Since I’m only a poor surfer too, I can not give perfect advise, but check out some videos of Rob Case, he is a paddling technique teacher. I did one of his internet paddling courses and even without the chance to go on the water for month, my paddling improved noticably. Besides the physical techniques, the key to fast paddling is reducing drag, drag of the “vessel”, the board, drag of the body and drag withing the paddling motion. And the drag of the board is determined by its shape and how it lies on the water.
And if your body is just one inch behind the sweetspot your tail sinks to much, if your one inch in front the tip is going down. So exact positioning is crucial!
For me this is actually the ideal spot, weight slightly forward, because if you then bring up your chest high, with a banana shaped back, the board levels or even starts sinking in the tail. This is the moment when you control your board with your belly. Depending on the wave you you are able to control the board, Just before the pop up, your weight may be as far in front as possible, to catch the wave perfectly, and you can perfectly adjust this with slight movements of your upper body.
Paddling and getting the wave is one part, riding the other, here thickness and shape of the tail makes a big difference. I’m a front footed surfer and therefore I like thinner smaller tails, i.e. pintails, because the make it easier for me to sink the tail into the wave, when I want it, which is breaking, stalling, and of course turning. If you are more backlegged, the tail must not support sinking much, because you do it naturally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfDNTfk09ao (Watch here to start with 1-2 inches above the water and the improving, sinking it to 0-1 inch…)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QrNvmR4qu0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5enGHbOiPU
I’m not paid byRob Case and I do not want to place an add for him, but I liked his approach and it definitely helped to improve my paddling. He may appear to scientifically, but that is a thing I like. If I understand the basic physics, I can work on the subject, without a proven backround I can not improve, which is may an influence of past engineer studies. When I started surfing after one hour, I had severe problems with my shoulders, I could not even raise my arms after surf and I paddled rather slow. Now I’m far away from beeing a perfect paddler, not to mention a good surfer, but I stay outside much longer, paddle faster and feel no more pains, I’m just exhausted after surf. I started surfing late, at the age of 40, being able only to surf on vacation, now I’m 57, catching more waves than ever before, but still on beginners/intermediate level, headhigh is my boundary…