I always reached before. and when I reached, my head would go past my lead knee which would put my head closer to my opponent, which made it easy to get hit. Combos were difficult since I didnt have good balance. And with my right cross, my punch covers the same distance by pulling the left shoulder back, since the right shoulder fires forward more than it used to, but my head and balance remains under that back foot. So it covers the same distance with better posture, balance and defense without reaching or "falling in" with the right cross.

Scrap, what is the antagonist pulling motion on the uppercut Is it an upward pull of the opposite shoulder?