Lower gears and still slugish.

I have the linkage way back because I could feel the spring back pressure in that area. (dose that make sense). Didn't think it was reaching the kick down area. If I am hard on the throttle shouldn't the transmission hold in each gear longer than normal driving?

How would the transmission know when you're hard on the throttle, if you've disconnected the linkage between throttle/carb and transmission?