Ted is right on that and it's almost impossible to do the Hitting stroke properly with anything else but a Sloooooooooow start down.
Using a shorter backswing is also having unexpected results.
Many times I noticed that shortening the backswing in a hitting stroke led to a far better compression and more consistance in precision.
But as Ted stated, the first time you do it, it's a torture for your mind!
Strange, facinating and wonderful thing: the slower and the shorter you go, the more the comfort, power and precision!