It might seem like an easy thing to figure out. If you are grinding gears and breaking your transmission, you're driving a manual wrong.
It's not always so straight forward as that. There are a number of habits you might have learned that won't bust up your engine right away, but over time, they could cause parts to wear out much faster than they should.
Resting your hand on the gearstick seems innocuous enough. You aren't shifting, just setting your hand down.
The trouble is, that gear stick is connected directly to the selector fork. When changing gears, the selector fork pushes a rotating collar, which presses into the gear. When you rest your hand on the stick, that fork may be getting pushed up against the moving collar, creating continual friction that can damage the fork.
The video also goes into detail on how to handle stoplights, hill, accelerating, and resting your foot on the clutch.
If you think you may have damaged your manual transmission, visit Philpott Pre-Owned Super Center's service and repair center in Nederland, TX.