yea rfox that looks like a good chunk of foam ("awful" huh? if you put ur chin on board when paddling the weight of your head that much furtrher ahead will help get you in. Kicking at the same time pushes the back end of the board up making the board flatter on the water which makes the paddling more affective(only when the wave is jacking up tho). Sorry to be a tipster but those paddling tips are good shit and I want to save you a little time.