As the OP mentioned, if you're putting weight on your palms, i.e. using the game as a giant walker, then forward nudging is really a non-starter.

I made a nudging basics video. I threw it together for a presentation or something and should probably make a better one, but you might find some of it useful.

You have the right idea but you're combining two different nudges. When the ball is going down the middle, you want to move the table left or right (the slap/slide/nudge part) so the the ball, relatively, is now within reach of a flipper, not so you can impart extra oomph to the flipper rubber.

When you're doing outlane nudging and trying to get the ball out of that area, you ARE trying to add that little extra oomph to ensure the ball doesn't settle there, but bounces out.

Not instructional. Bowen's videos on pinball.org are really good and cover most everything.

I will probably do a part 2 on the nudging at some point. I just finished a new camera rig so I can start recording my home games. I want to do some where I'm recording the game overhead but also have a camera on the tilt bob so people can see both at the same time.

My theory on backhanding is that one of the reasons it's often safer than fore-handing certain shots is because there's less side to side momentum when done from a trap. The other reason is because a backhand shot tends to have less power than a fore-hand shot. Less power + less side to side momentum means that if you miss, the ball is less likely to go flying around like crazy.

Doesn't mean that backhanding on the fly is never good, though. I have seen players backhand the left ramp on ACDC on the fly over and over no problem. As with anything, the more consistent your shooting, the more options open up.

I made a new video and slowed it down as much as the software would left me.

If you're playing in competition and you get a crappy ball, like a couple flips and then a side drain, you can intentionally give the machine a good shake to try and generate a warning. That way you'll have an idea of how sensitive it is. You'll also leave the bob swinging a little for the next guy, and if he's impatient and jumps right on instead of letting it settle, you get a little advantage.