Someone put together this 5-step generic process for learning things, based at least partially on the work of neuroscientist Andrew Huberman. I found that what I do, after many years of trial and error, is very similar, so I recast it into 5-steps for autocross.

1. Don’t just walk the course over and over and expect to remember it. Use Active Recall, meaning you must force yourself to remember. The struggle to recall is what convinces the brain that you’re serious. Otherwise, it will just throw that junk away… 70% will be gone within 24 hours.

2. Work with chunks, like “turn right to the start line, accelerate and enter a 5-cone slalom.” (See map below!) Add one chunk to the next until you have the entire course. Active recall can quickly become mentally practice-driving the course. But, you must have broken the course up into meaningful, describable sections. The next chunk from the map below might be “brake and set up right for a 90-degree left turn then accelerate into a series of offsets.”

3. Space out the active recalls over time, starting with seconds, then minutes, then hours.

4. Make time to recall what you want to remember before you’ve forgotten it.

5. When you do forget a part (and you will) refer back to the course map. You did draw a course map, didn’t you?

Do this consistently for each event, even if the course is so simple you can just drive what you see, to get very good at learning courses in increasing detail over time. In the beginning this means you won’t get lost on the first run. Later it means you can plan your line in great detail and mentally practice driving it. Finally, you won’t need to walk long courses more times than you have time for or more times than your body can withstand.