Good article for noobs. I think only recently have we come to the "don't follow one thing blindly". Granted, I'm grateful I learned that long ago since Koji just had to be different. Haha. Actually, he taught me to break all the rules. So I'm very happy about it, even though it was a long difficult journey.
I agree with Sealtainn, don't make it harder than it is. I think for completely non-athletic or the uncoordinated, handling is hard. But muscle memory is a wonderful thing. The only people I knew who excelled at handling early on were former dancers. The rest of us learned or are still learning. I think handling is something you should always be working on.
Agility is like golf, to me. It's not hard to learn, but it can never ever be perfected nor mastered. You must practice to stay in good form. And as long as you don't take it too seriously, it'll be enjoyable.
I also disagree about the speed part. Yes, don't squash the desire to run fast, but even if you're not fast, who cares. Even if you did kill their desire for speed, I'd rather have a dog who thinks and slows down.....and is safe, versus a fast dog that doesn't care about anything. There should be balance.
My advice for new handlers: You're probably going to screw up your first dog, it's okay, just enjoy the time you have learning.
BTW. The best way I have seen a person learn? Use an experienced, but forgiveable dog, so the human can learn handling first. I saw a woman do it this way, due to circumstances. By the time she started training her own dog, her handling was amazing! And training the dog was easier since she didn't have to learn handling. I'm assuming this would be akin to a novice handler training their second dog.
Please excuse any typos or weird words, I'm on my phone.
I liked how she stressed that it's about having fun and the importance of early socialization. 
