I'm no pro...cut more wood over the last month or so than in my lifetime. But here's a couple things I'll mention...
I, too, had the "safety to non-safety" concern. Do as everyone has said...posture, straight left arm, left hand wrapped around the handle (fingers in one direction, thumb in the other...kinda like you'd hold a rattle snake below the head, they bite, too!), good grip with both hands, cut with saw to the side with the edge of the bar *not* in the same plane with any of your body parts. Don't force the saw. I'll add (and probably duplicate others)...
PPE PPE PPE....be sure and where protection equipment. All I've acquired so far is chaps, steel toe boots, and hearing protection. Now, if I can just make myself wear the chaps and hearing protection *every* time I cut.<sigh>
Know where the saw tip is every second that you're cutting. Know where any objects are that are near the saw tip...every second that you're cutting. Everytime you crank your saw and until you switch it back off *expect* a kick-back encounter and be prepared for it. If you're prepared. then when it happens it will be one of those "WHOA
" moments that you sit and reflect on and see where you messed up...if you're not prepared it could very well be a bad situation. When you crank your saw you need to instantly go into defensive mode.
Start each cut full-throttle...no mambi-bambi half-throttle stuff. So far I have experienced more pull-in and push-out than kickback....one pull-in was when cutting a short log and did not a full throttle when the chain engaged the wood...rolled the log toward me/saw toward the log...should have had the dawgs up against the log to start with and full throttle. The push-out was when starting an undercut simply and again without enough throttle. If you run the saw with too little throttle it acts like a minature piece of track equipment and wants to "move" the equipment...and fast! Non-safety chains have better "traction" than safety chains.
Stability...I've been cutting in some clear-cuts where limbs and small trees are in a jumble, pile, twisted mess. What I've found is that I have to get a good place to plant my feet. If I'm unstable on my feet that means the saw will be unstable. Have a good stance and don't over-reach.
PPE, stability, stance, grip, out of plane of bar, full throttle, knowledge of tip location and close-by objects, and expectation that you *will* get kickback, push-out, or pull-in every time you crank the saw.
I like the semi-chisel chain that I've been running...there is definitely an increase in performance coming from the safety chain I've always used.
One last thing....if something just doesn't seem right....STOP
! Use those gut feelings!!...99% of the time they're tellin' you the truth...the other 1% is gas.
Best wishes,
Ed