I have seen many “pilots” who are incapable of lifting off vertically
Agreed - I used to teach pilots to take off as slowly as they could for exercise so they understand and anticipate the change from skids and nose level on the ground to one skid low and (usually) nose up in the hover.
A technique taught on Wessex and Sea King - primarily to avoid the risks of dynamic rollover - is to help what will be the 'uphill' skid/wheel off the ground (or at least to light contact) with lateral cyclic as the collective is raised. This gets you closer to the hover attitude before you leave the ground and that cyclic input is reduced as the skid/wheel comes light - normally results in a vertical take off without wobbling.
As ever, looking ahead and not close in to the aircraft helps prevent overcontrolling and crap take offs.