Nope, can’t be that rough at all. I will take the time to unwind the ball if it’s choking the plant out. Sure you can snip some away, but I always looked at that as tempting fate with such a small root zone. So yeah, tedious. But worth it. But if they get crazy rootbound in veg, flip. Otherwise you may end up empty handed (I never legit killed a plant that way either) I use a waaaaaay dialed back nutrition regimen when they are in cups, just a higher volume of water to keep them healthy and small. None of what I said applies to an actual solo run though. Just controlling a plant for availability in space. Otherwise, I bomb them if I’m going to flower them in a cup. It just depends what you are up too……