Those settings are generally used for mechanical IK. Which I think you’ve already figured out based on how you describe your use case. As for the slowing down instead of an abrupt stop, that is more of the animators job. You’re overly complicating your rig. Also animators usually like to have more freedom with a rig than it to be locked down. With that said, yes play around and definitely try out your ideas on having the rig slow it down and other ideas you come up with. In rigging community this is called playgrounding or prototyping. You may not need it or use it for this rig, but it will lead to learning and building a foundation of knowledge that can be used in other situations. Plus if your the animator then you may want to do both methods(rigged and animated) to get a feel for what animators what a rig to do.
