I always think in terms of balance Garry and if reels go lighter then rods need to go lighter.
At some point one or the other will fail!
I build (as you well know) many rods and the trend these days for lighter and lighter float reels (centerpin for you young'ns) makes it hard to keep these long rods in balance.
That fact has had many these days choosing to go with longer rear grips and shorter fore grips (think spinning rod) to offset the forward weight and that generally means your losing as much of a foot or more of your long rod behind your hand. What's the point? Keep the rod length up front and think in terms of balance, you'll get more out of your rod, performance wise.