[L A Smithers]

This wierd configuration is another of my pet peeves. I can still see Jim Green of Fenwick trying my homebrew Loomis 15 ' on the graveyard 15 years ago. He became so enthused that he ran off to Scotland and saw some reverse taper butts and was convinced they solved the problem of stiff butts in graphite.
But where did the reverse taper come from. it came from graphite golf club shaft designers .Those of you who have used the Taylor bubble shafts in their drivers will quickly realize just how they work in a golf swing. It moves the flex point of the shaft way up almost to your hands and allows a very low torque stiff lower shaft. Those whippy torque shafts were always the curse of graphite shafts.
Its ok in a golf shaft because you are delivering all the energy of the swing at an instant in time when the clubhead meets the ball.
its possibly ok for shoot and hoot casting when you want to deliver instantaneous energy to the line for max shooting power.
But the classic spey cast is essentially a roll and requires that energy be progressively fed into the line as the line moves away from the rod. The more sustained the energy delivery the further the line can be cast.
Anyone who can explain the benefit of the reverse taper butt will be accorded a place in my 100 best casters book.