Driver #4: Practice —Practice Until You Can't Get It Wrong
Let's talk about practice.
Driver #4 in our Six Drivers of ATC Success series is where I want to dig all the way in, because practice is — without question — the single biggest factor in whether you pass or fail at the FAA Academy.
I want to start with a quote from Michael Jordan. He said, "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. And that is why I succeed."
Think about that for a second.
One of the greatest athletes who ever lived built his success on failure.
On doing the work even when it didn't go right.
On missing shots — thousands of them — and coming back every single time.
At the Academy, you are going to miss shots too.
You're going to have bad runs.
You're going to mess things up.
That is not a warning — that is a guarantee.
Here's the thing: that's exactly what the Academy is designed for. That's why they give you the time they give you. But the students who make it, who pass, aren't the ones who avoid mistakes.
They're the ones who use those mistakes to get better.
It's Not Like Anything You've Done Before
One of the most important things I can tell you about the Academy is this: it is not college.
Basics is actually what sets a lot of students up for a rude awakening, because Basics is kind of like college. You're memorizing. You're taking tests. You're getting information down in your head. And you can do really well in Basics by studying hard the way you studied in school.
Then you get to the Academy itself — and the game changes completely.
The tests at the Academy are worth 20 points out of 100. You need 70 to pass. You can get a perfect score on every single test and still fail. Why? Because you can't put it into practice.
The Academy isn't about head knowledge. It's about taking that knowledge and being able to use it — in real time, under pressure, with someone watching you and a clock ticking.
That's why practice is a driver.
Not just a driver — for en route students especially, it might be the driver.
What Practice Actually Means
Here's where a lot of students get it wrong. They think practice means putting in hours. And yes — the time you put in absolutely has a direct correlation to your final score.
But practice is not just about quantity. It's about quality.
Specifically, it's about repetition with a purpose.
What does that mean?
It means you're not just running through things to run through them.
You're getting the phraseology to the point where you cannot do it wrong.
You're building the steps into your muscle memory — the thinking process, the clearance delivery, the strip marking — until doing it correctly is automatic.
And I need you to hear me on this:
If you're practicing and it's not perfect, all you're doing is setting in your mind a way of doing things that is incorrect.
You're wiring in the wrong answer.
That's worse than not practicing at all.
Your practice has to aim at perfection. Every rep.
You Cannot Do This Alone
One of the most common mistakes I see — and I mean consistently, class after class — is students trying to practice by themselves.
Here's the problem with that.
When you say the phraseology out loud by yourself, it sounds right to you. Of course it does. You're the one saying it, and you're the one judging it. You need someone outside yourself to hold you to the standard.
Your classmates are that someone. And you have to commit to each other.
You have to be willing to be brutally honest — with kindness, but with honesty. Hey, that clearance wasn't right. Run it again. Here's what was off.
That's not criticism. That's how you help each other pass.
I've seen it happen. I've seen a class go 13 for 13 — every single person passed. That doesn't happen by accident.
It happens because that class committed to each other and held each other to an incredibly high standard.
I also saw something in my own class that I've shared before, but it bears repeating.
Two guys. Pilot backgrounds. On the first graded scenario, both scored in the 90s. They were well on their way to passing. All they had to do was keep doing what they were doing.
But they stopped practicing with the class.
They thought they didn't need to.
And they didn't pass.
They didn't even hit 60.
Don't make that mistake.
Background doesn't protect you.
CTI experience doesn't protect you.
Military experience doesn't protect you.
I've seen all of those students struggle, and I've seen all of them excel.
What makes the difference isn't what you came in with. It's what you choose to do with the time you have.
Three Types of Practice You Need
Let me break it down into three specific types, because not all practice is created equal.
The first is repetition practice.
This is the foundation. You're drilling phraseology, clearances, procedures — over and over and over again.
The goal isn't to get it right eventually.
The goal is to get it right automatically.
The thinking process, the steps, the script marking — all of it needs to become second nature.
This is true for tower, TRACON, and en route.
The method is the same: do it until doing it wrong feels impossible.
The second is weak point practice.
And this is the one most students avoid, because it's uncomfortable.
We all naturally gravitate toward practicing what we're already good at. I do it with golf. I'd rather hit shots I know I can make than practice the ones that give me trouble. But the only shots that can hurt you in a round are the ones you can't make.
Same thing at the Academy.
The things that are giving you trouble — those are the ones you need to work hardest.
Find the scenario that crushed you and run it again. Find a classmate who's doing well at something you're struggling with and ask for help.
Fix those gaps early, because weak spots have a way of showing up exactly when you can't afford them.
The third is pressure practice.
This one is the most powerful and the hardest to replicate. You have to try to simulate eval conditions during your study sessions.
