Tail pad for beginners or just wax?

[SurfieC]

Hey guys,
I bought my Shortboard maybe 3 weeks ago. I asked in the shop the guy, its not better with a tail pad, particular for a beginner on a Shortboard, right? The guy disagree and told me his friend cant surf with a tail pad. Just wax.
Otherwise I think, if I have to much wax on my board its not so easy to fix the tailpad, right?

What do you think about that?

[offshore1]

I'd like to wax your tailpad surfiec if you know what I mean.



I hope you do because i don't.

[SurfieC]

No, I was surfing almost every day..

[oldman]

To put it simply surfiec, if you have a tail pad you won't need to apply wax to the bottom of your board, ever.

Everything else is just personal preference. Makes no difference whether beginner or superstar.

I am surprised this isn't a 12 page thread already. What happened, the novelty wear off?

[alakaboo]

Think bumfluff already sent her his 240 page book about how to choose wax, application for best results regardless of board construction, and implications for duckdiving.

[Beanpole]

Personally I don't like tailpads although the flat one on my quad is no hassle at all. I'm not doing airs and its always one more thing to trip on as you lamely try to lift your aging carcase off the deck.

[alakaboo]

To put it simply surfiec, if you have a tail pad you won't need to apply wax to the bottom of your board, ever.

Hang on, what?

[rmb]

olds not only waxes the bottom of his board, but also his fins

Hes either got no idea or hes trying to mislead poor old SurfieC

[JET01]

For newbies i recommend full length astro deck and no rashie.

[Cpt.Caveman]

I've been surfing 16 years now and I can't surf a board without a tail-pad. Just plane don't like it without.

[Grooter]

Comes down to personal preference SurfieC.

Some people like them and others don't. I don't like the feel of them under my feet and so I don't use them.

At the elite level there may be some advantage to using a tail-pad but for regular surfers I doubt it.

[Natho]

IMO tail pads are great for protecting the tail of your board, however wax gives a better feel for the board.
I use tail pads for my smaller boards however anything more gun like and it's wax for me. Nothin like the feel of a waxed rounded pin.