The only way to improve your instrument scan and stick and rudder is to bloody switch off the Autopilot, Flightdirectors and autothrottle and FLY the aircraft raw data.
Any airline discouraging or Forbidding this should lose its AOC.
Any pilot afraid of this should lose his license and work on the ground.
It is THAT simple
Agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, it is almost certain the vast majority of airline operators actively discourage their crews from any sort of manual raw data practice even if conditions are entirely appropriate.