I have one of the Fanatic 'SUP Paddle Standard 80' and I feel there is too much paddle rake and I think it is making it harder to paddle in a straight line to the point it is almost easier to paddle with the paddle backwards.
I do have the paddle longer than recommended for my height so I am not sure if this is causing the problem.
Does anyone have any info on the effects of different paddle rake?
By rake do you mean angle of the blade relative to the shaft?
I would guess that having your paddle too long makes you paddle further away from your body and board in a sweeping arc rather than keeping the paddle vertical and running along the rails of your board, allowing you to put more weight/pressure/force into the stroke. By paddling away from your body it accentuates the fact that your body is acting as a pivot point. Another example of this is when you do a kick turn, all your weight is over your tail and ou do a big sweeping stroke to pull yourself around.
The greater the rake , angle or offset as I call it gives a better catch at the front of the stroke , most paddles range from 5 to 10 degrees offset and some race blades go much bigger. The average is around 8 degrees.
A bigger offset increases your catch but it does make it a lot harder and can blow you out or hurt the shoulders. The longer shaft is also much harder on the shoulders but it does increase your reach.
Race boards float a couple of inches higher so you are further from the water plus they travel much faster than a surfing Sup . That's why you see racers with longer paddles plus they need that extra catch to pull onto the runners. For surfing you don't need it and if you watch some of the pros in the contest they use a very short paddles. It makes it heaps easier to switch sides during fast turns.
