My valver was the same shortly after i got it. I changed the gearbox oil, stuck a B&M short shift gearstick on it and replaced a couple of the shift tower components. Massive improvement but still not amazing, the 02A gearshift set up is crap as standard. The 02J shift set up from the mk4 is supposed to be very good upgrade.
This said your gearbox could simply nearing the end of its working life...