Read Mike's post twice! Right on.

Over the decades as a CFI in gliders and airplanes, I have spent many ground and flight hours "undoing" some very poor skills and serious misunderstandings regarding the aeronautical knowledge of many student pilots as well as airplane rated transition to glider pilots who were "taught" by non-CFI's..

Certificated Flight Instructors carefully plan their ground and flight lessons and develop an "economy of words" for the topics they teach because this first bit of learning is usually what many pilots will revert to in times of stress, and that stress is often felt during a typical aerotow and landing.

This is the "Law of Primacy."

As a Designated Pilot Examiner I've seen dangerously large landing patterns, too much reference to the instruments, not clearing turns or not looking outside for other aircraft or reading the sky for clues regarding lift and sink. The worst is any pilot encountering sink in the landing pattern or the drop from a wind gradient on short final and pulling back on the stick (pitching up) in both scenarios! Yikes!

In teaching beginning cross-country soaring I've see poor thermaling technique, inability to "read the sky"and "inaccurate" accuracy landings -- essential skills for XC and why I offer a "Rusty Pilot" course and also encourage / conduct the Bronze Badge test.