Shuffle steering or not? Where to put your hands on the wheel.

"I have wide shoulders and kind of stumpy arms, so I’m not super comfortable going past about 150-degrees of rotation."

This is me. Add to that, in the Abomination I am as big as the driver's side of the car. With the seat back as far as the roll bar would allow, there wasn't room to move without elbows hitting something. I learned shuffle steering with that car and it stuck. Even with all the room the Mustang has, I still tend to shuffle steer on the tighter turns. 

I think 9-3 is just a good starting point. In martial arts we used 3 stages- shu-ha-ri. Basically learning the establishing rules. Then when you have mastered the dogmatic approach, starting to experiment with variation. Then transcendence where you establish your own style that works for you. I see the cross over of the idea in a lot of stuff like this.

I think we start 9-3 to establish a habit of always griping the wheel the same way. Students will come in with all sorts of positions and lose track of where they are on the wheel. It establishes that good foundation. Next you mention variations on positioning in corners. Like you said, 150 degrees rotation works for you. Where you decide to change your position, etc. The last would be making your own thing, which probably would show up more between disciplines. Like my autocross handwork is very different than my track handwork.  Or Pete Halsmer has is own style like you mentioned.

So I think learning 9-3 is important, but its just a stage in a journey that you'll eventually adapt as your own or perhaps come up with something completely new.

In reply to theruleslawyer :

I really like this approach, even for non-driving things.

On a less serious note, this read like something on a motivational poster or a t-shirt 

So I think learning 9-3 is important, but its just a stage in a journey that you'll eventually adapt as your own or perhaps come up with something completely new.

As an EVOC instructor, the lesson plans mandated shuffle steering.  For street speeds, and tighter turns where lots of steering lock is needed, shuffle steering is a good technique that allows the driver to maintain control of the wheel.  On track, I'm strictly 9-3, except for those rare tight and slow corners that require too much steering lock...  then a quick shuffle to get through the corner and back to 9-3.  I do think it's more difficult to use shuffle steering with a manual transmission or paddles that rotate with the wheel.  As noted above, shuffle steering may be useful in a very tight cockpit.

In reply to theruleslawyer :

Yeah this sums it up nicely. Everyone is free to do their own thing but there's a reason the most common thing is the most common thing. Everyone can build their own house, but use the materials that have been perfected by years of development and regulation.

theruleslawyer said:

I think 9-3 is just a good starting point. In martial arts we used 3 stages- shu-ha-ri. Basically learning the establishing rules. Then when you have mastered the dogmatic approach, starting to experiment with variation. Then transcendence where you establish your own style that works for you. I see the cross over of the idea in a lot of stuff like this.

I think we start 9-3 to establish a habit of always griping the wheel the same way. Students will come in with all sorts of positions and lose track of where they are on the wheel. It establishes that good foundation. Next you mention variations on positioning in corners. Like you said, 150 degrees rotation works for you. Where you decide to change your position, etc. The last would be making your own thing, which probably would show up more between disciplines. Like my autocross handwork is very different than my track handwork.  Or Pete Halsmer has is own style like you mentioned.

So I think learning 9-3 is important, but its just a stage in a journey that you'll eventually adapt as your own or perhaps come up with something completely new.

By far the most important thing is for your hands to remain 180* apart. 9-3 is ideal and teaching that is the best way to establish the habit. But beyond that as long as you can keep track of where you are and keep 180* separation, the specific positioning doesn't really matter. One of the more common things I see when doing autocross instructing is that people will start with decent hand position and slowly shift through the run and end up with both hands at the top of the wheel by the end of the run.

Shouldn't matter as long as your brain can sense where straight ahead is, taking your hands off the wheel supposedly resets this. 

The center stripe on some racing wheels helps with this.

When instructing folks in modern cars I discourage shuffle steering unless the person has some physical limitations (stumpy arms would be one)

It's not that it's necessarily bad; it's more of a case of new drivers who do this seem to make abrupt inputs.

As for me I shuffle steer when hustling a car down a gravel road but I try not to on road courses. I have to shuffle steer slightly in left hand corners due to an injury.

Should we also discuss how you unwind the wheel? Learned from our old friend Marc D. many moons ago: Instead of letting the wheel slip through your fingers, actually unwind the wheel so you’re always in control. 

I remember 25 years ago I attended Skip Barber Racing School at Laguna Seca and they taught shuffle steering. They had us practice in a very difficult situation: A Dodge Ram pickup with bald rear tires and brake pulled on wet tarmac. The instructors could catch it, but I couldn't move my hands fast enough every time. I don't think anyone other than the instructors could manage it to do it fast and smooth enough in that situation. Very frustrating!

Nowadays racks are so much faster, it seems unneeded in most cases, except in the tightest autocross turns. And even still, I rode with a nationals level driver who crossed his arms over rather than shuffle steer, and he beat me by over a second. I'm no longer a believer except in certain situations.