Joe, bottom line, in Intermediate you do not have any maneuvers with long vertical up and down lines. You don't need braking. Just keep the low idle setting. I don't use it in Masters. Never did and never will. You can't go by what the big guns in FAI say or do. They have some complex tall maneuvers that can lend themselves to a little braking. Just concentrate on perfecting the basic geometry at your level.

I stand corrected. I might use it occasionally on landing.