DFC.
You make the point that if the aircraft hits and balloons the smart thing to do is to go-around and have another go.
And a thousand instructors have sent their students off on their first solo with the final advice of "when in doubt, go-around". It is a conveniently simple solution. Or is it?
Now I have a problem with this advice. A low energy go-around after a prolonged float or a big bounce with everything hanging out (40 degrees of flap in a C150, for example) has the potential to be quite a dicey manoeuvre unless expertly handled.
Invariably the aircraft is hanging up with nose high a few feet above the ground. Full power will cause an inevitable yaw which unless carefully checked, can lead to a serious excursion around the immediate horizon.
Unless the flaps are brought immediately to 20 degrees (C150) and the nose attitude lowered to a safe attitude, and a specific IAS of 55 knots aimed at - then a powered on stall and incipient spin can happen real fast.
All this from a mis-handled low IAS full flap go-around after the flare. This is no amateur manoeuvre - no matter how blithely an instructor can offer the advice "if uncertain then don't hesitate to take it around".
What seems to be lacking in ab-initio landing training is the technique of landing off the bounce by judicious use of nose attitude and power. It is generally a far safer option than a balls-to-the wall full flapped go-around by a nervous inexperienced pilot.
The bounced/ballooon/high flare recovery to land straight ahead is to my mind, an absolutely vital skill to be taught early in circuit training. Of course it all depends on how much spare runway you have left to play with. But is that any more critical than a low energy everything hanging out go-around with those trees/telegraph poles just off the end of the airstrip?
Too many instructors fail to ensure that their students are fully competent at low energy go-around in the flare - most are satisfied with a 1-200 feet agl go-around while the speed is nice and high. But the runway level low speed go-around is a different animal.
It is vital to equip your students with the skills to land off a porpoising bounce, balloon or a high flare. It can be a safer option than a high drag go-around with all the inherent dangers of an uncontrolled torque/slipstream yaw at critically low speed.
So think carefully when you advise your student to "when in doubt, just go-around". The "land on " option may be safer.