Well BrianT, You've just showed how little you know about the subject. The distance your arm travels has nothing to do with the "throw" of a shifter.
Since brianT is so concerned about correct information being passed to future readers, and since I have raced 4-speeds for well over 30 years and don't feel the need to justify my information, I'll let Direct Connection do the talking.
"A mid-year change to the 70 E-cars manual transmission side cover linkage provides a pair of holes in the shift levers for the shifter arms.Positioning the rods in the levers INNER holes effectively shortens the THROW required to change gears."
In other words, If you look at the shifter from the side and picture a clock; the throw would be 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock. If you use the innermost holes on the lever (reducing the arc in which the levers travel) the throw becomes 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock. THAT IS CALLED SHORTENING THE THROW.
Incidently this will also decrease the distance your arm has to travel...