I originally did my CPL around the turn of the century, and low flying then. There was some turns..following rivers..coastal reversals and constant radius turns..all done at about 400' with plenty of margin, some flap and no more than steep turning.
Later, when I was doing some SAR for the coastguard, I had an annual check with a senior instructor from the same school. The low flying portion modelled on the schools program involved max rate turns with flap..slow flight..and all the rest at heights around 100'.
I consider this unnecessarily risky and the school has had at least 2 aircraft losses (without fatality) in low flying areas in recent years.
I wonder why the syllabus has become so hairy, and since these poor guys came to grief in a low flying zone, whether this new standard may have left no time for recovery?