Downshifting to 2nd or 1st while moving (technique)

Originally Posted by Vaughanabe13

I apologize if this is the wrong forum....I didn't see a section for non-track driving technique.

Anyway, I think I've gotten pretty decent driving the Z in 90% of situations (this is my first manual I've owned). However, there is one situation that I feel like I never handle correctly.

Say I'm approaching a yield right turn in 4th gear, 35MPH or so. I need to slow down a lot to check for traffic. I see a car and decide I need to slow down and possibly stop. So I clutch in and brake and either keep the clutch in or go into neutral if it's a longer brake.

Now let's say I underestimated how fast the oncoming car was going and the car has already passed me, and now I'm free to drive through the yield turn. Now obviously I need to engage a gear and I'm going probably 10-15 MPH in neutral/clutch disengaged. It seems just a tad bit too fast to switch into first, because prior experience tells me going into first will throw me forward from the sudden braking under load. So I try to engage 2nd. Here's where it gets tricky. The car really lugs and feels like it's going to stall as I engage 2nd. The RPM has already fallen despite the efforts of synchro rev. I have to give it significant gas in 2nd to prevent stalling and it takes a few seconds to get my RPM back up and get back into the power band.

So how should I have handled this situation? Just hit first and accept the jolt to prevent the lugging in 2nd? Or should I have blipped the throttle manually or done something before/after switching to second?