Telemark pole technique

Any you instructors out there have a way to describe poling on tele skis.  Seems it is morphing into an elbows out kind of thing.  What about the wrists?  Where are the hands in relation to the body?  I have a bad habit of double poling when I am out of balance but only on my weak turn.  I know motly I just have to get better but if there is a "trick" to keep in mind...
Thanks,
John

Examples:

In a perfect world the poles would only be needed to push from A to B.
But in my world they are used frequently and depending on how the snow conditions are and how fast I am traveling can look anywhere from a metronome to auditioning for a whitewater time trial.

In the past the high hands poling was due to the fact that we did not have adjustable poles and by nature, touring poles were on the long side. So to get the baskets out of the snow while going down hill the poles had to be raised high to the head or above.
Not sure of why anyone would ever lean to an elbows out approach, unless they were auditioning for a muscle man competition.

For telemark, even alpine I recommend shortening the poles so you keep your body forward. And it forces me to stab downhill ahead of me so by the time the pole makes contact my weight is on the pole as I move by.
For me the best balance is when the hands and wrist are aligned, wrists slightly outward, for the most motion. If wrists are to straight or open it limits motion.

Keep your hands in front of you!
Was a tip yelled off the chairlift at Stevens Pass over 35 years ago and it forever changed how I skied.
I like to keep the pole handles in front of me below my chest and above my hips, in the core area. Keep it natural looking. Many who are trying to work on their poles and hands look like they have a couple carpenter squares taped to their arms. Just stay loose, and if an arm wanders behind me I just bring it back to center, keeping my shoulder from tilting back up hill.
I entertain the idea that I am a boxer working over my opponent in the body area, So as my right leg moves forward, my left hand (non-poling hand) is still in front of my body (not reaching) as my right hand slightly extends to pole plant. That keeps the shoulders square to the hill so I don't get thrown off balance. Visualize a pendulum swing moving forward and the hand and wrist is the axis.
So this keeps the least amount of motion, which helps the body maintain its balance.

This leads me to the pole used as an outrigger. Which seems to be my worst habit. Dragging a pole for balance. (Because I am going to fast for my balance) That is another reason to shorten the poles.
Hey sometimes it is just mandatory to use to stay upright. But I try not to make it a habit on every turn to keep me from getting tendinitis in my forearm.

The second picture of the skier poling to the side. He could shorten his poles on the downhill, that would improve his swing weight so he can pole forward, not to the side.

One secret bad skiing habit of mine is that I open up my right arm by swinging my right hand out while I pass the pole. Still working on getting rid of that old Wayne Wong move every once in a while. :
Good luck, happy turns!

While the beauty of telemarking includes that there is room for many artful variations in technique, many people ski reacting to things, not being proactive in how they ski. It all starts with the hands, and the poles should just be an extension of the body - like the eyes, leading ("pointing") the way in the flow of turns. I find this to be more important in tele than it is in alpine - where it's already crucial. The hands (poles) and eyes lead, the core anchors in the same flow, and the legs do their thing. Without the hands and eyes leading the way, it's all lost (and left "reacting" instead). The only value to the double pole plant is to throw the hands (and therefore the body) back in the lead after getting chucked by something unexpected. The outrigger hand or pole or any "uphill" movement leaves the skier skiing from behind the flow of gravity, fighting it, not harnessing it. The steeper the terrain, the more proactive the pointing with the pole plant into the flow of the fall line is necessary. If you struggle with being comfortable tele skiing in terrain that challenges you, get your hands out in front, quiet upper body square to the fall line, and be proactive with your pole plants - you'll go to the next level.

What about pointing with your little finger,like holding a cup of tea
Sometimes I'll stop to look at my little fingers that really don't want to hang on to the poles
talk about tralala tele skiing
I notice I double pole when I'm a little behind my turns to try and catch up

I can't describe any specific pole technique. But you should ski a bunch of moguls. They make great reference points for poles and help balance skills.

This video seems pretty good:



It shows a skier on alpine gear doing parallel turns, but I think it's valid for telemark as well. The key point is to keep the hands where you can see them. I don't see any big problems in the pictures you posted above, FWIW.