Like Putter and Flatfish said, It's your rod. do it any way you want. One consideration to think about is that the more distance between the two grips that you have, the more leverage you'll have for playing a fish. Also, when you really want to "heave" a longer cast, a little more space seems to help on 2-handed casts. Again, this is purely a preference thing on your part. Take into consideration the weight of your terminal tackle (lure, leader,cork,bait etc.) and the size of the fish that you would normally expect to catch with this rig. It a little difficult to "mock up" a reel seat and guides for some test casting but if you really want to get the feel of how it will cast, it can be done. If you have an existing rod that really feels good to you, then that's a good place to start. In my opinion, the only wrong thing to do with spacing is to not fill it up with some cool butt wrap. Great place to add that one of a kind, personal custom touch. My kind of fishing involves about a 26 inch space between hands on about a 10ft blank. But I truly love long rod beachfront fishing. Anyway, the only person this rod has to please is you. Good luck and post up some pics.....Jim