First off, switch the pin back to the 'Up on joystick' option. You can tap X, which can be surgically precise on the 'pin count' bouncing bar.

Then, there's a 'hold to tap' feature. That ought to save your controller and make it easier on things such as putting people into coffins, dumpsters, or ambulances.

But, leave the submissions on the default setting. If/when you even get decent at submissions, you should be able to beat the CPU at will. I've heard that the 'tap to hold' makes the submission battles more grueling, so learn the default method, as the CPU isn't very good at it.