Just drove for the first time today!

it is easy, just takes practice and time. no different than a clutch in a car. it will come second nature to you man.

 

when I went to school, I know this sounds silly, but I went to the grocery store and bought a plunger. I then grabbed a box from the dumpster. My roomie and I cut the shift pattern into the top of the box, set it over the plunger handle, and practiced with the box sitting next to a chair in our hotel room. It helped reinforce the shift pattern in my head since I had never driven a truck before.

 

i bet that was funny to see. 2 guys walking into a grocery store to buy a plunger. imagine what they were thinking.

 

yeah, you dont even need the prop, just to take a little time to work your legs while pretending to shift will help.
As pointed out, time will be your best friend as you adjust to the feel of the clutch, get used to timing the gear shift syncro, and seeing AND hearing the rpms, it all come with experience.

You'll still be grinding a couple gears in a couple of circumstances 3 months from now - uphills, stopping for scales, and the occasional emergency braking when you sort of "get lost". What gear was I in? Whats my speed? What gear do I need? Sometimes concentrating hard on the motion makes you do it even worse, LOL!

 

It really does get easier. Good ideas about the shift pattern and the foot one too. I hated that feeling of YIKES! What gear am I in lol.

 

if that happens just look at your speedometer and you will know.

 

You will get used to the shifting pretty quickly. It is pretty much the easiest part of driving once you get an understanding of it.

the plunger/box method sounds like a pretty good idea, actually. It allows you to actually go through the motions, rather than trying to imagine it in your head.

 

I often forgot to split. By the way, what did you use for a splitter button...a match box and a rubber band?