Tractionpad for your surfboard - Grippad also known as Footpad

What are the advantages of a footpad when surfing? 

A Grippad is an essential part of surfing and should not be missing from your surfing accessories.

Here are the reasons:

• The traction pad gives you a better grip on the back foot
• The footpad allows for more radical turns
• The Grippad gives you a super grip in steep waves
• The tailpad provides a reference point for better placement of the back foot

What material are Grippads made of?

Grippads are made of EVA foam. To ensure that the footpad holds perfectly on your surfboard, quality tailpads are made with high quality M3 glue. Environmentally friendly surf pads are made from recycled EVA. The most environmentally friendly and sustainable variant of surfboard pads are cork grip pads. Only the M3 glue is not recyclable.

Which grip pad for which surfboard?

For shortboards, you should look for a traction pad with a steep kicker. This gives you more control in steep waves. It is also important that the footpad has a wide base so that you have full control when surfing. The same grip pads are suitable for a hybrid shape.

There are now also great tailpads for a fishboard. On these models, the footpads have a flat kicker. The shape fits exactly to the swallowtail of a fishboard and are usually two-piece.

There are also footpads for longboards that have a flat kicker. Footpads are rarely used here.

For longboards, Minimalibu or Retrofish boards, pads are only optional, as you don't need as much pressure on the back foot with this type of surfboard as with shortboards and hybrid boards.

Does a front pad make sense for a surfboard?

These grip pads are meant to replace the surf wax. Front pads are often used for river surfing. In my opinion, they are not really suitable for more than that, as they are very annoying when paddling.

What shapes and types of traction pads are there?

The classic tail pads are the one-piece traction pads. These surfpads are very stable and hold perfectly on your surfboard. A two-piece grip pad is mostly used for fishboards. A three-piece surfboard pad can be fanned out / wider on the surfboard and are therefore very suitable for surfboards with a wide tail, as is the case with funboards, small wave surfboards and hybrid boards. The five-piece grip pads extend the grip of the pad in length. Front pads are often two-piece and are attached to a surfboard where the front foot should be on your surfboard.

Surfboard Pads - Which brands can you buy in our surf shop?

We offer surfboard pads from Ocean & Earth, Bugz, Surfganic, Roam, Koalition and EcoPro.