RODS...characteristics & actions

For as long as I can remember, my favourite rod has always been what I thought to be 'fast actioned'. My interperation of this was a rod with a tip that recovered (stopped wobbling) very quickly......I also thought, but guess wrongly, that this rod had to have a fast taper. During my flyfishing time I could not get along with a 'through actioned' rod, maybe it was my casting style that didn't suit this action of rod?
My rodbar suits my casting to a tee, so does the xor, an old abu 403 or 303(9' glass spin rod, cracking action but its seen much better days) and my zippy bass (loaded with 2oz)......but then along came the supermix, hmm, fast actioned but with a much softer tip yet not 'through action' or sloppy?
So, here's the extent of my limited knowledge but could others please add to this thread to clarify the finer points of a rod build

Fast actioned kinda of like a bamboo stick.......get it loaded and it'll chuck the plug to the horizon, great for working the hard plugs

Fast actioned with soft tip when loaded right the plug disappears, takes more effort to get the hard plugs working to what I consider to be effective, but the softer tip lets you stay 'in touch' with the gentler methods or the sp's

I kinda fail after this as I've never warmed to a soft rod.

Someone correct my ideas if they are incorrect and also add whatever they know