All I know is that I could throw hammers as the power meter just went down smoothly until it ran out. Now every time I throw a hammer it goes down chunk by chunk not smooth anymore. It never did that before.

Hammer did that from the start...at least for me it did. Could not throw any and it would stay up...but with a full super (and a specific perk) could throw seven if I don't wait. Golden gun is about the same way...not sure about some others, never payed much attention.