Placing a tailpad is quite simple: as far back as the leash plug position allows you :-)

I like the "ramp" to start just behind the rear of the center fin.... which is, as colas said.... about as far back as it can go.
Getting leverage behind the fin, gives you a lot of control in tight turns.

DavidJohn said..
As long as your back foot can not be placed behind the centre rear fin.. IMO.

I have to admit my personal reasoning or thoughts on this is from a windsurfing background where I've had many custom surfing boards made and the rear footstrap placement is very important.. Having your rear foot slightly too far back loads the fin way too much IMO and prevents you turning from the rail of the board.. I'm no surfing expert and I guess sup's are a very different beast.. Also my surfing (surfing/windsurfing) days were before the recent surfing style where breaking the fins out to do tail slides happened.. But even after saying that I'm still a big believer in not having your rear foot behind the rear fin.. We need guys like Dan (DTM) to chime in on this and give us his thoughts..

DavidJohn said..
I guess sup's are a very different beast..

For me, having your foot really back helps control the wide & high volume tails of SUPs (compared to prone surfboards). If you are back enough, it decreases the need for constantly shuffling the rear foot from rail to rail.

Of course, your foot is on the kickpad only at very specific times (when you want to tighten the turn).