Im constantly jumping up to far back on my first gaud and blowing waves. I bought a tracpad and am not sure were to place it. Can a seasoned quad rider help me?

 

try waxing the whole board and riding once or twice without a track pad...then see where you want it...

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Do you know what Wubba-LubbA-Dub-Dub means in BirdPerson language?

^ditto. You probably don't need the trakpad if it's a bigger board. Although it's still nice to have eventually as you can use it to gauge where you're standing and avoid the deep pressure dents on your deck where your back foot goes. I always put mine as far back as possible.

Another thing which might help is, if the waves are mushy standup wider and a little bit more forward, then move your foot back when your ready to turn. If you watch the guys on the WCT or QS, you'll see that even they will do that sometimes when getting through mushy sections.

If you have a choice avoid Dakine and OAM they will rash your knees so bad. Freak and Xtrac are good.

Wax goes on the bottom, just like a snowboard. Thats the first thing you are doing wrong. Second, the pad should go about two and a half feet up from the tail.

mushman's on it, except the part about adding the pad...

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add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

Track pads are for weenies! 

I'm kidding. I don't like them though.  I like to move my feet around.

Heres what you do. Next time you paddle, take a big fat black sharpie with you in your baggies pocket. Now while your waiting for a set, sit up on your board and color in your back foot (on the bottom, duh). Keep coloring until you see an approaching wave. Then paddle for it and hold your back foot out of the water slightly. Then hop up and plant. BOOM! you now have the perfect spot for your pad. Works every time... ;-P

Wax?  The thing is already slippery enough!

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Same as a regular board for me, about an inch up from the leash plug. You still want your back foot over the fins most of the time.

^LOL...Don't forget about the speed ripple effect. More wax on the bottom=more speed when you bottom turn= less surface tension=e^3x5.2081

Edited: 04/20/2015 at 07:14 PM by Sector9surf

I'm with you Tom, i ride without a pad on most boards as well...

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Do you know what Wubba-LubbA-Dub-Dub means in BirdPerson language?

I've always used the rule of thumb to have the back of the rear fin(s) line up approximately with where the kicktail meets the rest of the pad, so that your foot should be resting right in front of the kicktail on the backend of the arch, and right on top of the rear fins where you'll be pivoting from on your bottom turns.

Just put the pad on as far back as you can. You can always move your feet forward.