I like to make my rigging plan from the top, after the tree has been brushed out and I can clearly see what I have to work with. It’s nice to get rid of any limbs that can be bombed. Once up there things look different and I find its much easier to set up my rigging from scratch than it is to reset something that is already in place, or even worse to try and work with a set up that is sub-optimal.
does that mean that I’m getting old?
I am very particular about block location, also I like to remove the tips of any limb or leader used for rigging when lowering work over about 300 #, and I often like to back stay the block. I’ve had a few TIP’s break out under rigging stress, another reason it is beneficial to climb up and set the lines.
Also the throw ball and line is just another tool that has to be set up, put away, and maintained. That time, however incremental, further reduces the advantage gained from pre-setting your lines.
Perhaps planning from the ground is something I should work on, a way to save some time. But there are enough advantages to climbing first that I really have not taken the time to consider it.