Do you slide your heel when using the throttle?

[Elaphe]

I'm a bit curious and not sure if I'm doing it right or if I should correct my technique. When using the pedals most people focus on the brake, but for me the brake is perfectly easy and comfortable. However, the throttle with its long throw is more problematic and I'm not totally satisfied since I moved from my old Sprints to the SRPs. I've been testing with different parameters and combinations: pedals distance, pedals inclination, pedals height, heel rest distance... The point is that I usually see my foot sliding to modulate the throttle. I have a tendency not to rest the sole on the pedal's face but rather the tip of my foot and sometimes I push the pedal (perfectly fine with the brake) instead of using my ankle to rotate my foot. Well, actually, most of the time my footwork with the throttle is a mixture of using the ankle and my knee because the grip of the peda's face make my foot slide and therefore my leg moves too. I don't think that's correct. Part of the problem, I think, it's the pedal face not being slippery enough to be able to slide my sole over it. Now I've moved my heel rest to towards me so as to try to force a fixed position of my foot. Before I wasn't using the heel rest at all. Take a look at this photo, with the pedal fully depressed. My heel is way too back and my foot is not parallel to the pedal's face. Should I try to learn to position my foot differently and modulate the throttle using only my ankle?

 

[stigs2cousin]

Not sure if you´re overthinking it here .

Do you have problems with throttle modulation?
Does your body protest after longer races?

If it´s a NO on both accounts it could be just selfconsciousness because of the change to a new pedal set.

I´ve changed pedals recently and at first thought "this throttle is way to soft".
I even started researching stiffer springs right away. After a week I forgot about it an I´m happy ever since.

 

[blekenbleu]

I usually see my foot sliding to modulate the throttle

My foot stays fixed on throttle pedal,
with heel lifting slightly from heel plate at full throttle.
This is with a fat bottom throttle pedal extending nearly to (bottom) hinge,
enabling heel & toe by pivoting at heel.

 

[Elaphe]

My foot stays fixed on throttle pedal,
with heel lifting slightly from heel plate at full throttle.
This is with a fat bottom throttle pedal extending nearly to (bottom) hinge,
enabling heel & toe by pivoting at heel.

I have also considered something like what you did. A flat and completelly smooth surface would help using the throttle. The pedal face on my SRP has a lot of holes and the sole of my shoe tends to get a little stuck. No matter how you press it, there's always some amount of sliding which helps moving the pedal. The throttle's pedal face on my old Fanatec Clubsport V3 was like that, very smooth and it was very easy to press.

 

[RCHeliguy]

I used to have that issue and it drove me crazy. My heel would slide and catch and it would mess up my modulation. I tried lots of different pedal tweeks, but never got it to work well for me.

I finally resorted to inverting my pedals and that took care of the issue. Inverting pedals can be a serious PITA and it took me a while to get my inverted clutch where I was happy, but now I'm happy with it.

 

[Michael Krone]

I used to have that issue and it drove me crazy. My heel would slide and catch and it would mess up my modulation. I tried lots of different pedal tweeks, but never got it to work well for me.

I finally resorted to inverting my pedals and that took care of the issue. Inverting pedals can be a serious PITA and it took me a while to get my inverted clutch where I was happy, but now I'm happy with it.

Same thing for me except after inverting my pedals, it felt completely natural.

However in my situation I was doing my best to replicate my exact position in my 300zx, on my rig. Doing that but not inverting the pedals caused some discomfort.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Same thing for me except after inverting my pedals, it felt completely natural.

However in my situation I was doing my best to replicate my exact position in my 300zx, on my rig. Doing that but not inverting the pedals caused some discomfort.

I rotated the clutch pedal forward and I slightly reduced the travel. ( FYI reducing the travel is an option on the HE Ultimate Clutch pedal, but not on the Sprints )

The reason I did that is because it felt like the ball of my foot was bending too far backwards when I depressed the clutch all the way.

 

[RasmusP]

I have the fanatec V3, drive in socks and my whole foot is sliding up/down/forward/backward all the time.
When going from 0% to 100%, my heel slides slightly forward and my foot slides down on the pedal face.
The sliding on the pedal pace is way more.

On the brake, only the heel slides. When braking, I first slide with the heel a little bit and then it leaves the base plate and all the pressure comes from the leg.
When coming off the brake, the heel stays lifted until I'm at 0% brake input (not 0% pressure or pedal movement) and then I rest the heel down on the base plate.

So yeah, I personally definitely need a smooth base plate and a smooth throttle pedal face.

But: my pedals are quite low and I'm pressing a bit "from above" downwards to the pedals.
If you have the pedals just slightly below your hips and the pedal faces almost 90°, that would be quite different I think.

 

[Deleted member 197115]

I just do it Farmkhana style

 

[Elaphe]

I've been able to improve this a little bit by moving my heel rest all the way towards me. So now my heel stops in the natural position that I place my feet. Anyway, the pedal face keeps on being grippy and every time I press it using my ankle, my right foot moves climbing towards the top of the pedal. With my Sparco shoes this happens to a less extent. I wonder if I could use some teflon to make the pedal face more slippery.

 

[stigs2cousin]

I once used Duck tape for that purpose.
Somehow my shoe and pedal were sticky, cleaning didn´t do anything and the race would start in 10min.

So I wrapped a layer of Duck tape over the accelerator and that worked for the race.
Of course not permanet solution but cheap to try out

 

[Elaphe]

I've bought these little sheets of adhesive teflon, made a template of the throttle pedal, cut it in vinyl and used it to cut the teflon. Now the pedal slips a lot better.

 

[RasmusP]

Lol, that looks like a nice modification!
Don't forgot to spray your soles with PTFE before using though haha.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
It would actually be something I might do! 3D-print bigger faces and put Teflon on them.

 

[Elaphe]

Lol, that looks like a nice modification!
Don't forgot to spray your soles with PTFE before using though haha.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
It would actually be something I light do! 3D-print bigger faces and put Teflon on them.

Well, it actually works very well. Today I've been testing and even with my trekking shoes the pedal slides perfectly and my heel no longer wants to move forwards when pressing the pedal.