Nope
Sorry D. but no, especially in non moving water you need to lean forward not backwards, to release the stern/lock the bow. Give me a call and I'll explain.
But you are correct in that it is a bit of a party trick on flat water, however the principals are the same in moving water (No released stern = much less turn. Very easy to prove with results in most kayaks in most situations. Start the turn with weight back and move forwards once the turn has started, you will notice the turn become tighter as you weight forwards).
As an example; breaking in to the current you want the bow to engage, if you lean back you are reducing the amount to which it will engage. Regarding turning down wind, if you are moving (which you need to be to make it work) the bow will be locked in and I dont think leaning back will unlock it. LBT works well turning into the wind but is not very successful turning down wind.
Also can we add just one of the other uses for this maneuver; carving a turn or broaching on a wave. A good low brace can turn an uncontroled broach into a controled carve and progress to more cool moves. Also relys on the bow and stern (underline both)engaging with the water.
A sweep on the outside is a good idea but the real goal is to initiate a turn (swing momentum, charc, pendulum effect etc). This can be achieved by any one or a combination of the following; sweep stroke (or lots of other paddle strokes), weather cocking, broaching, crossing an eddy line etc. Focus on the result (turn initiated) rather than mechanism.
Ref. paddle back at 45 degrees, I do this myself occasionaly because it "kinda fits" and "everyone else does it", maybe because I'm rotated from the hip looking where I want to be going but it makes it difficult to keep my weight forward where it needs to be, is an inefficient/weak place to get support and is too far from a good ready position for what is comming next. Bottom line is I'm pretty sure the paddle really needs to be somewhere around 3 or 9 o'clock relative to the kayak.
Depends on several factors but the question to ask is are you using the paddle in order to get the kayak further on edge or to increase turning effect. More on edge = more turning effect(if already turning and still moving), more turn from the paddle = decrease the radius of the turn but may turn less of the circle. In general the paddle is there to give support not to make the turn, so keep it at 9 or 3 o'clock and slice it for maximum support instead of blocking water with it to force the turn.
I see a lot of people having trouble because they fail to initiate the turn before (underline this word) getting on edge. Or initiating the turn but loosing it before getting the kayak on the edge and then trying to re-initiate the turn by dragging the paddle.
Once the turn is initiated and you are on edge the turn will continue as long as you a.)maintain edge and b.) the kayaking is moving c.) you don't fall in d.) nothing stops the turn (i.e. wave, eddy, wind).