The counter push stops being a guess. Your opponent places a Golem behind the King Tower and the elixir drop shows less than one, so they have nothing to defend the other lane with for now. That is when Hog goes in on the opposite side. If they dumped everything into an attack, you defend for less and walk onto the bridge with an elixir lead.
Punishing an expensive card gets easier too. Your opponent plays a Prince or a Giant, and the drop tells you straight away how much they have left. If all they can afford on the other lane is something cheap, that is where you push before the bar refills. The opposite case: the bar reads ten and they are not playing anything. The push is already loaded, and going in first makes no sense.
Spells follow the same logic in both directions. While their Goblin Barrel sits at the back of the queue, you can spend your Log on their troops at the bridge, and once the barrel is back in hand, you hold the Log. If their Rocket has not cycled back yet, you can put a Musketeer behind your tower without worrying. If they are holding Fireball, you do not bunch your support troops together.
You also tilt less. When you can see your opponent had exactly enough elixir for the answer, a lost trade stops feeling like bad luck. You see where you went wrong and do not repeat it next game.