Binding is done too much by
JSF programmers. I think maybe it was the only option available when JSF was still being developed, but now there are better ways. Also, from what I can see, some "JSF GUI designer" apps make it easy on themselves by using binding instead of property references.
Property references are better than binding in most cases. For one thing, they require simpler (POJO) interfaces without the need for specialized platform-specific coding.
Where binding does prove useful is in cases where you want the backing bean to dynamically modify basic page layout and control properties. I've only done a few apps like that in over 5 years of working with JSF.
However, if you need specific info on how to use binding, most decent JSF books will provide examples. Kito Mann's "JSF in Action" does.
The secret of how to be miserable is to constantly expect things are going to happen the way that they are "supposed" to happen.
You can have faith, which carries the understanding that you may be disappointed. Then there's being a willfully-blind idiot, which virtually guarantees it.