Like yourself, Chuck, I'm not trying to be a smarty pants, but I would never make an instrument approach in a sailplane.
I always wanted go up in one, never got to because I allowed me to be way too busy. I feel I missed a great opportunity by not going.
Yeah, I know it's not too late, but, well, still busy ya know.
You're spot on about the flaps and the rate/angle of descent and power, and truthfully, this discussion has been going on for as long as I can remember being a pilot. There are two camps, and the interesting thing is, at least in my opinion, neither camp is wrong because both approaches, (ooo, baaaad pun!) work. The examiner I mentioned chuckled and finally closed out his comments with, "Whatever works."