That means time pressure.
That means someone watching.
That means raising the stakes as high as you can get them in a practice environment.
In Non-radar, if you have 10 minutes to complete a clearance, cut your practice time to seven. Or six. Or five.
Make your classmate feel what it's going to feel like in that room with an evaluator. Let them do the same for you.
Here's why this matters: if you don't practice under pressure, the eval will be the first time you ever feel it.
And that is not the moment you want to discover how you perform under stress.
The Mindset You Need
There's a principle I come back to constantly, and it applies here: consistency beats intensity every time.
You don't need to have one massive practice session.
You need daily repetitions.
A plan.
A structure outside of the classroom that your whole class commits to and sticks with.
Not occasional cramming — consistent, focused, daily work.
And this is something I can tell you from experience sitting on the other side of the glass: instructors can tell.
We can tell who's putting in the work.
We can tell who's practicing the right way.
It shows up in how you move, how you talk, how you handle something unexpected. You can't fake it.
Here's the other thing I want you to sit with.
When you're in that eval, you're not going to rise to the occasion.
I want to be really clear about that.
You're going to fall back on the level of your practice.
That's not a bad thing — if your practice has been at a high level, that's exactly what you want.
The students who pass don't dig down deep and find something extra in the moment. They coast on the foundation they built before they walked into that room.
Build that foundation now.
Start before you get to Oklahoma City.
Memorize the maps.
Get in the habit of daily repetition.
Get into the mindset of taking what you know in your head and putting it into action.
Most students don't know what really effective practice looks like until it's almost too late.
You don't have to be one of them.
Don't Practice Until You Get It Right
I'll close with something from Derek Jeter, and it's one of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard for Academy students.
Don't practice until you get it right. Practice until you can't get it wrong.
That's the standard.
At the Academy, you're not going to be perfect.
The goal is to be perfect — but what you actually need is to have practiced so thoroughly, so consistently, and so well that when it counts, it is genuinely difficult for you to make a mistake.
That's what the best students do.
That's what the 13-for-13 classes do.
That's what this driver is all about.
You've got this.
But you've got to put in the work.
Ready to build a practice plan that actually prepares you for the Academy? Set up a free call at sidebysideatc.com and let's talk about where you are and how to get where you want to be.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
The Hardest Thing About the FAA Academy, Part Two:
The Power of Five
When I wrapped up the blog last Monday on the hardest thing about the FAA Academy, I thought I was done.
I really did. I figured I'd said what I needed to say and we'd move on. But then something happened.
I was driving to work at the tower, listening to a podcast on the way in — a John Maxwell podcast.
Some of you know the name. He does leadership content, and it's excellent.
The episode I was listening to was called The Power of Five.
And by the time I pulled into the parking lot, I knew I had to do a part two.
So here's the story. And then here's why it matters so much to you.
The Guy With the Axe
John Maxwell tells a story about going out into his backyard and deciding he wants to cut down a tree. So he picks up an axe, takes five swings at the tree, puts the axe down, and goes back inside.
The next day, same thing. Five swings. Back inside.
He does this every single day, and eventually — you already know where this is going — the tree falls down.
Simple story.
But what he pulls out of it is anything but simple, and when I heard it on the way to work that day, I thought: this is exactly what it takes to get through the FAA Academy. Every piece of it.
So let's go through the five.
One: Have a Clear Goal
In the story, Maxwell knows which tree he wants to cut down. He's not wandering around the backyard wondering what to do. He has a target.
When you get to the academy, your goal is not complicated: pass.
That's it. Pass the academy.
It's tangible, it's specific, it's achievable. Write it down if you have to. Say it out loud. Know exactly what you're working toward, because everything else on this list depends on it.
Two: Use the Right Tool
Maxwell makes a point that really stuck with me. What if instead of an axe, he'd grabbed a baseball bat? Sure, maybe eventually you'd wear the tree down. But it would take forever, and the whole time you'd be fighting against the wrong instrument.
At the academy, the FAA gives you a lot of tools.
Instructors, leads, A leads, curriculum — there's a whole structure built around helping you succeed. Your job is to recognize those tools for what they are and actually use them.
Not all tools are created equal, and not everything someone outside the academy hands you is going to serve you the way the right tools will.
Be smart about what you're picking up and swinging.
Three: Take Action
This one sounds obvious, but you'd be surprised how many students don't really grasp it until it's too late.
You can have the clearest goal in the world. You can have the best tools sitting right in front of you. But if you're not swinging the axe — if you're just sharpening it, thinking about it, reading about it, talking about it — the tree doesn't move. Not even a little.
At the academy, taking action means practicing.
It means running the non-radar problems out loud.
