I've been using DE and SE razors for a long time, but always liked the idea of a straight. A few years back I decided to try a shavette, and that ended badly. But earlier this year I bit the bullet and picked up a real straight from /u/RVMaster.

Because it takes significantly more time and effort than a DE shave, I saved the straight razor for days when things were calm. A leisurely Saturday morning provided the perfect opportunity to strop carefully, pay extra attention to my lather, and go really slow with the shave.

Problem is, the skill set never developed for me. After a couple of dozen shaves it still felt awkward and uncomfortable.

A few weeks ago I decided to take a different approach, and shave with the straight razor every day. Two or three passes if time permits, but just one (followed by cleanup with the DE) if I'm in a hurry. And what a difference it has made.

Apparently muscle memory develops more quickly with less time between repetitions. At this point the first two passes are relatively quick and ... well, not automatic, but not challenging either. My hands know where they need to go, and I can stop thinking about how to get the razor where it can do its job and focus on actually getting it to do the job well.

TL;DR - If you want to learn to use a straight razor, shave with it every day.