Traction Pad location

[Murphysegg]

Forgive me if this sounds like a Dumb question, but i thought i'd fit a Traction Pad with a bit of a Kick to my Nobile Skim. I didn't really think about where it was best placed & just assumed it would nestle in a recessed area just above where the rear fins used to be.

Iv'e only been riding the board a couple of weeks without fins & felt i was adapting quite well, but since fitting the Pad it seems to have thrown my foot placements into question.

It feels very odd, & Iv'e noticed that even though the arch allows me to drive the turns harder & sharper off wave faces, my rear foot is more towards the middle of the arch & nowhere near as far back as the Kick ?!?! Is this something i need to be working towards ? Or would it just be a quirk with the Nobile not being seen as a true skimboard ?

Should i re adjust the pad further fwd ? or start trying to get my rear foot further back ? Should i put the rear fins back on & try a few sessions, to see if this will help ensure a better foot placement ?

Are Kicks also used to help getting Air/Pop ? or purely for riding waves ?

So many questions. ......cheers for any feedback peeps.

Nobile skim.JPG (521.01 KiB) Viewed 25776 times

[57palm]

I am pretty sure the kick is just there to look good and keep your foot from sliding off the end of the board during aggressive moves. My foot is almost never on/at the kick when riding. Also is a good lip to feel when your foot is too far back. So in other words do not worry that your foot is not at the kick all the time. Look at surf photos, the foot is almost never at at the kick.


Reuben

[Murphysegg]

Theres plenty of info on the WWW regarding fitting them to surf boards - ie. seat them over the rear fins, but what if you don't have fins?

Looking at the pics of all the skim boards on review in LTS, the pads seem to be fitted right on the tail of the board, but the Nobile has a different backend than a normal skimboard.

I'm off to give it another whirl......

[Lonny]

First off, on this board you never have to apologize for asking a question. There are no dumb questions. On this site we do not bash people for asking...period. Nuff said.

The location of your kickpad looks fine in your picture. I never use my kickpad to launch ollies. Sometimes, especially when riding in waves the kick will save your foot from flying off the back of your board during an off the lip or landing awkwardly. I do not think you need to readjust your pad, but rather get used to riding your board. Removing the fins on your board, and adding pads is a lot of change and will take some time to get used to. After a few sessions I think you will be just fine. Keep the questions coming we are here to help.

[Murphysegg]

Sweeeeeeet

Cheers Lonny......i think your just confirming what i suspected,...... that i need a few sessions to adjust to the change.

Seabreeze season has kicked off here in South Australia, so i'll have plenty of time on the pond during the xmas break

Keep up the good work