering for each turn, and the same to take the lock off. Without having actually counted, I'd say one of my co-drivers was using more like 8 hand movements for the same amount of lock.
When large amounts of lock have to be applied quickly, more than is possible with one fixed hand position, a two handed technique is necessary. If we accept that crossing the hands over each other is inelegant, and at worst, dangerous, then there are really only two techniques available - pull-push, and what you could refer to as "repeated fixed grip", where the hands turn together, but then one hand is removed from the wheel and replaced at 180 degrees to where it started. It's hard to explain, and quite hard to learn, whereas most of us have learnt pull-push at some time in our lives.
How to pull push - assuming that more than 120 degrees of steering wheel input are necessary (less than that and you can use fixed grip anyway):
- Take the pulling hand up to the very top of the steering wheel - a little past 12 o'clock if you like. This first pull is your most valuable input, so make the most of it.
- Bring that hand all the way down to the bottom of the wheel, while at the same time sliding the other hand down to the bottom to meet it.
- When it reaches the bottom and comes into contact with the other hand, and NOT before, start pushing up with that hand, while sliding the first hand back to the top ready for another pull, if necessary.
- When unwinding the steering, do the same in reverse. Get a hand right up to the top, and make the first pull really count. Unwinding is often more difficult than winding "on", because it has to be done quickly, as the car is now accelerating away from the corner.
- Remember that only one hand is active at a time - either pulling, or pushing, but not both together.
How NOT to pull push:
- The "shuffle". The hands only complete half a pull, or push, at a time (or less). This is what makes pull-push look difficult - because it is, if you do it like that!
- The "hand over hand". Here the pushing hand is not "pulling its weight" , so the pulling hand has to rush back to the top of the wheel to start another pull. Imagine someone pulling a rope in, with one very weak arm. The other arm has to do all the work.
Occasionally I have to act as a temporary instructor (more of an adviser) to a young driver in a well known club. Invariably the one thing I am most frustrated with is their rigid adherence to pull-push steering, badly executed. I always try to encourage them to improve, and the phrase I tend to use is:
"Take BIG bites of steering".
So, if you're pull-pushing, take big bites.
Hope this helps some.
The bends on this particular hill needed, in my car, on average one big pull, and one push of the steering for each turn, and the same to take the lock off. Without having actually counted, I'd say one of my co-drivers was using more like 8 hand movements for the same amount of lock.
When large amounts of lock have to be applied quickly, more than is possible with one fixed hand position, a two handed technique is necessary. If we accept that crossing the hands over each other is inelegant, and at worst, dangerous, then there are really only two techniques available - pull-push, and what you could refer to as "repeated fixed grip", where the hands turn together, but then one hand is removed from the wheel and replaced at 180 degrees to where it started. It's hard to explain, and quite hard to learn, whereas most of us have learnt pull-push at some time in our lives.
How to pull push - assuming that more than 120 degrees of steering wheel input are necessary (less than that and you can use fixed grip anyway):
- Take the pulling hand up to the very top of the steering wheel - a little past 12 o'clock if you like. This first pull is your most valuable input, so make the most of it.
- Bring that hand all the way down to the bottom of the wheel, while at the same time sliding the other hand down to the bottom to meet it.
- When it reaches the bottom and comes into contact with the other hand, and NOT before, start pushing up with that hand, while sliding the first hand back to the top ready for another pull, if necessary.
- When unwinding the steering, do the same in reverse. Get a hand right up to the top, and make the first pull really count. Unwinding is often more difficult than winding "on", because it has to be done quickly, as the car is now accelerating away from the corner.
- Remember that only one hand is active at a time - either pulling, or pushing, but not both together.
How NOT to pull push:
- The "shuffle". The hands only complete half a pull, or push, at a time (or less). This is what makes pull-push look difficult - because it is, if you do it like that!
- The "hand over hand". Here the pushing hand is not "pulling its weight" , so the pulling hand has to rush back to the top of the wheel to start another pull. Imagine someone pulling a rope in, with one very weak arm. The other arm has to do all the work.
Occasionally I have to act as a temporary instructor (more of an adviser) to a young driver in a well known club. Invariably the one thing I am most frustrated with is their rigid adherence to pull-push steering, badly executed. I always try to encourage them to improve, and the phrase I tend to use is:
"Take BIG bites of steering".
So, if you're pull-pushing, take big bites.
Hope this helps some.