I've only used flashlights when it's really dark and only briefly when I absolutely need to...I'll rely on night vision and moon light first. When it's twilight I don't even bother because that level of light puts incredible strain on your eyes. During the day the mirror trick can help to cast or remove shadows (it works with strong moon light too!). A flashlight will do squat in strong noon day sun...you'd have to stare straight into it to even know it's on.

The only thing that will make you a faster tracker is experience...there is no trick or gimmick that guarantees speed or success. I don't intend to consider myself anything but a novice until I have at least 100 hours under my belt of proper training or actual on the job tracking...which I'm working on but not there yet. Animal tracking is good practice. Animals are generally graceful and good at not disturbing things as they pass...people are clumsy and generally don't care.

I have a tip on the elastic bands for your stick though. I've found elastic bands break when you least expect them to. Castration rings work really well. Plus they're designed to break down and biodegrade so if you lose one in the bush, there is minimal environmental impact. The best tracking stick I've ever seen belongs to a friend of mine. It's a fiberglass cattle handling stick with 3 green Castration rings on it (she also uses it to deliver amazingly convincing threats ). Personally I use a cheap telescopic stick and I adjust the sections to mark foot and stride length because once it's tightened it won't move like elastics can as you crawl through the bush.