It's pretty much just a matter of practice, trying over and over again until you've got the timing down but it does seem to help if the ball is on the way up or at the height of the toss/bounce.
Nah, you just gotta work out the timing (on PC, anyway) Ive never been able to do one that would give me a good score in the contest, but ive done basic ones plenty of times in practise.