It means drilling the phraseology until it's automatic.
It means opening the book and actually studying for the tests instead of telling yourself you'll get to it later.
Without action, passing the academy stays a dream.
With it, it becomes a goal. And goals are things you can actually reach.
Four: Stay Focused
This is the one that I've watched derail more students than almost anything else. And I want to tell you a story that illustrates exactly what I mean.
I had two students in the same class — this was right around COVID. One had come from a CTI school, one had come out of the military. Both of them walked in confident, ready to go.
Then COVID hit, they sent everybody home, we shifted to Zoom for a month or so, and then eventually brought everyone back to Oklahoma City.
During that time away from the building, one student stayed locked in. He kept studying, kept working, kept his eye on the target.
The other student took his eyes off of his goal. He DID have a lot of distraction going on and it was somewhat understandable that he was not focusing on the Academy.
But the difference in outcomes between those two students was stark.
One passed. One didn't. And it wasn't about ability. It was about focus.
The academy is not something most people can get through on autopilot.
It takes everything you've got for those three months.
Your family will understand. Your friends will still be there when you're done.
But right now, for this window of time, passing the academy has to be your main thing.
Not one of your main things.
The main thing.
And this applies inside the scenarios too. When you're running a non-radar problem or working a radar eval, or working in the tower sim, or TRACON sim, the principle is the same: find the thing that needs doing, focus on it completely, finish it, and then move to the next one.
Don't let your eyes drift to the other tree.
Five: Be Consistent
Every day. Five swings. Same tree.
Maxwell doesn't take fifty swings on Monday and then skip Tuesday through Friday.
He doesn't go out on Saturday and stare at the tree and call that progress.
He shows up every single day and does the work.
That's what makes the tree fall.
Not intensity on one day — consistency across all of them.
At the academy, that means starting a study group with your classmates from day one. From day one.
Actually, if you can, start before day one.
A lot of you are going through basics together — take advantage of that. Get a group going online before you even land in Oklahoma City. Then when you get there, keep it going.
Here's something I've seen over and over that I want you to really understand: the best way to cement what you're learning is to help someone else learn it.
If you want to truly lock in a concept, teach it to a classmate. Explain the rule. Walk them through the phraseology. Quiz them.
The act of teaching forces your own understanding to get sharper. It works every time.
I've watched classes finish their non-radar evals and then just... stop studying together. The group dissolves. Everybody goes back to their room and figures they'll grind solo through the radar phase.
And some of them make it, but a lot of them don't. And then I've watched other classes do the exact opposite — they finish non-radar and find new things to study together. They drill point-out phraseology. They challenge each other on keyboard entries. They push each other all the way to the last eval day.
Those classes help each other succeed. And the ones who give the most tend to gain the most.
Consistency all the way through.
Not just when it's easy.
Not just when you feel like it.
Every day.
Don't Give Away Points You'll Need Later
I want to shift gears here and talk about something very practical, because I've seen it cost students the academy.
There's a map test that comes in about two and a half weeks into your time there. It's worth two points. And every single class, someone says: it's only two points. I've heard it a hundred times. And I've also watched students miss passing the entire academy by less than a point.
I had a student — this was near the end of my time at the academy — who came into the breakout room after his last eval. He was so excited. Walked through the door, huge smile. And he looked across the room at one of his classmates who was sitting there crying.
This guy had missed passing by one single point on his last eval. One point. The FAA kept him waiting for over an hour while they went back through everything — every eval, every score — trying to find a way to give him that point. And in the end, they couldn't. The deductions were legitimate. There was nothing to be done.
So when they tell you the map test is only worth two points — it's worth two points.
Treat every point like it might be the one that saves you.
The breakdown, for those of you doing en route, looks like this: the tests add up to 20 points, the non-radar evals are worth 14, and that leaves 66 points sitting on those final two radar eval days. You need 70 to pass. Could you go into your radar evals with four points on the board and still technically pass? Mathematically, yes.
We used to joke about that. But don't try it.
I've watched students who were in the top five of their class absolutely blow a radar eval and end up at a facility that wasn't their first choice.
Don't let that be you.
When You Don't Score What You're Used To
Here's the other piece of this I want to leave you with, because it connects to everything we've talked about.
I had a student in one of my classes who came out of her first radar eval looking devastated. I happened to be in the hallway — I wasn't supposed to have contact with students on eval days, but I could see her face. I asked how it went and she gave me two thumbs down. Then she came over and I asked what her score was.
Sixty.
She was in tears. And I looked at her and I said: 60 is not bad. Not for your first radar eval. The first time in that lab, doing that problem, with all that pressure — it is the hardest one. Not because the problem itself is the most complex, but because it's the first time.
