Driving tips

Some basic things that can help you on your path to the top.

Race against your ghost (or not)

The concept of ghosts is explained on the general info page.

Racing a ghost of your record run is very helpful for identifying mistakes and experimenting. For example, if you suddenly find yourself behind your ghost, you know you did something wrong (or not optimal). Or when the other way around, you can find improvements over your PR run. You could also try a new strat (= strategy) and test if it saves time.
Apart from PR runs, it may also be worthwhile to store or keep a ghost of a (non-PR) run that had a fantastic 1st lap for instance. Runs with an f-lap is also a good possibility. Be aware though: you cannot store a ghost if you fail to beat the ghost you were driving against! So if you got a run with an f-lap (which was not in the last lap), and want to store it, then make sure that your last lap is very slow (e.g. stop for a while before the finish). So if you beat that f-lap while racing the ghost, you can easily finish ahead of the ghost and store the ghost.

Most players race against ghosts of themselves. I myself am a karter who rarely does this. I feel that racing a ghost adds an extra amount of pressure and I don't like that. I do store ghosts of my PR runs though. I do use them once in a while to experiment, and it's nice to have them available in case I want to show them to someone else for example.

Use 0-1-1; but not always

What does 0-1-1 mean?

The numbers indicates the pattern of shrooming. 0-1-1 means 0 mushrooms in lap 1, 1 in lap 2 and 1 in lap 3. Something like 0-2-0 would mean both mushrooms are used in the 2nd lap.

Why 0-1-1?

Usually there's one place in a lap where a mushroom is best used. The only exception is Peach Beach (and Sherbet Land to a lesser extent), where both mushrooms are to be used in succession. So the choice is between 0-1-1, 1-0-1 and 1-1-0. The first of these is often preferable, since if you screw up in lap 1, you still have your two mushrooms and therefore you can go for f-lap in lap 2.

Why something else?

There are however some courses with objects or phenomena which move around. In such cases 1-0-1 or 1-1-0 can offer benefits. The most striking example is Dry Dry Desert: here you have a tornado wandering around. In the first lap it is around the sinkhole, standing in the way for a proper lap without mushrooms. Therefore practically everyone uses a mushroom in the first lap, to avoid this problem. In lap 2 and 3 the tornado is elsewhere and doesn't pose this problem.
On other courses, especially Bowser's Castle, you can alternate between shroom patterns to influence the timing of falling thwomps and fireballs. Other courses where other patterns can help are Daisy Cruiser (tables), Sherbet Land (ice-skaters), Mushroom City (cars) and Donkey Kong Mountain (falling rocks).

F-lap: start at the best moment

If you're going for f-lap in lap 2, then it doesn't matter at all what your 1st lap is. On courses like Bowser's Castle and Waluigi Stadium, you can wait a while before the finish line until all time-related things will be in the optimal position at the time you pass by. You can find the ideal start by experimenting around a bit, and the time to start can be judged by looking at the clock.

Know when to restart

Best splits, potential, target

Your best splits are the best lap times that you have ever got for each lap separately. You can add them together, but in the real world, you never get those splits in one and the same run of course (or very rarely at least). A more realistic measure is your potential, which is something that you have to estimate for yourself. Figure what split a good lap would give (depending on your level, one or a few or several tenths above your best split), and see what that gives you. Finally set out a target, a time to beat. This could be simply your PR, or a standard. How much margin do you have compared to your potential?
Armed with this outlay, I personally like to set a limit for my first lap split. If I get a slower lap time, I do a restart, or go for f-lap. There's no need to race on after a terrible first lap. Even if driving best splits would reach your target, the odds are small so you'd be better off doing a restart, when wanting to reach your target as soon as possible.
If you're racing against a ghost, you can of course try to judge on the distance between you and the ghost.

Videos

Watch videos

The best and easiest access to the best strats. Players from all standards watch videos over and over again to examine the driving lines, shroomspots, and even the smallest details that can be copied. Here you find many links to times with videos.

Make your own videos

If you can, make videos! Publish them on the message board, and you'll find several top players willing to help you out. They can identify things that go wrong, and provide useful tips. Another big advantage of having videos is that they can validate you, proving your skills. That's good for you, good for the site, good for everybody! Also, videos can help players of your own level or lower; they can view and copy your strats.

Ask around

You can't work something out and videos don't help you? Just ask on the message board, or on a chat program. Most karters are willing to help you out. Before posting on the MB, try searching for earlier topics, so that things don't repeat themselves. Also try to post in an existing topic, especially if you have just a minor question.

Experiment yourself

This I find the most important thing: go investigate yourself! If you're not a top player, you'll find many things you see in videos very difficult or even impossible for you. So try fixing something for yourself! Keep an MT out, try a different shroomspot. If it works for you, then by all means do it! The more difficult strats will come later on.

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