A cadet’s first gear drill is clumsy and slow. Speed shows up on drill fifty, not drill one.

Clumsiness on a first attempt is the expected result, not a message about your aptitude. Speed in anything physical comes from repetition laying down a sequence your hands can run without supervision, and that takes dozens of goes rather than one good effort. Judging yourself on the first attempt compares a beginner with people who are fifty drills in.

Count how many times you have actually done the thing before deciding you are bad at it. If the answer is fewer than ten, you do not have the information yet. Do it again this week and keep the sequence identical, because consistency is what eventually turns into speed.