Yes, it lowers the shift rod under the car by lengthening the lower part of the shifter. But that also means less travel distance for the upper part of the shifter/your hand.
Lay a pencil flat on a table and place your finger in the middle, then move one end forward and back with your other hand. The two ends move the same distance.
Now move your finger to about 1" from the end, grab the short end with your other hand and move it forward and back. You'll notice that you won't need to move the short end as far in order for the other end of the pencil to move the same distance as before.
This is why either shortening the top half of your shifter, or lengthening the bottom half effectively turn your shifter into a "short shifter". The method of shortening the shifter is determined by how you want the shifter to feel.