Don,

I underestand completely your concerns. It's a subject that's troubled
me for a long time, and I seem prone to flip flopping. The problem
isn't so much a question of energy... you'll have less in the spin
than in the ensuing dive after recovery (both of which are nose down),
but having a "procedure" that you can apply without thinking. When
close to the ground, you simply don't have time to observe and react
to more than a few inputs. For example, if I were to cross-control the
aircraft into a stall below 300 feet, if I were over trees, I might
just lock up the controls, close my eyes, and get ready for the hurt.
But to do this I would have to overcome my rote training... that is,
if I sense a departure, I recover immediately. I'm not sure that type
of switch would be valuable. The lesson I've taken away from this
discussion is that in the pattern, the yaw string stays bolt straight.
An unexpected stall can be handled if the aircraft is coordinated. If
not, the bottom falls out quickly.

If you accept as axiomatic that a stall can happen at any speed and at
any attitude, then I have to place priority on coordination fist,
airspeed second, though both are clearly primary concerns in the
pattern.

It is a virtue, or perhaps a nuissance, of our sport, that when near
the ground, the envelope narrows significantly. Between 1000 agl and
10 agl is like climbing solo. Falling is not an option, and we need to
attune ourselves to that.