Surfboard Tail Pad

A tail pad is an important accessory for your new surfboard they add colour and personality to the plain white boards available on the market today. The surfboard tail pad or surfboard deck grip is normally applied to the deck of the surfboard towards the bottom.

Surfboard traction pads can be easily secured to the deck of the surfboard as they are all supplied with a sticky adhesive on the reverse. The tail pad should be applied with the raised kick towards the tail and placed on or over the rear fin. The tail pad measures around forty centimetres long by about thirty cm wide. Placed on the deck of the board they are used to provide even more grip than you get from wax and also provide a point of reference for the back foot.

Surfboard traction pads are best fitted to a board that is clean with no wax applied and at room temperature. The surfboard tail pad is made from high density EVA non slip foam that has been specially cut into a series of bumps and raised sections. More advanced models feature a raised centre arch to support the foot when it is jammed against the kick tail. Surfboard traction pads have become popular as surfing style has become more aggressive. Surfing style is now about tight cut backs, aerials and long tail slides. By adding a surfboard tail pad to your board you get more grip and surface to push against in the turn. If you watch riders like Mick Fanning or Andy Irons they push and drive off the tail pad in the turn and on the wave face to generate speed. This additional speed helps them to put ten to twenty turns onto just one wave face.

The surfboard tail pad range on Boardshop come in a variety of different colours and are either one piece or made from multiple pieces, this allows you to set your board up to your exacting specification. Tail pads are very hardwearing and usually last as long if not as long as your board, so chose your colour and style wisely.