Downshifting/backing

I'm in my final week of school and wanted to give some advice that I feel was never told to me. First off if you have never drove manual double clutching will be easier to pick up because you won't have to relearn clutching. What won't be easier for you is the sequence of movement. What i mean is that down shifting is not like up shifting and the reason i believe people have trouble is their not used to mechanics of moving their body and recognizing where they need move the tachometer. Every time I drove when I came to a stop I choked half way thru the shift. Last Friday when the class was doing their VSI i walked away and practiced the movement of downshifting in a truck. I pretended i was driving at 45 miles an hour then did these steps with my feet and arms. Break Clutch/shift to neutral Accelerate Tach to 1300 Clutch/shift to seventh And then repeat to sixth and so on.

When it came to drive everything changed I could actually focus on my tachometer and speed because mymuscle memory was way better. Bruce Lee once said "I'm not afraid of the guy who has practiced 100 kicks, I'm afraid of the guy who has practiced one kick 100 times."

Up until now the only time I backed up anything was backing my cavalier into my driveway. Listen to the basics your instructor is telling you. You won't be able to back anything up if you don't realize that A) if your truck is far to one side of the trailer (the left for 90° alley dock sake) You won't be able to make any other direction until you are straight in front of the truck (or underneath it). So even if you turn it all the way to the left its going to go right. You need to understand that so you can account for it continuing in that direction. B) Take your time. C) Take your time. D) Take your time. Seriously my instructor can do it all without stopping the truck once to adjust and won't have to pull up at all for the 90° alley dock. He's also been doing it for 30 years. The other guys in my class can move effectively but still have to pull up to repair themselves. Another guy and myself were the only ones that set it in without having to pull up. Its not a knock on the other drivers after all they're very effective. What I'm trying to say though is if you're having trouble just slow it down.

May the Force be with you!

Thnx Armando. Appreciate.

Thanks Armando. This is great stuff. It's always helpful to read another person's perspective and I really appreciate it.

-mountain girl