I am fairly new to home brewing also with about 6 batches bottled. I noticed that even though my beers give a pretty good hiss when I pop the caps, it feels like the caps are barely on there. The caps pop off very easily. Occasionally I will get a flat one. That being said my beer is well...
I have no problem getting the labels off, it's the sticky glue residue. I use a steel pot scrubber and rubbing alcohol. Or, leave the bottle sticky and you won't have to worry about a bottle slipping through your fingers.