The others get easier, even when they're technically harder, because you've been in there before.
I tried to reassure her that she still had evals left, that this wasn't the end, that she had what it took.
One of the FAA supervisors came out of the lab just as we were talking, and I explained we hadn't discussed the problem itself. He just nodded and said: "Well, apparently that's what she needed to hear."
The next day, after all the radar evals were done, she passed. And I'll tell you — the hug I got from that young lady was the biggest one I ever got as an instructor.
Here's the point. You're not used to scoring 60.
Maybe you're not even used to scoring 70.
The academy operates on a different scale than anything you've done before.
A 70 is passing. A 60 on your first radar eval is not a disaster.
Don't let a number on one day make you forget the goal, set down the tool, stop swinging, or lose your consistency.
The power of five works.
I've watched it work.
Keep swinging.
As always, if you've got questions, reach out at tomhaynes@sidebysideatc.com. Leave a comment, share this with someone who needs it, and remember — you don't have to navigate this journey alone. Let's do it side by side.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
Driver #3 - Phraseology
And Here's Why It'll Make or Break You in Your ATC Career
Welcome back to another look at the six drivers of ATC success.
If you've been following along, you know we've been building toward this one. Driver number three is phraseology — and I don't just mean the words.
I mean the whole picture: communicating what you actually intend to say, and listening — really listening — to what a pilot is actually saying back to you.
Not what you think they said. What they said.
That distinction right there? That's the whole ball game.
It's Not About Memorizing Words
Here's something I've watched play out over and over again at the academy.
A student comes in, and they've done the work. They've studied the 7110.65. They can recite phraseology. They've got the words. And then they sit down in the lab, the scenario starts running, and it all falls apart.
Why?
Because there's a massive difference between memorizing phraseology and understanding phraseology.
Memorization gets you the words.
Understanding gets you the right words, in the right situation, delivered the right way, at the right time.
And that second part — that's what the academy is actually testing.
The 7110.65 dedicates a huge section to how we communicate as controllers, and that's not an accident.
It's that important. Clear communication isn't a soft skill in this job. It is the job. When your phraseology is solid, you're telling that pilot exactly what you need them to do, in a way that leaves absolutely no room for doubt. When it breaks down, everything else breaks down with it.
What Happens When It Falls Apart
Picture this. You're running a scenario, and in the back of your mind there's a quiet alarm going off. How do I say this? Is this right? What's the phraseology for this situation? That little voice is eating up brain real estate — and it's going to cost you.
When part of your brain is busy figuring out how to say something, the other part doesn't have the bandwidth to understand what's happening in the scenario. You hesitate. You start overthinking. You know you're falling behind, and so you just start saying stuff to fill the silence. And that — just saying stuff — is one of the fastest roads to a bad score at the academy.
The spiral is real. You mess up a clearance, you have to say that wonderful word correction, go back and restart, and the whole time your brain is screaming tick, tick, tick. The clock is moving. You're losing ground. And now it's even harder to get the phraseology right because you're already rattled.
I've seen it happen. I've watched students unravel in real time, and it almost always traces back to phraseology that wasn't locked in before the pressure started.
And in the radar lab, the stakes get higher fast.
In non-radar, a phraseology error might cost you a fraction of a point. Walk that same bad habit into the radar lab and it's two points per error. Ten of those and the best score you can pull is an 80. Another ten and you're looking at a 60.
That's how fast it adds up.
That's how important phraseology is.
What Happens When You've Got It
Now flip that around. Your phraseology is locked in. It's clean, it's clear, it's textbook. You give a clearance, the pilot reads it back, you catch any errors, you move on. Clean. Quick. Confident.
Something interesting happens when you reach that point.
The scenario slows down. I know that sounds backwards, but it's true.
When you're not burning brainpower on how to say something, you suddenly have capacity to actually see what's happening. Aircraft that felt like they were moving fast start to feel manageable. Problems that seemed like they came out of nowhere start to show up early enough to solve.
Your confidence goes up. And confidence in ATC isn't just a feeling — it has practical effects.
The other pilots on frequency can hear it. When they hear you give a clear, confident clearance and catch a bad readback, they know someone competent is running that sector. It calms them. It builds trust. And that trust makes everything run smoother.
On the other hand, when phraseology is sloppy, when transmissions ramble, when pilots hear things that don't sound quite right — everybody on frequency tenses up. That tension compounds.
The last thing you need when you're busy is a frequency full of confused, anxious pilots calling back to verify something you should have said correctly the first time.
So How Do You Get There?
Number one: make it your top priority.
Not one of your priorities. The top one. Whether you're in tower, TRACON, non-radar, radar — the phraseology for your option has to come first. Before you worry about traffic management, before you worry about strip marking, before anything else. Get the phraseology right.
