Hi all,
With the MD82, it works a lot. As said by someone in a previous post, it works cause the main gear is far aft the lateral axis, so that the landing rate of the main gear (and the landing) can get in contact with a lesser vertical rate.
I'm used to landing that way almost always, and by the way, it saved me from hard landing inspections several times. Obviously, this fly technic is not forbidden on MD82, and you should be careful doing that: a wrong sequence or a forward pressure applied too soon could lead to a bounced landing, a hard landing up to a crash landing as well.
Maybe it's obvious for most: the best grease effect can be had only if you touch the runway with no drift or crab (no side force on the gear structure), much more important than a low vertical rate during contact of main gear. Moreover, some aircrafts are disigned to land with crab, such as B747 (that's another story).
Just my 2 cents.
Cheers,
Luca