[SD987]

Just to be clear, I wasn't espousing anchoring the left foot to the floor at any point in the clutch process, I was suggesting using the left heel as a reference point even if the heel is unsupported, but I would certainly agree to each his own YMMV. In that vein, one can't discount one's feet in the process, considering that a large portion of the earth's population have foot problems. Personally, I have low, and consequently weak arches (flat feet) and need to adjust accordingly.

To respond to Rail's question, matching revs on a downshift would go clutch-in gas - gas (the first time being a blip to get the revs up, the second one being timed with the clutch release).

I did want to expand on one of the last points in my post regarding how one holds the shifter and shifts. I was over at Barnes and Noble the other day (does anyone actually buy, let alone subscribe to magazines anymore? or do they just read them at the store, like me?) and I was pleasantly surprised to see a book on performance driving. Sadly, it didn't have much "practical" advice, but the author (some racer whose name I didn't recognize, but I'm sure others would) said it wasn't till into his career did he realize the correct way to shift, and it was from driving an Audi (during Audi's stretch of dominance). He said the mental picture that worked for him was to enfold the shifter in the hand as delicately as if it was an egg, thus primarily using the other muscles in the wrist and arm to shift with while maintaining the appropriate lack of force in the hand.

If you read Golf Digest, there is this section where they have like a 3, 15 and 20+ handicap try whatever swing-tip Golf Digest is recycling that month. The section is called "I tried it" and it makes me laugh because the 20 + guy is always like, "Yeah, it worked for me" (funnier if you're a pretty decent golfer)...anyway, back to the point of the yarn, I tried the "egg" thought....and "Yeah, it worked for me". Weird thing is, not only does the shifter shift better, but the clutch engages and disengages smoother too...Pretty weird stuff, which I haven't thought of a complicated reason for yet (but give me time). But this does remind me of a sign of whether you're a good rower or not. If the shifter goes into gear as a one-syllable sound ("Chunk") you're being overly forceful with the hand muscles;...If it goes in making a two-syllable sound ("Cachunk")...that's about right.