Practice it out loud.
This is non-negotiable. You cannot develop phraseology by reading it silently or thinking through it in your head.
You have to say it.
Your mouth has to form the words.
Your ears have to hear it.
Get a classmate, take turns being the pilot and the controller, and hold each other accountable.
If the phraseology isn't textbook, stop. Do it again. Don't let bad habits cement themselves because you let something slide in practice.
There's a reason the instructors in the non-radar lab will stop the clock when you miss a clearance phraseology-wise, especially in those first few days.
They're not punishing you.
They're protecting you from locking in the wrong version of something.
Take advantage of that.
Don't chase speed.
I know the temptation. You hear controllers on LiveATC moving fast and it sounds impressive, and when you're running a scenario you feel like speed equals competence. It doesn't.
There used to be a saying on the walls of every classroom at the academy: fast is slow, slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Focus on getting it right every single time, and speed will come on its own.
I've watched it happen over and over again.
But when controllers chase speed before accuracy, they end up going backwards — fast mistakes are still mistakes, and they're harder to catch.
Use every resource you've got.
Send your spouse or partner flashcard content so they can drill you over FaceTime.
Point to your strips as you work through clearances.
Talk ATC until it becomes uncomfortable not to.
The goal is to get to a place where the phraseology isn't something you're doing — it's just how you communicate.
The Real-World Stakes
I'll tell you something from my own time working live traffic.
I had a pilot on final who was about to touch down with his gear up. And what I needed to say to him had to be immediate, clear, and unmistakable — because if it wasn't, he was going to crash.
The phraseology that came out was textbook, straight out of the 7110.65. He went around. He got back on downwind and said, thank you, I was going to land.
I almost told him: no, you were going to crash. That wasn't going to be a landing.
The phraseology worked because it was second nature. There was no hesitation. No fumbling for words. The situation was serious and the communication matched that seriousness. That's the goal.
Now, when you're at the academy, nobody's going to crash if you flub a clearance. I know that.
But bad phraseology at the academy becomes bad phraseology at your facility. And at your facility, it's not about losing points — it's about whether a pilot stops at the altitude you actually told him, or a different one, and conflicts with somebody else.
I've seen that happen too.
The Foundation You're Building
Here's the other piece of this that I want to leave you with.
Every facility does phraseology just a little bit different. Every trainer has their preferences. When you get to your first facility, you'll have to adapt. But if you built a solid foundation at the academy — if the fundamentals are locked in, if textbook phraseology is your baseline — that adaptation is easy. You're adjusting an already-strong foundation, not building one from scratch under live-traffic pressure.
George Bernard Shaw once said that "the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has actually taken place."
That hits hard in this job.
As controllers, we fall into that trap constantly.
We think we said something clearly.
The pilot heard something different.
Both sides walk away thinking they're on the same page — until they're not.
Don't be that controller.
Clear communication in air traffic control isn't just helpful. It is essential. Learn the phraseology early. Practice it relentlessly. Make it your first language. And when it clicks — and it will click if you put in the work — you'll feel the difference immediately. The scenario slows down. Your confidence goes up. Things you used to miss, you start to catch.
That's the payoff. That's why phraseology is Driver #3.
Next time, we're digging into driver number four: practice. And not just the idea of practice — what it actually looks like, and how to do it in a way that builds real competency instead of just logging hours. Stay tuned.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
The Hardest Thing About the FAA Academy —
And It's Not What You Think
When people ask me what the hardest part of the FAA Academy is, they expect me to say the information overload. Or the map. Or the SOP. And yes, all of those things are real challenges. But none of them are the hardest thing. Not even close.
Let me tell you what I actually saw break students over my five years as an instructor and lead at the Academy — and more importantly, what you can do about it before you ever set foot in Oklahoma City.
It's Not the Information
When you go through the en route portion of the Academy, they hand you the equivalent of two three-inch binders full of material. Lessons, end-of-lesson tests, background information, procedures — all of it. I used to tell my students on day one: you are about to take a master's course in three months. That is the volume of information they're going to put in front of you.
But here's the thing — the information, as overwhelming as it feels, is actually presented in a fairly well-organized way. Yes, some of it you'll never use again. Some of it is background material that feels disconnected from anything practical. But it builds a foundation, and your instructors walk you through it. It's a lot, but it's manageable with the right approach.
The map isn't the hardest thing either. Most people have never looked at an airspace map before they arrive — unless you've been through a CTI school or have a pilot's background. And now they're giving you two and a half weeks to memorize one well enough to pass a test. That sounds rough, but they give you dedicated time in class to study it. You just have to use that time. And the map matters beyond just passing a test — it's what you're going to be working with for the next three months, so learning it well is worth every minute.
