Driving position and the quest for smooth

Good position makes all the difference.

Posture. Being seated snug into the seat gives good feedback, and more contact with the seat means more places to push against the seat with. My clutch is stiff enough that it pushes back. I was previously a little too far, causing some instability in my posture whenever I popped the clutch. With my hips snug in the seat, pushing in the clutch transfers the force up my leg through my hips, and into the seat, instead of translating into displacement. This also helps to stabilize the torso during steering effort and from the lateral forces when cornering.

Foot position. I was losing pedal control and feel from resting my whole foot on the gas pedal. I got better feedback using the ball of my foot. What this also means is that my heel is farther back, allowing me to pivot over to the brake, and be in good position for some heel-toe action. Before, with my heel closer in, I had to stretch uncomfortably to lift my right foot up off the accelerator onto the brake. This also left me in an awkward position for heel-toe, if I did not lift my foot. With the new positioning, I would be hitting the accelerator with the side of my foot, as opposed to my heel (which is unnatural for the pedals I have).

Loose grips. Having a loose grip on the wheel improves road feel, but also dissipates road shock instead of transferring it directly into the wheel. I try to shfit swiftly, but it's smoother when I keep a loose grip on the shifter, and when I'm more deliberate and conscious of timing. There are also a few things I try to consider: the flywheel speed and its acceleration, the speed of the transmission shaft, and the gears engaging and disengaging. I try to disengage and engage the gears cleanly, while keeping a feeling of where the revs are and how fast they've been dropping since I pushed in the clutch.

The article below talks about a few other things, such as having the shifter close to the 3 o'clock position of the right hand.
Brief discussion