An acquaintance of mine recently took a CPL skills test in a PA28 and used the retract flap/apply power technique on the touch-and-go section. The examiner, an experienced airline training captain, insisted that power should be applied first and flap then retracted. A ‘partial pass’ was only awarded because of this, despite an otherwise satisfactory flight.
I’ve flown with a few different instructors in recent years during proficiency checks on our Arrow and all expounded the power-first technique.