I really disliked the whole focused movement when I first started IPO, but I kind of understand it now.
My take is this - it shows you can get the dog's trust and focus on you even when they are doing something like walking forward, which instinct is to look where you are going and scan the environment (for any animal) They are focusing on you and putting trust in you. I am not sure if that was the idea in the beginning, but that reason makes sense to me so I have reconciled its value as such. I was relieved to see it is an exercise of showing focus during a particular obedience display, rather than being considered a proper way to go about other things.
I am sensitive to stuff like this as I am a long time competitor in defensive firearms "games" ...of which the initial purpose, at the "sports" inception was to give an outlet, a test of skill, proving grounds, and camaraderie to people who had to lay it down in real life (much like the origins of Schutzhund). It (shooting sports) has become so overstylized (starting from when civilians got involved for fun) that there is just good looking but impractical...and somewhat down right stupid/dangerous...moves and exercises that have become heavily ingranied into the sport. To the point when LEO who ACTUALLY see real life action choose to compete, they will say " I am not doing that, give me penalty points, I don't care". Sound similar?
I have good attention from my dog now during a fuss. He doesn't prance or crane his neck. Well, I'm pretty short and he is pretty tall. So the reward kind of always comes at his level not from above from an armpit or anything lol. He knows he only has to look at me during movement when I give that command. And he does it well. I don't care about points, I care about passing (ok well, I dont want scores in the low passing, but I am not bent on getting all high 90s)
I would not "necessarily" want to see people dinged for their dog's angle of their actual neck during focus, I'd rather see emphasis solely on the dog's attention to their handler. However if the point dinging for "extreme looking up" is in the interest of the dog's health due to training to achieve that look, AND it has been researched to be bad for them (not just presumed) then again, I'd get that.
My dog looks me in the eye. And wow am I short.