Alright so this seems to be a thing, and just not something I'm experiencing.

Yea I have kept my characters fairly controlled by just totally spamming the keys, with 'F' (my follow button) being one of them. That usually brings back any characters who have gone stray, and they can often be in hit range of the target until they get a correct IWT.
Will just try and see if this mash buttons playstyle will be more effective than trying to reduce it all by using IWT as limited as possible.