At age 23 about 4 hrs to go solo in a glider (aero tug and intensive 7 day course) then with about 35 hrs of glider time 8.6 hrs dual before solo in a C172 with most of it being circuits. Age 24 and flew everyday for 5 days.
Memories of my first glider solo was looking into the rear of the cockpit on downwind to see if I was really alone , I felt like I did once when I was a little kid having climbed a really big tree and now I had to get myself down in one piece ...
The GOOD thing about spreading out your lessons and taking your time is you get lots of exposure to different conditions in different seasons.
Nothing wrong with training until you are really ready but 20yrs ago it was definitely a competition for me and the other students.
I saw other students who never went solo and just gave up as they couldn't convince themselves or their instructors that they could do it , they could fly but lacked confidence for whatever reason to go solo and would occasionally do something stupid to spook the instructor, probably saved their lives .