Are through hole components easier to handle?
Regarding smt components flying of the tweezers, I found that those chubby tweezers with foam handles are much better because they have lateral stability.
As per PTH or SMD being easier, it's a wash IMHO, as they both have their advantages & disadvantages. For example, you need to elevate a board populated with PTH components, while an SMD only board can simply be set on the rubber mat. The size of SMD is critical of course, and I like to stick to 0603 or larger (0805 most of the time), but I won't knock 1206.
This way, I don't typically need magnification or a rock-steady hand, regardless of tremor, elevation, magnification, and so on.
In terms of preference, I've become rather fond of SMD (makes my Panavise gear gather dust, but who cares; I can dust it when needed
).
One of my tricks regardless of package type/technology, is to hold a cut length of solder in a hemostat as it allows me to hold it in a tripod fashion, thus reducing the effects of my tremor. And I can usually set my iron holding hand on the mat, which helps stabilize it from the shaking as well with SMD (I can use wood to sufficiently elevate my right hand when dealing with PTH components on a board mounted in a Panavise setup). If I try PTH in a Panavise rig free-hand however, I'm proverbially screwed.
And it would be the same with SMD, if that were somehow necessary. So with SMD, my biggest issue is to do with size & magnification (I've an Opti-Visor, but my hands vary as to how bad they shake). Stress and blood sugar have a distinct effect, but they always shake (I need to stick to the 100mg/dL max limit).
Regarding tweezers, I've a fairly large collection of various tip shapes/Swiss Pattern numbers (some are specialty, but most are common Swiss Pattern), and even materials (mostly SA, but some NC and Titanium). All are bare metal/carbon conductive coating; no ESD snapped-on or glued grips on any of mine, yet I find they work well (trick seems to be selecting the right pair for the job). The vast majority are Swiss made, but some are Italian made, followed by German made.
For the larger stuff, a 2A usually does rather well (blunt, round tip), as does a #0 (thick & sturdy tips), and even a few others. On densely populated boards, I find I'm particularly partial to either a 7 or a 5 (curved tip & very fine point tips respectively). Personally, for a basic set, I'd recommend a 0, 2a, 5, and 7. Not only does this keep the costs down, but it can allow the user to do quite a bit on a limited budget IME.
All-in-all, I find the bare metal types very usable, despite my hands. Though to be clear, I don't have any that have the ESD foam grips for comparison.
Flux on the tips can be very troublesome (parts sticking to the tips), and I keep disposable alcohol swabs on hand for this particular purpose, as it's fast & effective (ultra-cheap from Sam's Club too vs. using a pump bottle that dispenses more than I need + Kim-wipe for this purpose).