S's also veer towards the cupped side when sliced. The S offers advantages and compromises and is available in straight and fourteen-degree configurations. Try both, you'll want both. The location of this power zone affects the paddler's range of motion and the turning, or torquing, effects of forward strokes. With straight paddles, this power section occurs ahead of the paddler's knee.
Bent paddles move the power pulse aft, abeam the paddler's thigh.
Freestyle paddlers usually use straight paddles in solo canoes and a set of matching bents in tandems. The solo's central paddling station offers secure heeling, but the stems are remote and forward strokes tend to turn, or torque, the hull away from the paddle. Straight paddles simplify steerage by locating the power phase of the stroke where it minimizes torque and by reacting the same with either face loaded. In tandems, paddlers are located near the stems and control their boats more easily. They counter each other's torque and often trade the straight paddle's predictability for the bent paddle's advantageous bracing angle and reduced range of motion.