Rvjimd-glad to here you are willing to learn and experiment. Draglines will soon be gone in this country and a lot of kids will grow up and never see one operate. The "double bridal"-I'm not sure what you mean unless it is the-2-drag cables coming off the drum. If so, some operators say the machine runs as stable with one cable as the ones with two. I think the smooth movements come from the operators hands and not the machine. As far as the bucket setting down I think each operator uses different techniques and in some cases they are working so far away maybe they cannot see well enough. Here is a great video made by 9W from inside the cab. You can see how far away they are working.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Pic...m4jfg&index=59
On some of the older machines with old controls they are not as responsive as the newer one. Notice on the right hand controller(hoist) how much he is moving the lever back and forth.