The SOP isn't the hardest thing either, even though you need to know it forwards and backwards — better than your evaluators know it. That's a high bar, but it's an achievable one.
So what is the hardest thing?
Low Scores Are Coming — And That's Okay
Before I get to the main answer, I want to talk about something that trips a lot of students up along the way: getting a low score on an eval.
It's going to happen. And for most students at the Academy, it will be the first truly low score they've ever received on anything. Most people who make it to Oklahoma City have been high achievers their entire lives. Good students, hard workers, people who are used to performing well when it counts.
The Academy has a way of humbling all of us.
My first evaluation as a student — I got a 49.
Two guys in my class got 90s on that same eval. I'm not going to pretend that didn't bother me, because it absolutely did. My A-Lead looked at me before we ran the next problem, could tell I was in a bad mood, and asked what was going on. I told him. He looked at me without hesitating and said: you will pass and they won't.
I thought he was out of his mind. He was right. Neither of those guys who scored 90s on their first eval passed the program. Neither one of them had a job with the FAA at the end of that class. I did. And I went on to have a 26-year career.
A low score can be a blessing. What that 49 did for me was make it crystal clear that I needed to practice more. I thought I had it. I didn't. That score woke me up, and that wake-up call was exactly what I needed.
So if it happens to you — and there's a good chance it will — don't let it define you. Let it motivate you.
The Real Enemy: Nerves
Now here's what I actually consider the hardest thing at the Academy, the thing I watched derail more students than anything else over five years of instructing: nerves.
I know what you're thinking — of course nerves are an issue.
But I want to reframe how you think about this, because most students are approaching it completely wrong.
Being nervous doesn't say anything about how competent you are. It doesn't say anything about how prepared you are. It says one thing, and one thing only: you care about what is about to happen. That's it.
Nerves are not a warning sign.
They are not evidence that you're going to fail.
They are evidence that this matters to you.
I played soccer from the time I was seven years old, through college, a little bit after — very, very semi-professionally, as I like to say — and then got into coaching and found out I loved it even more than playing. I've spent a lot of my life watching how athletes perform under pressure, and one thing stands out.
I watch golf, and I've heard the commentators — many of them former tour players — talk about what happens to the top golfers in the world on the final day of a tournament, coming down the stretch on the last few holes.
They get nervous.
The adrenaline pumps. These are the best players on the planet, and they still feel it.
Why? Because it matters to them. What is about to happen matters to them.
And that's the same thing your nerves are telling you at the Academy.
The question isn't how to get rid of nerves. The question is how to use them.
Build Your Pre-Shot Routine
One of my trainers at Fort Worth Center introduced me to the concept of a pre-shot routine, and it changed how I thought about performance under pressure.
A professional golfer standing over a critical shot with 20,000 people lining the fairway and millions more watching on television — how do they still execute? They have a routine.
By the time they step up to the ball and begin their swing, everything else in the world has been shut out.
The routine gets them there.
You need the same thing for your evals.
When you walk through that door into the lab or the classroom for your evaluation, nothing from outside that room should be able to reach you. It doesn't matter what happened earlier in the day. It doesn't matter what's going on at home.
I've had students dealing with genuinely difficult things in their personal lives while trying to get through the Academy — things that would be hard for anyone to set aside. But when you cross that threshold, all that has to go away. The only thing happening in your world is the problem in front of you.
I'll be honest about the golfers who miss a shot and blame a camera shutter in their backswing — they weren't focused. That's it. The camera didn't cost them the shot. A lack of focus did. I've played golf and had someone talking in my backswing, heard it, and still hit one of my best shots of the day.
When you're truly focused, the outside world doesn't get in.
Develop your routine.
Whatever it takes to get you locked in before you start — use it every single time. Make it automatic. By the time you're in your eval, that routine should be so ingrained that it carries you through the door on autopilot.
Practice Is the Antidote
The best thing you can do to manage nerves is to make the eval feel as familiar as possible before it ever happens.
And the way you do that is through practice — specifically, practice that simulates the pressure of an actual evaluation.
In the last week of the radar lab, the goal as instructors is to get you running problems on your own. We try to pull back and let you struggle when you need to, because you need to be in that situation before it counts. If an instructor is still trying to guide you through problems and offer advice during that final stretch, it's completely acceptable to say — respectfully — that you'd like to try it on your own.
That's not disrespectful. That's smart preparation.
Do the same thing in non-radar. The last seven or so problems are excellent preparation for your eval. Tell the instructor upfront that you want to treat it like an eval. They'll give you that space. Use it.
