MP4: any tips for the control beam?

It was in the trailers so I don't consider it a spoiler.

I'm in the Volt Forge tower 2 now and getting frustrated because I'm having trouble directing the control beam, and the bosses that depend on using it correctly are harder to me than I think they are supposed to be. Mostly my issue is turning radius I think. Is there a trick to it that I'm missing?

Edit: one thing I realized just playing around with it in an empty room is that I expect the up/down controls to be the reverse of what they actually are. I don't see a way to swap that control in the settings, unless it's combined with swapping another control I don't want, so I guess I'll just have to practice and get used to it. It's Flight Invert Y in Misc settings.