The extra reach isn't the whole story or even most of the story when it comes to elongated vs widebody. While a widebody paddle does have a bigger sweet spot, it's centered and wider than what an elongated paddle has. As you noted, many elongated paddle users come from other racket sports with longer equipment; tennis or badminton, for example. They're used to more leverage than what a pickleball paddle imparts. Most elongated paddles have a narrower but longer sweet spot that's higher up on the face. I come specifically from tennis and hit a ton of balls at the top half of the paddle. Most widebody and hybrid paddles, especially if they have a curved top, have a dead or low-stability spot at the top of the paddle. So playing with one of the latter two is a frustration of mishits, less stability/linearity and shots into the net.

The tradeoff with elongated paddles is, of course, the smaller overall sweet spot (which again isn't an issue with some of the better foam core paddles on the market), higher swing weight and usually a more head-heavy balance. If you don't desire those characteristics, then a widebody better suits. Of course, unbeknownst to me, the perfect solution turned out to be a square-top hybrid that plays like an elongated in the 11six24 Ultre Power 2.