Selective gear changing
In Step 2 we talked about 'Gears to go' or 'selective gear changing' (sometimes referred to a 'block changing' or skipping intermediate gears). You now need to practice selective changes.
Selective gear changing: Method
Find a quiet stretch of road and practice changing from 4th to 2nd gear. Do this in two ways.
Practice at about 25mph using the method explained earlier for changing from 4th to 3rd (here)
Practice at about 5mph after first reducing the speed by use of the brakes
When you have perfected changing from fourth to 2nd gear try 3rd to 1st, 4th to 1st (on the move at about 2mph) 5th to 3rd, 2nd or 1st and so on.
Driving the getaway car!
Upward selective changes are usually made after accelerating fairly hard in a lower gear, for example after overtaking on a clear open road or when getting away from a bank robbery.
Upward selective changing: Method
Find a quiet stretch of road and accelerate to about 25mph in 1st gear (or to the red-line if you have a rev counter)
Change directly from 1st to 3rd or 4th. Keeping the car smooth as you do so.
Practice changing from: 2nd to 4th and 3rd to 5th using a similar 'accelerate and change' method.
Repeat these exercises several times until you are happy with the results.
Next: Step 6 - Smooooooth gear changing.