I pulled the yoke back to go higher and forward to go lower, increased power to increase speed and visa versa. That has worked for me, instructor said my app was perfect,
Probably luck and happenstance, rather than aerodynamics and physics. If you apply up elevator, and do nothing else, you will go up for a short time, slow down, and depending upon how you did it, you could descend further than you started from to go up.
To demonstrate my example, I found last summer while out with the flying boat on a local lake, that I had stumbled upon the power setting that let me do it all, without a change in power at all. I could fly in water effect (like ground effect, but away from land!) a feet up at 70 MPH. Were I to push the stick to go down, the resulting contact with the water would be very not good. However, by pulling a little, the nose came up a bit, the plane slowed a little, it tried to leave water effect but could not, so it descended until I gently contacted the water in a nice landing on the step. It would not return/recover to flying in water effect again, as I had upset the balance of power, drag, and Pace's potential energy. I then ran along a little, without touching the power setting, accelerated on the step, and was able to takeoff again, and remain flying in water effect. I could repeat this as much as I wanted, until I approached shore. At all times the speed remained between 72 and 67 MPH, and the "altitude" within a three foot band, but I was not touching the power.
There's a lot more to this than what you are observing now. Rather than taking the "easy for me" way out, spend some more time perfecting the more challenging aspects of flying, in the way you are being instructed - it will make you a much better pilot.