When the rope pulls the glider, you don't want that to raise the glider's angle of attack, so the lift force fights the rope. Ideally, the rope pull should lower the glider's angle of attack, and the lift force should be somewhat in the direction of the rope. The key point is the glider's attitude when rope comes out, not relative motion.

Interesting technique John, this does sound a little familiar to the "Freeze it, fix it, face it method," perhaps just explained a bit better. The one thing i don't understand is the line above...Wouldn't a nose-low situation with towplane-induced pulling the nose up cause an increase in AOA, not a decrease? I can, however, see that configuration helping from a total energy perspective, but not sure that attributing the additional "cushion" to an AOA change, as much as preventing a dive on the towplane.

Not trying to argue or disprove, just clarify... Thanks for the technique, i will have to try it out this spring.

Chris