In my IMCR training, I used to get silly stuff like a load of vectors and stuff; I had no idea where I was or what I was supposed to be doing, and only just before landing did I realise we were supposed to have been flying an NDB approach. I can do all the stuff now but spent the first 10-20hrs being totally baffled. You cannot waste the student's money like that. One needs a thorough ground briefing, with "to do" points written down, and understood, and only then should one go flying.
10540
That is a very valid point. Aircraft are very expensive to fly add the extra stress of being in a real aircraft and its easy to get confused. In the relaxed atmosphere of a sim especially at home the benefits are huge.
It is true that you need to practice in your mind. Watching aerobatic pilots make manouvres with their hands for their own routines and that in itself is a sim of sorts.
Pace