The more times you've put yourself in a high-pressure situation before the real thing, the less unfamiliar it feels when it counts.
You can't perfectly replicate the feeling of an official evaluation, but you can get close enough that your nerves work for you instead of against you.
Sleep Is Not Optional
Here's something that gets overlooked: rest matters enormously when it comes to performance under pressure.
The night before your evals, try to get as much sleep as you possibly can. I know that's easier said than done when adrenaline is running high and your brain won't stop running through scenarios. But even if sleep doesn't come easily, let your body rest. Stay in bed. Don't get up and start pacing or studying. Give your body the recovery it needs, because you are going to need every bit of mental sharpness you have the next day.
Sleep won't replace preparation, but poor rest can undermine it.
You've done the work. At that point, the best thing you can do is rest.
Nerves Mean You're Ready
I want to leave you with this, because I think it reframes everything.
The students I watched walk into evals visibly shaking, sweating through their clothes before the first practice problem — those nerves weren't the enemy.
In many cases, those students passed.
What mattered was whether they had put in the work, built the habits, and developed a routine that could carry them through the pressure.
The more knowledge you have going in, the more practice you have behind you, the more confidence you'll feel when you cross that threshold.
That confidence doesn't mean the nerves go away. It means you've earned the right to use them.
Being nervous means you care. And caring is exactly the right starting point.
So practice hard, know your material, build your pre-eval routine, and get your rest.
The nerves will be there.
Let them remind you of what's at stake — and then go do what you've trained to do.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
Phraseology Is King
If you know how to talk to a pilot — if you know how to say it the way the FAA wants you to say it — then the pilot is going to understand you. And if something ever does go wrong, you'll never have to explain why you didn't use correct phraseology. That's why I call it what I call it: phraseology is king.
It's one of my all-time favorite subjects, and I want to break it down for you today in a way that actually helps you prepare — not just understand why it matters, but know what to do with it.
It's Not As Standardized As You Think
Here's something that surprises a lot of students: you would think phraseology would be the same everywhere. And in theory, it should be. The 7110.65 lays out exactly what the FAA wants you to say. But in practice, phraseology varies — from facility to facility, from school to school, from program to program.
The phraseology you're learning at your CTI school is going to be slightly different from what they teach at the Academy. What they teach at the Academy will be slightly different from what they use at Advanced ATC. And when you get to your first facility, it'll shift again.
I've worked at five different facilities, worked at the Academy, worked at Advanced ATC — and I can tell you from firsthand experience that every single one of them did things slightly differently.
This is actually one of the hardest things I dealt with as an instructor at the Academy.
Students who came in with prior air traffic experience — especially from the military — sometimes struggled more than students who were starting from zero. Military phraseology is different from FAA phraseology. Different structure, different habits, different muscle memory. And unlearning something is often harder than learning it fresh.
So here's the mindset I want you to carry into every stage of this process: learn the phraseology where you are.
Don't worry about how it differs from where you were before. Don't worry about how it'll differ from where you're going next. Your job right now is to pass — pass your CTI school, pass the Academy, get to your first facility, and get through training there.
Focus on what's in front of you.
It's a Language — Treat It Like One
I used to tell my students in Oklahoma City that over the course of my life, I've tried to learn about seven different languages. Spanish, French, Italian, Russian — yes, I actually took Russian in high school — Portuguese, English, and air traffic control.
And there's a reason I can only speak two of those seven fluently.
The ones I speak are the ones that meant something to me.
The others just haven't mattered enough, yet.
That framing — air traffic as a language — isn't just a metaphor. It's the most accurate way I know to describe what you're actually doing when you learn phraseology.
You're not memorizing scripts. You're learning to think and communicate in a different language, one that has its own grammar, its own rhythm, and its own consequences when you get it wrong. And just like any language, the goal isn't to think about what you're saying while you're saying it.
The goal is fluency.
You have to get to the point where the phraseology just comes out.
My primary trainer at Brownsville put it to me directly: "you want to say it right every time, and you want to get to the point where you don't have to think about how to say it right. It just comes out right."
That's the standard.
That's what you're working toward.
Why Second Nature Matters So Much
Here's why this is so important, and it goes beyond just sounding professional.
When you're in the radar lab at the Academy, it is very easy to tell who has studied and who hasn't. Who knows the phraseology for a point out and who's guessing. Who can give a clearance without hesitating and who can't.
And as an instructor watching from the other side of that room, I can tell you — the students who have the phraseology down cold have a massive advantage. Not just in how they're perceived, but in how they're actually able to perform.
When phraseology is second nature, your brain gets freed up to think about the things that are harder to automate — traffic flow, separation, the picture. The cognitive load of figuring out what to say is gone, and you can focus on what you're actually supposed to be managing.
