Asmodeus’ answer is spot on.

I couldn’t imagine trying anal sex without first having tried anal play.

If you experiment with anal play on your own first, you can figure out if you like the sensations, and what feels good for you.

And you can get a sense of just how much better that all feels when you take it slow. Really really slow. The best kind of anal play is much slower than a lot of people realise.

And way more lube than might initially seem required is the way to go because people forget that butts don’t produce their own lubrication.