Sincere thanks to Herman2 who advised me about pinching.  We had far more nice figs this year than ever before; I plan to continue experimenting.  Also, based on some pix of the horizontal (close to ground) trunk that the Japanese use, I tried one, and it has done very well, sending up lateral branches.  It's now covered with heavy mulch, but may solve the problem of trying to tip an older plant down in the fall.

Hi Alan,Is me here:
You had very good results compared to last years taking in account how cold and unsuitable Summer we had,if your Summer was similar to mine ,this year.
I also had some ripe fruits,but my harvest was 70 percent of 2012,and 50 percent of 2010,all due to climate this year.
So your good results are positively a result of pinching I have no doubt.

I pinch too now following Herman's great advice. In fact, I actually do 2-3 rounds of pinching per season for my vigorous and late ripening Leb Unk.

Pinching also can help balance/form the tree if you do it with a bit of attention. I have to thank Herman too for helping spread the easy and effective trick :).

persianmd2orchard be careful pinching multiple plants you can spread FMV this way as easy as you can with snips. 

I noticed that after I pinched the tips, there were a lot more side branches and these developed figs also.  Herman said to leave 4 or 5 and then take the 
rest of them off.  Is it OK to let the 4 or 5 branches that I leave on the plant bear figs or should they be taken off?  Thank you

Not OK for you in Zone 6,but ok to leave all fruits for someone in south Texas.
In your zone ,6 I will leave only 4 or five ,that appear first and remove the new  fruits appearing on new Branches and sometime eliminate the new branches totally to create space for sun to penetrate.
This practice differ to how  short or long the Summer season is in a location.

I thought if one tree has FMV, all the trees nearby would get infected sooner or later...
Or maybe I am wrong?