My first experience of driving the winch went something like:
Instructor: "You're a solo pilot, aren't you?"
Me: "Yes"
Instructor: "Go and drive the winch then"
Me: "I've never done it"
Instructor: "Tell whoever is in it to show you 2 cables then"
Me: "I'm worried I'll get it wrong / give people cr*p launches"
Instructor: "Good practice for them"
Another time I heard:
Instructor: "Go and drive the winch"
Volunteer: "I'm scared"
Instructor: "Never been anyone killed that end of the cable"
And the most important bit of advice when converting from winch to aerotow...
Instructor: "What's the most important difference between winch and aerotow launching"
Student: Runs through the expected list...
Instructor: "As a glider pilot you can't kill the winch driver ... always remember that"
OC619
P.S. In both cases (mine and the "volunteer") we had both been gliding for a some time, whilst skillfully avoiding winch duty - so it wasn't nearly as bad as the snippets above sound. Also it was many many years ago.