Need personal observation to confirm your observation. All of my outdoor grows are such that top to bottom all budsites get the same amount of daily photons. The lower buds are still popcorn.
No need as Chuck Estevez PH'd has confirmed that this is true, and has called us both dicks for not knowing this from birth!!
If you can grow outside then most training is probably a waste of time, it would be far easier just to let them grow au natural I agree. Growing indoors with limited light and space on the other hand is completely different in my opinion.
I have an issue with that article written by Robert Connell Clarke as it is full of conjecture and supposition, if you read the full article again carefully you'll see he uses the words might, could and may before stating what he believes are truths.
For example 'Premature removal of leaves
may cause stunting, because the potential for photosynthesis is reduced.'
He doesn't appear to be speaking from a position of experience, which worries me if he is claiming to be an expert and writing articles on why you shouldn't remove leaves.
I still haven't seen any of this scientific evidence that Jorge Cevantes mentions which I think it quite strange, unless he is the only person to have seen it.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that there isn't really much scientific evidence for either side if any at all, so some respect must be given to anyone willing to have a go and try to experiment. Even though I do agree that this isn't the most scientific of tests (no offence Oscar), at least he is having a go!
I wouldn't claim that any of my experiments with defoliation are 100% scientific, but they have thrown up some interesting results which I've never mentioned but have heard them repeated by other people who have defoliated. So some of these things have been replicated by other growers doing similar things, that in itself should have most scientists at least a little interested in why these things happen when you defoliate.
There is clearly a lot of misunderstanding between both sides, but until people are willing to stop arguing and try to discuss this matter in a civil manner we will still be arguing about it in 15 years time.