Aside from pulling paddle far beyond the feet, one of the more common mistakes I see paddlers make is incorrectly, or more accurately - sloppily 'setting' the paddle into the water. A twist, a splash, a slap, it's all bad.
When the paddle enters the water, it 'grabs and holds the water' for the remainder of your stroke. Though it may appear that you are pushing the water behind you and your board, you are actually pulling yourself and your board to that chunk of water you grabbed with your paddle blade. If you don't take the time (milliseconds really) to cleanly and effectively set the paddle and grab water, you're going to be far less efficient in pulling yourself through the water toward it.
As a visualization, I recommend thinking of Olympic divers as they strive to enter the water with as little splash as possible. Cleanly enter the water, then pull. It takes practice and concentration, but if you do, your efforts will be well rewarded.
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