Casting spool diameters are usually smaller than spinning spool diameters, so lower gear ratios on spinning reels have about the same inch-per-turn line pick-up.
Just like your car or bicycle gears, lower ratio means more torque - you have more control taking in line against a strong pull.
That's not as necessary on most UL rods as on big bass and game rods.
Another forum member reported about not having the line pick-up rate to keep up with a charging fish.

- high-geared spinning reel with long counter-balanced handle
You can tune your input and response to the reel gearing by adjusting handle length (pitch).
A longer-pitch handle increases the distance your hand travels to make a complete rotation - it adds torque, increases feel to the bait action, and has the effect of slowing down the reel.
On a low-geared reel, a shorter-pitch handle has the effect of speeding up the reel since you use less arm and more wrist to crank it.
- low-geared spinning reel with short double handle