Under no circumstance was I going to make a mechanic explained well enough for players to succeed at it right away; I wanted at least a couple of flubbed attempts from the average player so they'd fail, and see that they still progressed regardless, and understood that failure is progress. I feel like an easily-masterable control may've enabled players to overlook this detail, so it was a totally-conscious desigin to go with that chaotic high-powered 'flick', just to have players witness the extent to the consequences of their actions.
Thank you for your comments though, it means a lot. <3