here's different spin,

give a great pilot a poor airplane and watch how quickly he retrims and resets the plane to his likeing. correctly recognizing how to correct an airplane set up is just as much a part of the learning curve as flying the manuvers, and also takes time and bunches of practice.

the best learning experience I had a couple of years ago was letting a TOC flyer fly my airplane and listen to his suggestions on how to improve the set up. a plane that I was sure would never do particular manuvers was transformed almost by magic. :sunsmiley he certainly did things with it I didnt think were possible to my plane.

as stated by others, there is just no substitute for practice, practice, practice.

cheers

Hubb