That's the real payoff.
The reverse is also true.
When phraseology is a struggle, everything else gets harder. You're splitting your mental bandwidth between communication and decision-making at the exact moment you can least afford to. You fall behind, you start guessing, and the whole thing starts to unravel.
Good Phraseology Can Actually Protect You
Here's something I've seen firsthand that a lot of people don't talk about: good phraseology can lull an evaluator to sleep. And I mean that in the best possible way.
I've been watching a student work a problem, and they sounded so good — so clean, so confident — that I completely missed a separation error they made. It happens. When someone sounds like they know exactly what they're doing, your brain starts to relax. That's human nature.
Your job during an evaluation is to put that evaluator to sleep.
Start so clean, sound so professional, that they feel like they can relax and just observe. I've seen students come out of evals saying they had a couple of small errors that didn't get caught. That's not luck — that's what good phraseology does.
The opposite is equally true and equally powerful. Bad phraseology at the start of a problem puts that evaluator on full alert for the next 40 to 45 minutes. Their ears perk up. They lean in. They start watching for everything. And now every small mistake gets caught because you've told them — through your communication — that they need to pay close attention.
You don't want that.
You want them relaxed.
Good phraseology is how you get there.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
In non-radar at the Academy, a phraseology error will cost you a fraction of a point. In the radar portion, it'll cost you two points. That doesn't sound like much until you think about it this way.
Imagine you have a stack of 100 one-dollar bills. Someone comes along and takes two. You still have 98 — fine. Then another person takes two. Then another. Then another. After ten of those, you're down to 80 points maximum, and that's assuming you did everything else in the problem correctly.
And here's what I can tell you almost with certainty: if your phraseology isn't spot on, it's rarely the only thing in that problem that's off.
Weak phraseology and weak performance tend to travel together. So those two-point deductions add up fast, and they add up on top of other errors you may not even realize you're making.
The flip side is that phraseology is one of the few things in air traffic control that is almost entirely within your control before you ever set foot in the radar lab.
You don't need scenarios to practice it.
You don't need simulators.
You just need repetition.
How to Actually Practice
So how do you build that fluency?
Here's what I did when I was starting out with very little experience talking to aircraft.
I practiced the phonetic alphabet by reading license plates as I drove to and from the Academy. Every plate became an aircraft. Every car on the road was traffic. If I had someone in the car with me, we'd run point-outs back and forth the entire trip — one of us giving the point-out, the other taking it, then switching. Back and forth, over and over, until it stopped feeling like practice and started feeling automatic.
You can do the same thing.
The opportunities are everywhere once you start looking for them.
But — and this is critical — it does not help to practice bad phraseology.
Bad phraseology is as harmful as no phraseology, maybe worse, because it builds the wrong habits into your muscle memory and makes them harder to undo later.
If you're practicing with classmates, hold each other accountable. Correct each other. Keep the standard high, because the standard you practice to is the standard you'll perform to under pressure.
Phraseology and Strip Marking: Two Sides of the Same Language
One more thing I want to touch on, because it ties directly into phraseology: strip marking.
If phraseology is learning to speak the language of air traffic control, strip marking is learning to write it.
They're two sides of the same coin, and they have to develop together.
You need to be able to say the right thing and write the right thing simultaneously. That's the reality of working traffic.
The good news is that phraseology and strip marking are, in my view, the easiest things you're going to learn in this career — easier than learning a map, easier than building a mental picture of complex traffic flow.
They seem overwhelming at first, but they become manageable fast with consistent practice. And once they're solid, they become the foundation that everything else gets built on.
If you can't communicate what you're doing in a way the pilot understands, none of the rest of it matters.
You can have the perfect plan in your head, the best clearance anyone has ever constructed — and if you can't say it right, the pilot won't understand it, they'll read back with confusion, and now you're twice as busy as you were before.
The Standard to Hold Yourself To
My first trainer said it to me in a way I've never forgotten: if you sound confident, if you sound professional, that pilot will follow your instructions without question. That's the power of clear, correct communication.
Pilots trust controllers who sound like they know what they're doing. And when you get busy — really busy — that trust is everything. You cannot have pilots second-guessing your instructions at the exact moment you need them to act immediately.
I had a Seminole on short final with no gear down. I was busy, but I saw it, keyed up, and gave him the correct phraseology. He went around, came back, landed safely, and thanked me.
In a split-second situation, there's no time to think about how to say something.
It just has to come out right.
That's what all the practice is for.
So wherever you are right now — CTI school, preparing for the Academy, already in Oklahoma City — learn the phraseology where you are.
Master it.
Get to the point where it comes out without thinking.
Phraseology is king.
Always has been, always will be.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .