Many learner drivers struggle to correctly locate the intended gear and instead, accidentally select the wrong gear. Depending on the gear selected, this can potentially be damaging for the clutch and gearbox and can even have hazardous consequences to other road users.
To help reduce wrong gearing, we use the palming method which is a methodical and somewhat robotic procedure.
The palming method involves applying pressure to a side of the gear stick and pushing it using the palm of your hand only. You would hold the knob in a similar way as you would a handshake – so you wouldn’t grip it, rather push it.
You would use the handshake thumbs up position for pushing the gear stick towards you and invert you hand so that your thumb is pointing down to push the gear stick away from you.