A few random points: no, I am not a forehand player, I am a two-winged looper, but any player who wants to adjust to a ball that can move suddenly at any time in its travel path is better off using the forehand than the backhand because the forehand has more options for adjusting the swing path than the backhand does. Even the recent controversy about Lin Shidong's game and his ability to use the forehand, it is tied to this. Forehand training is the basis of most footwork training, partly for long balls, it is the far more versatile and powerful shot. Backhand is the basis of most short ball training because of the modern flick, but historically, pushing and flicking was forehand dominated as well and most footwork was built to support this. So even if you are a backhand player or want to use your backhand mostly (think Dima), you need to train your ability to use forehand on more balls because 1. this new ball will force you to play more shots and 2. you will struggle to play many long balls with the backhand unless you play Kreanga size backhands (and even he will tell you that you can't do that with the backhand consistently, though Noshad and Jorgic might argue a little).
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On equipment: you are wasting too much time on the properties of the rubber unless your make it a priority that you want it to facilitate *your passive game*, in which case if you look at Butterfly, you need to think seriously about the 80 and 64 rubbers. The main thing is to pick a rubber that a good player uses and then to master it. Every rubber has benefits and negatives. You have to figure out how to make it work for you. I am usually confused when people say they need T05FX or softer rubber on backhand etc. But I have usually tried to accelerate on my backhand like I do on my forehand and vice versa. IF you master arm acceleration, it doesn't matter. But what will matter for you is your play out of the passive game. And the passive game of T80 is somewhat better than the passive game of T05 and T19. T64 has the best passive game by far. Tenergy though is a reactive sponge. No, on your backhand you don't loop upwards, what no one has shown you and what you haven't practiced is how to play and develop a high level backhand topspin. When you do, these statements will matter less.
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Most players struggle to push serves that are short with low amount of backspin, especially if they read them as backspin serves. So this makes them pop up the ball and creates attack opportunities. And if you are an offensive player (and sometimes even if you are not), all you want is the opponent to give you an opportunity. That is the goal of most serving from an offensive player. So if you don't like attacking behind backspin and are comfortable being attacked, then serve less backspin so two things happen - either they attack you and you then defend and get the ball to a place they don't like, or they push and pop it up and you get a chance to attack.
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Flat hitting shows you what happens when you make solid contact with the ball. Lots of balls that are loose are easier to smash than we realize but if we always brush, then we lose the ability to make solid contact with the ball with a smash. But sometimes you can smash with spin or smash completely flat. But because you are using more racket to contact the ball, you take less risk on the brush. Easier with a softer rubber especially if you play away from the table.
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If I had to pick one thing, just practice things that make you accelerate the forearm much more and practice things that make you move and play a forehand repeatedly. Getting better at moving always raises the level.
When it works it works I don't dwell on it. When my backhand opener works in training I don't try to memorize how low I was squatting at what point did I make contact with the ball etc. It all happens unconscious. 
