It can be very very serious stuff eh.....my hubby choses the shoots he goes on very wisely for that exact reason - very relaxed and informal ones
You might be able to find a local trainer who will be able to give you a one to one lesson every so often instead of a group lesson which you might find less daunting and you can then just work on particular things instead of the whole 'package of gun dog stuff'. Our trainer also does 'Training Days' which are great fun - very informal and we all have a good giggle at each other when the dogs are tearing off
Hopefully someone might be able to recommend someone in your area
It can be a hit and miss process finding someone you are comfortable with so best of luck.
In the meantime, maybe you can work on the searching part as she seems to really like this? Just develop ways to make it a little bit harder week by week.
Does she watch you when you throw the tennis ball into the long grass so she is marking where it drops? to make a more challenging find, put her in a sit position and move away from her and throw the tennis ball along the ground so it rolls and it's scent catches in places teaching her to track the ball and then gradually moving on to a blind retrieve by throwing the ball - again when she is not looking - and sending her to find
.......a helpful hint - when she is close to finding the ball give her a signal she is close.......'lost' in a high voice is often used to indicate the ball is near......they get really animated when they know they are close to success. If she can't find the ball, just go in with her and click your fingers to encourage her to follow your hands in certain directions.
when you've got her really into the searching - you can move onto the retrieving....just been through all of this in the past year with our ginger Boy...he too would bring back the retrieve but then lay down about 6 feet away...had to really get inside his head to master that one