Adding deck pad towards the nose of board?

[ChsSUPSurfer]

Hey all,

Downsized from a 10 to an 8"6 and struggling a big with both balance and catching waves as easily. With the 10 I could catch up to the lip and drop in (love that feeling btw). I can still do that with the 8"6 but find myself stepping forward to dig and slipping off the nose since I'm used to a bigger board.

8"6 is fun once I'm on the wave though. Anyways can I add some traction pad strips or hex's to the area beyond my current pad? Obviously not all the way up to the nose but maybe 2-6 inches past my current pad?

Whats the downside? I assume I should go thin. Or maybe just wax? Obviously don't want to slow my board down

Thanks All!

[Dusk Patrol]

I've loved the couple of Jimmy Lewis boards I've had with full deck pads... all the way to the nose.  (...not that I spent any time up there.)   Hex would be better for resale value than than scraps of additional deck pad. And wax is just messy. 

[ChsSUPSurfer]

I've loved the couple of Jimmy Lewis boards I've had with full deck pads... all the way to the nose.  (...not that I spent any time up there.)   Hex would be better for resale value than than scraps of additional deck pad. And wax is just messy.

Thanks! I'll probably grab some hex pads from my local shop. T

[sflinux]

Only downside would be weight but that is negligible.
Joe Blair runs full deck pads on some of his boards.  You can step on to the nose and paddle into a wave, then jump back on the tail to turn, fun.  But I have other brands of boards (with smaller deck pad) that when I move forward the board tends to slow down and is faster when ridden off the tail like a shortboard, so a full pad on the nose of this board would be a waste. 

[dietlin]

Monster Paint Traction Spray.

[PonoBill]

I like the RSPRO cork or invisible traction hexagons. And before everyone jumps in and tells me about much cheaper cork--been there, tried that, it sucked.

[ChsSUPSurfer]

I like the RSPRO cork or invisible traction hexagons. And before everyone jumps in and tells me about much cheaper cork--been there, tried that, it sucked.

Invisible sounds great! Where do I find those. I have some black ones on an beat up board that I used to fill some old ripped pad space.

Also From the comment above I love getting on the nose paddling off the lip and jumping back. Kind fun!