I always tended to want to scoot up single fin style to trim, so when i started using a trac pad in 92 it helped me keep my foot back on the tail on my then regular board – a thruster. I felt it gave an added degree of confidence too - really ‘traction’ right?
when i got my fish a coupla years ago i even put a trac pad on it if you can believe.
So after riding hulls a while now, i realize the tracpad aint’ so essential for my type of surfing now - smoother, arcing, turns. maybe for the kinetic type of thruster surfing it’d be more essential.
i also ride a neumatic mat… which is one big traction pad.
its funny, I use them to tell if I’m on a sweet spot on my thruster . . . if you asked me 4 months ago I’d tell you they are essential. But other surfers have told me their foot placements adjust better if you don’t have them because you’re not looking for the pad, but feeling the board’s response . . .
So a quiver was dropped on my lap, lots of shorties with no track pads . . . time to experiment.
I get the thinnest pad I can find. I really only use them for the wedge at the back…helps keep your board under control in hairy fins-free situations. I don’t use them on boards I don’t do fins-free turns on … like retro fish or longboards. Otherwise, wax is just fin.
I like pads on thrusters up to maybe 7’0", because I surf off my back foot more and don’t move around as much on my board. It gives me somewhere to dig in, and does add traction. On fish and retro style boards, you need to be more on your front foot, so pads encourage bad habbits. I’ve used pads on longboards, but what’s the point? I like moving around a lot on top of my boards… even the short ones.
You can chew on pads, but they taste better with peanut butter.
I get the thinnest pad I can find. I really only use them for the wedge at the back…helps keep your board under control in hairy fins-free situations. I don’t use them on boards I don’t do fins-free turns on … like retro fish or longboards. Otherwise, wax is just fin.
To play Devil’s Advocate, if all the pad affords you is the wedge, wouldn’t it be better to shape (or have someone else shape) that into the deck? I speak from complete ignorance, never having used a pad. However, I do have an opinion of the cosmetic effect, and it ain’t good… :->
shoot i remember the early-mid80s when astrodeck first came out. people used not only the tailpad, but they’d putem upfront too. That shit was like sandpaper, and you’d see people’s chest and stomach all rubbed raw.
if all the pad affords you is the wedge, wouldn't it be better to shape (or have someone else shape) that into the deck?
It’s been done, but they are a pain to shape and (especially) glass. If you’re a garage guy making one… no problem. But if you’re in production, it’s way easier to stick a pad on later. Besides, they give surfshops something to make money on, and surfers a way to personalize their rides… the skull and crossbones pads are so cute.
Well, I don’t think anybody “needs” them, but they do help sometimes. I’m tall and have a narrow natural stance, which is good for long boards and fishes, but not for shortboarding. I used to struggle on shortboards until I put a traction pad on to help me build that muscle memory for back foot placement. I suppose I don’t need one anymore, but it’s kind of like a security blanket now.
if you’ve ever had your backfoot slip off the tail of your board at exactly the wrong time and catch a rail in the nuts you’ll know why they can be beneficial.
sometimes the only thing touching the board on the drop is a couple of your outstretched toes pinching the wedge.
The do cause some major rash on the knees but so does a heavy load of mrs. palmers on a hot day.
Has anyone tried the “Clear Grip” deck traction film from Surf More Products? Supposedly replaces wax, offers UV protection and is translucent so you can see the graphics under. I was just wondering because I’m making wood boards now and it’s kind of a shame hiding the wood grain under a coat of what quickly becomes dirty wax.
Here are some of my homemade pads. I searched the web for a roll of PVA foam to match the resin tint on the bottom of the board. I ended up with a 2’ x 4’ roll of it (minimum order), so I have a bunch left over. I covered up part of Garrett’s and Ikaika’s names, so I sharpied them back on to the pad.
The only thing they’re good for is reducing forward movement = big drag device.
If you like you footing and a kick type tail , just concave it in the area you want.
The next comp I enter,I’m going to give all my competitors a tailpad with as much kicked edges as I can find !!!lol !!!
Herb … if you’re saying that much water wraps around to the deck to where a traction pad would cause drag - wouldn’t your back foot/heel/toes be like a parachute, with or without a traction pad? Unless my toes or heel was hanging off past the rail line, I don’t know that I’ve ever felt water drag from my back foot while on the deck.