Strictly personal opinion

Grip: This should be a personal adaptation based on work at the range.
Blake's grip (to me) after completion was strong left weak right in that
his left hand was set up strong and his right started out palm facing target
and held that position with the left thumb rolled into it in the take-away.
I would start out with a fixed grip that was strong left weak right.

Distance: You might sacrifice ten yards for direction control. Swinging slower
will not increase distance unless you somehow increase the whip speed through impact.
Start out with a slow swing speed and increase it until you find a comfort zone.