9x9 is very different from 19x19.
Pros have remarked that they consider it harder than 19x19, and I’ve had (and seen other mid-high dans have) the same sentiments.
There was a discussion about this recently too which you might find interesting.
It was difficult for me to play 9x9 when I first started too, and I still find it more difficult and very different from the 19x19
9x9 is a lot more intertwined than 19x19 due to everything being so close together.
Tengen (the centre point) can be a good move for Black on 9x9 even more so than on larger board sizes in terms of exerting influence and an impact on the sides, for example.
Whereas opening on the 3-3 can be too slow for Black, only emphasising and taking the corner, without also affecting the sides and centre as much.
So the efficiency and implications of playing moves which only focus on corners vs. corner+side or side+centre, or corner+side+centre is very different on 9x9.
There are similarities, such as following the opponent and letting the opponent build on a large global scale whilst you are answering in gote, generally being bad, which is the same as in 19x19.
(for example when a player seals in your groups in sente, or forces you to defend in gote whilst building a really big influence which your territory/group doesn’t equal or compensate for, on 19x19)
It’s possible, yes, in 9x9 it’s still necessary to tenuki and see where the biggest global points are, so if you’re getting boxed in, you’re very likely not developing your stones as quickly in the opening, or creating weak groups, or responding too much in gote to protect a small group/live, rather than thinnking of sacrificing portions of the group & playing flexibly ( for example, letting the opponent capture part of the group whilst playing a move which threatens to live by running into an open area, or their territory )
In 9x9 I’ve found that it tends to be bad to get too bogged down locally in one’s groups if they aren’t making enough territory and need to be defended – walls and influence can be worth a lot more to give away in sente to the opponent.
It’s similar in concept to the principle of overconcentration on 19x19, as well as the principles of sente and gote (having or losing the intitiative, and using it well) and efficiency.
(In general, for example, it’s bad to let one get sealed in in sente and have to live small in gote, be it on 19x19, 9x9 or other board sizes – the opponent will profit more in sente, then use the initiative to take big moves globally after you have to defend)
But the strategies may apply differently than on 19x19.
It’s fine to play 19x19, though, and especially if you enjoy or like it more – it’s not surprising to me that it feels more natural to some and that seems a good thing in many ways.
(It does to me also, though I began playing on 19x19 and only began the 9x9 (apart from a few scattered games years ago) very recently after reaching mid-high dan.)
I think they are both just very different games, and the play takes very different forms, even though one can apply some similar principles of shape, efficiency etc.