I total agree John,
Sorry, Personally I think that's just bad advise Bax, especially for a newbie. maybe when you guys have a motor bolted to a work bench it's safer, but on a plane you're holding with one hand and the starter motor in the other,, I don't think so. I've seen everything from starter cones gone flying to broke props to broken skin caused by guys slamming a starter to the plane, And hand popping fourstrokes?? seen everything from broken props to chicken sticks flying through the pits.
No excuse for trying to start a flooded engine. Turning over by hand without the glow driver on tells you if you have resistance,, Lift the plane and make sure all the fuel is out of the engine before you try and start it.
A well tuned engine should not be hard to turn over/start with the correct equipment
good luck