I noticed once I got the hang of lining the needle up with the pathfinder and initially inserting the needle into the follicle, I begun to be able to tell if an insertion is correct or not by the feel. If I made a completely bad insertion, I feel a prick sensation. But more than that I can feel if it is close but the the tip of the needle beginning to scrape the inside of the follicle and I then know to stop, back up a bit and try again.

I still haven't figure out what to make of the sudden "push-thru" sensation though.

One thing that concerned me about using this technique is that if I decide to go pro and someday work on others, I will have become overdependent on this technique, or develop other bad habits.

the push through sensation is probably the breaking through of the follicle wall.