I kinda got the whole pitching/flipping thing down...I was wondering about once you get the bait through, how do you fish it? Is it just a lift and drop, shake and repeat or do you impart other action? Is it just basically a vertical presentation, where you drop the bait in an area...shake it and remove it?

With punching, theres not alot you can do. Your punching through thick stuff, letting it hit bottom and its basically a lift and drop. I never work it more than 4 times. If I dont get anything after the 4th, I reel in and hit another spot. Its best to use baits with tight profiles and alot of action since your not really working it a whole lot. I love the Rage Tail Menace because it is compact and has good action with little movement.

I use several methods. Under a mat that has some depth to the water it's covering, I shake it a little, or hop it up and down a time or two,  maybe even give it a good hard stroke,  or even let it soak. In very shallow mats I lift it up to the bottom of the canopy and let it fall again, before lifting it out and finding a new place to plunk it through.  I kind of let the bass tell me what to do. If I get a few that are whacking it good on the initial fall, I go into turbo punching mode, covering the area with a punch it in, fall, lift it out....on to the next flip, trying to make it fall in front of as many fish as possible.

Just pretty much yo-yo the bait up and down. I usually pause the bait on the way out and shake it for a couple of seconds when the bait reaches the bottom of the mat. After a cold front the fish seem to target prey thats actually in the mat.

^^ I usually yoyo 2-4 times making the bait come in contact with the bottom of the mat and letting it fall to the bottom. Somedays you have to try a few different approaches to see what the fish want. All good advice above.