I have a thick trunked field maple that was collected last winter and has recovered well throwing out growth all over the trunk,
My question is next spring when the new growth starts to push should I be pinching out the top buds to push energy into the lower branches to help develop the lower primary structure?
Welcome to the forum. Next spring, I would cut off most of the branches that are not needed for the design, wire the bases of those you keep, and cut back to one or two pairs of leaves once they get out to 4 o 6 pairs. That will create good sap flow in the branches so you get back buds. Doing the top branches before the lower once will also help drive energy to the lower ones (they will most likely reach 4-6 pairs first). I have found this gives better growth for developing the structure than going straight to pinching.