Another thread got me wondering... Where exactly do you place your back foot? If you're like most of us, you pick it up and move it a bit, depending on what maneuver you're planning. For me, I like my foot directly over my front fins (on a thruster), like my back foot is connect to the fins. I feel this gives me more power and control through my turns. A lot of guys put their back foot between the front and trailing fin. Some guys all the way back, over the trailing fin. I think for the fins-out type turns, all the way back is best. But for rail burying, gouging power turns, over the front fins allows you to apply more force. This would necessarily open up the turn's radius, but if the last foot of tail is allowed to flex behind your back foot, that effect is minimized. Where do you put your traction pad? Where are your heel dents? Where do you think you put your back foot vs. where are your heel dents?
i put the back of my pad in the middle of the back fin. when i tet up i prop my foot right against the tail kick. it lets me really get power out of fins but its hard to do clean cutbacks on smaller waves
+1 but I try to get the pads that are the 3 or five piece and spread the heel and toe pad out kinda wide rail to rail from the arch bar. The front two pads are placed wide as well and a spaced bit further forward from the arch bar maybe than normal. Looks kinda uneven on the board but covers both bases for the
Generally, as in you could almost make an accurate mold of my foot from the heel and ball dents on the tail, my back foot is about 3" forward of the tail kick in the pad. This way my back foot can slide back a little and wedge on the kick when landing a fin throw or tail slide. It stays in the same place for rail carves. I move both my front and back feet up (back foot squarely over the leading fins) and my stance a little wider than usual (by no means Brazzo crab stance) to pop an air. I'm not really an air guy so I don't really do this much. In the barrel my back foot is either right on the front of the pad or just in front of it most of the time.
Yea, I slide my back foot quite a bit . I like to ride rail to rail, and I slide my foot based on where my board is in relation to the rest of my body. I also shift it a bit when I try throwing a big ass bottom turn or getting ready to air it out. Note: I suck at air. And won't perfect it till I am home in Hanalei in December.
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I set the pad right in front of the plug and generally ride center of the pad which is right over the front fins(quad) which like you said is great for carves and floaters and I slide my foot to the kick for jams and if im just in a cruising mood im normally just in front of the pad. On a late drop I usually end up right in front of the pad as well till I have time to adjust.
I find that for about 80% of most waves, my back foot is right in front of the the arch on my traction pad, which is to say roughly above the front fins. When going for a cutback and pumping, that's where my foot stays. But going for bottom turn and going vertical, my back food will inch back so it's anywhere from the arch of the pad to the crevice b/w the arch and tail block. It seems that the steeper the section, the further back my foot goes to get a tighter turning radius. If the wave is especially dumpy, the way the wave requires one to pop up makes my foot land in the crevice from the take off.
i don't use pads. for some reason i don't like the feel of them but i do put my foot near the very back of my board on the back fin for turns. near top fins for barrels
Is it the pad itself or the arch that you dont like?? I know I dont like the arch under my foot so I always use a flat pad. I really dont feel the pad under my foot but know i'm on it when I feel for the kick.
