If it's an older 172 use only 30 degrees of flaps. 40 is really overkill unless you're going into a short field. It may also be adviseable to come down final a little faster, say 70 knots and use ground effect a little longer. I typically have my students do this, level out in ground effect and bleed off speed by increasing pitch slowly until it won't fly anymore. Makes for a nice touchdown. If you're used to pipers you'll have to get yourself away from going straight from descent to flare as this will result in flat and or hard landings.
And everybody else's sentiments about cross winds is dead on. Roll the ailerons into the wind on touchdown or you'll be skipping over towards the grass.