ol Al....
I join many other instructors in feeling that the haul should NOT be taught to beginners.
Lefty feels the same way when he says that those who learn the haul too early, ".....use it to throw their mistakes farther".
One of the functions of the haul is to take up slack. That's mainly what early casters use it for. Better they learn a good basic foundation stroke and only then add the haul.
I do agree with the haul being a mirror image of the casting stroke. The, "power snap" / "speed up and stop" of the haul should match that of the casting arm.
One can get a very effective cast with a short snappy haul, of course....and Lefty used to teach it that way. Problem is that it's hard for intermediate casters to get that brief haul/snap at exactly the right point in time. Also, with long distance casting, a longer haul is much more efficient for directly increasing loop speed and gaining increased rod load.
Gordy