I finally decided to try out some pre-shave oil I had lying around. I'd been shaving for approximately a month without it and I had been having problems with fluidity in my strokes. My main problem was ATG with my left hand.

After throwing on the pre-shave oil, things were MUCH more smooth. I realize many of you likely get perfectly smooth strokes without the oil but as a beginner I just felt it helped out greatly. I think I'll continue to use it to 'hone' my technique and eventually ween off of it to see if I can then get equally good shaves without it.