Technique Tip: Exit of the stroke

Looking for advice on the exit of my stroke. It seems when exiting I am ripping (or is that slipping) out the back. It makes a distinct ripping sound, but I figure this not technically ideal. I did for a while adjust the feather on my paddle to 75% (from 60%) and this seemed to help, though I did not have my Garmin with me to test of speed was effected or not. What am I doing wrong?

I'm not 100% sure that I've interpreted the problem, but if the issue you are describing is the blade losing its grip on the water it is caused by a mismatch between the direction of the pulling force of the stroke and the blade angle.

The general solution to this is to try and rectify the position of both hands/arms and your torso to make sure you are pulling the blade in a direction consistent with maintaining full water pressure against the blade. With a bit of experimenting you should be able to craft a stroke that solves the issue.

More specifically, I've seen this happen when the blade is pulled in too close to the ski rather than allowing the blade to follow its natural path which moves it progressively away from the ski as the stroke progresses.

Two tips to rectify this are:

A. Ensure the catch is close to the ski, which then allows plenty of room for the blade to follow a path which moves out from the ski.

B. If the lower hand grip is too tight, the paddle sits in the palm of the hand more than the fingers and this changes the blade angle to the water, causing a slip or shudder. A correction is to make the lower hand grip more relaxed and allow the paddle to remain in the curve of the fingers when making the pull action in the stroke.

Hope that helps.

Sounds like you are possibly starting the exit too late and scooping water out the back of the stroke. The exit should be complete by the time your hand is level with your hip and by bending your elbow it should come out vertically leading edge first with as little splash as possible.Pulling back past the hip is just creating drag and scooping water up. Do a google search for wing paddle technique. There is heaps of info. Also lots of slo mo stuff on you tube.

Your paddle is too bloody long.

Thanks, did I mention my paddle length?

Insalt is right : it sounds like you're either exiting your paddle too late or too close to the ski or a combination of these two.

I'm also surprised at your feather angle of 75 degrees, which is very high. Play with smaller angles of feather (anything down to 45 degrees) and see what suits you best. The big thing to look at with your feather angle is that you aren't flexing your wrist as you go through the stroke.

No you didn't mention your paddle length, but a too long paddle can cause or exacerbate the problem you are having.
Especially if you are a true body rotator and not a torso twister.