The hitbox of the Weapon is still active on the back and matches the visible weapon up and down, which makes it possible to hit something below and above link.
This is useful to perform a stasis reset for example when the object is angled badly so that a normal spin doesn't reach, but a bowspin reaches even straight down.
Another effect is, that elemental weapons don't loose their effect, so it's possible to keep the freezing effect of a Great Frostblade even after hitting enemies.
This is useful for fighting Guardian Scouts in Tests of Strength because it's possible to keep them in a stunlock of being frozen and getting hit. In most cases it's still faster to skip the shrine via shield clipping.