I’m not sure I agree with that
You see many top players today taking full back swings close to the bridge hand and doing well with the tight pockets
Chris Meling and fedor Gorst come to mind
Yeah imop a long back swing to deliver consistently and easily acceleration with a finish to the stroke (ie hand to chest) making a short penetration through cb is def more accurate an consistent and more compact
Than a long backswing with a long loose elbow dropping stroke where the tip penetrates the cb well past 8-10/12” etc.
Even if you change that last paragraph to a short backswing you now have to contend with building up much more acceleration when needed into a shorter distance…creating way more chance for error due to torque required. Then finishing long
Neither once of those two are really compact at all.
No matter how short a back swing or delivery is, if it’s got lateral sway in it “fishtailing”…is not compact imop. Well at least not the compactness that could be beneficial lol