Hi there. The main school of thought here is that, in the case of the sprung loaded plugs in padlocks, you need to be very careful not to apply too much tension, despite the spring bias.
It is all too common for new pickers and especially frustrated ones, to apply far too much tension, which leads to over setting of one or more pins. Once you have an overset, which is where the key pin gets trapped at the sheer line between the plug and the bible, you will never get it open.
If you have the key, see how much tension is needed when you use it. You can even stick the tension wrench in the hole in the key and see, when you have that leverage how much it really takes to turn it.
In the case of the smaller keyways in padlocks, often a modified (or carefully used normal sized) wrench can be used to "top tension" which is where the wrench is placed at the top, in front of the first pin without touching it. I have several wrenches that have been purposely shortened for this purpose, so that when it is inserted in front of the first pin it will sit flush against the body of the lock and still not intefere with that pin.
Top tension will give you much more room to manoeuvre the pick underneath.
When using light tension, great care must be taken not to disturb other pins whilst operating the pick and also not to counter rotate the plug whilst pushing pins.
Overall, slow deliberate movement with the pick will help develop good feeling in both tension and pick hand and will pay dividends later on.
Practice practice practice and keep it light. Take a break. Have a cup of tea, do some reading and have another go
Good luck!
