RE: Noob Question.
While excess speed is a common cause, there is one more possibility. If a tail dragger and the main gear is to far forward, you will almost always balloon on landing attempts. You want the main gear on a tail dragger to be just a bit ahead of the CG, usually about in line with the leading edge of the wing assuming a straight constant chord wing planform. Any further forward and landing will be difficult to do gracefully.