Am I missing something in those drills?

[Gerry Seymour]

I'm not a Judo guy. But my Judo friend told me that Judo is to use the minimum effort to achieve the maximum result.

In Chinese wrestling, you have to give before you can take. You just can't wait forever. In order to give, you have to apply on your opponent enough force to make him to think that you are serious.

That's a common tactic in Judo, as well. Forward pressure (enough to be a threat if they don't stop it) is often used to induce resistance needed for the desired technique.