Manipulating performance

Sandbagging is to BoP racing what spy shots are to a racecar engineer. Tempting as hell, not a necessity, but almost everyone feels the need to indulge

- Scott Raymond

In RE V29N12 we looked at the basics of Balance of Performance (BoP), and what things make it easy and difficult to implement. Under the heading ‘Difficult for BoP’ there is one topic that is the hardest of all to manage, and that is sandbagging. In that first feature, I alluded to this warranting a separate article unto itself, so here it is.

Simply put, sandbagging means masking one’s performance capabilities to hide your true potential. Who might you be hiding from? Typically, competitors and sanctioning bodies, but the reasons for hiding performance from each are quite different.

Personally, I prefer to use the term ‘performance management’ as opposed to ‘sandbagging’. The latter has a terribly negative connotation in my mind, as it implies deliberately choosing to do something nefarious. Performance management sounds a lot more boring, admittedly, but it more explicitly defines what this concept actually does. It also takes some of the negative impression away because there are always times in racing when managing performance is a necessity.

Sandbag strategy

Why sandbag? Well, because managing one’s performance can also be considered a legitimate strategy in the development cycle.