I deal with popcorn bud by not dealing with it. I pinch off all the lower growing shoots that would result in popcorn during the first week of flowering. I leave the fan leaves on for a while, until the canopy fills in and shades them.
Take a look at the plants in front, kind of a bad angle, but you'll see what I mean.
The result is big fat colas up where the sun shines, and the plant doesn't waste effort trying to fill out the popcorn. And I don't have to sit there slowly losing what's left of my mind trimming little bitty popcorn buds when I could be doing something productive...like drinking single malt Scotch, for example.
Yeah, it's a little work, but not nearly as much as all that trimming...