Parnelli, your post may confuse a few people, let me add to it if I may.
"If you are casting long distance, you should increase your casting stroke, reach further back in the backcast, and further forward on the front cast"
This statement is very hazy at best. The reach you are refering to is a drift AFTER you stop the rod, the stop is the same. The reach is to drop the rod tip to allow for gravity dropping the backcast you get with the extra line in the air so the line doesn't get below the casting plane.
The power stroke is the same.