Hi, Jim.....
Upon re reviewing you question of several days ago on "pushing" and "pulling"......I do have a couple of completions to my answer.
1.) Yes.....the techniques of "pushing" and, "pulling" are NOT written in stone and not essentials. They are manifestations of STYLE.
2.) You asked if there are other ways of making a needle sharp loop. The answer is, YES.
Steve Rajeff once taught me one way to do it, by making a split second perfectly timed upward/outward thrust at the STOP. You get one shape if you make it more "up" than "out" and another if you make it more "out" than "up".
Time lapse framed video can probably prove the point, but I think that while this is done so fast that the observer cannot tell, that what he really does is accomplish that tiny thrust during counterflex, directly after the RSP when the loop begins to form.
Gordy