I have been going all 4 sticks for a while now. Same thing on the gap, I need to work on that. Im not a small guy either at 6’ 260. I have been getting the weight off but it seems to be slowing down as I build muscle mass. I am posting this from 4 sticks up right now. LolI will do the same thing myself. I'm so used to a climber that I'll look around and if I feel I need to go higher I just keep going. My achilles heel is carrying sticks in, hanging sticks, taking sticks down and carrying them out. I've gotten a lot better at it and streamlined it much more now, but what i still need to be conscious of is the gap between my sticks. I have 4 sticks, prefer to carry only 3, and I will short change myself some heighth not paying attention to my stick gap.
I'm very flexible so I can step high but I find myself not paying attention. I'll put a stick "x" high and think it's good and rarely compensate for it sliding down 6-7" when it bites. I'll get on my platform and look down and it looks like one big stick. LOL!
I guess confidence in ones self and the gear it gets easier. My fear of heights we keep me from being over confident though.