Yes, practice teaches your reflexes so you can handle an emergency situation without haveing to think about. And there is no short-cut to developing this muscle memory, but lots of stick time.

As for hovering, yes it's hard but very necessary. It's been said before that if you can't hover, then you can't land. So don't skip that important step in your learning curve. Take you time, and don't get impatient. It will come.