I think Gary is right on on this.
Normal tension on the rope during tow for a 2-33 is about 50 pounds.
This will not damage anything.
The problem is that instructors commonly fail to teach releasing in a
steady state situation and many students begin to learn to anticipate
the release and start to pull up before releasing. This is where the
big bangs come from.
Tow pilots HATE soft releases because they only then know release has
occurred by subtle trim change(if in high tow) or mirror. With normal
release tuggie feels slight shake at release, visually confirms, and
gets out of Dodge.
UH