Some time back one of the instructors brought a older person to me to see if I could help. The student, the older guy, suffered from a rare illness that caused his hand to tremble. Talking it over with some of the others we figured we try a transmitter tray. The dude refused saying the other guys didn't use a tray. So I got a couple of our champs to fly for us one day. They both use trays. One is a 3D guy and a good one. The other is a pattern person and a good one also. We built him a tray with ply, metal strips and cotton rope. It was a ragged looking custom build for his radio. Some years later we kind of ran into the same problem. This time we tried the neck strap. Now we are kicking around using the tray or strap all the time. The problem is when a new guys come out they just don't see the tray or straps. I have started using a neck strap. It helps I guess.
When I competed I used a tray. Knocking around burning holes in the sky I didn't see much use of the tray. Thumbing the sticks. Now my thinking is using some sort of platform for the transmitter. Not sure if I will teach like this or not. Do know we have a few opinions about every subject concerning beginners. What do you folks think. Would enjoy hearing.
One note. While wearing the strap I did a knife edge the length of the field. I felt like I had better control. I don't know, but I would sure like to know what you all think. I know the old dude we first tried became a darn good sport flyer.