Don't know if this is mentioned but you should just fly around and get the feel of the control you're using with this aircraft. Also, give your x, y, rz and slider axes some curve; I'd start with 15 or 20. Don't forget deadzone of 5. If you're feeling adventurous, extend your stick about a foot and throttle about half that then you can fly with all your axes flat.
Now, I had the same problem, we all did, so what I did was learn to slow down from forward flight with minimal loss of altitude. This is impossibly painful if there's no curve in your non modded, short travel stick, throttle and rudder. More importantly, you won't nail any time soon, but you will. In the meantime, do your best to transition from forward flight to a crawl then hit that auto hover button on the right panel. Once you've nailed the Shark then enjoy flying and fighting in it.
When it stops being a challenge, you will want to buy either the DCS Huey or Mi-8 module. :D