1.

^{The paddle should still continue to be accelerated until the blade is fully out of the water.}

^{To help achieve this, the paddler can let the paddle fade away from the side of the ski and keep accelerating the hand upward until it comes into a position that is in line with their ear.}

^{Full trunk rotation is achieved here and the paddler should still also be driving with the legs.}

2.

^{The top arm and hand is still relaxed and kept as close as possible to eye height.}

^{When the blade exits the water and accelerated up to the level of the ear the top arm (right arm in this picture) can then start to extend out and straighten, preparing for the next catch phase.}

3.

^{Note in this picture that the paddlers top hand has dropped too low.}

^{This means that the blade is losing the drive forward and is pulling upwards.}

^{If the hands were kept at eye level (intersection of the white lines) then the paddle would have a more vertical orientation (yellow dotted line) and therefore produce more of a forward drive at the end of the stroke.}