If I'm on the water a lot, the tops of my feet and toes get torn apart. This happens due to a kneeling or stinkbug start technique where the tops of my feet are against the traction pad. Once the abrasions open up, the downward spiral begins it takes forever to heal and they just get worse and worse. There isn't really time for my feet to toughen up unless I was very prescriptive around taking time off the water and the tops of my feet and toes aren't a very natural place to have calluses.

I can adjust my technique and go from my butt to standing in some circumstances, avoiding being on my knees (which is when this happens), but this isn't my natural technique and doesn't work in all circumstances.
does this happen to anybody else?

Other than wearing boots (which I prefer not to - but am forced to sometimes to let things heal) any ideas on how to avoid this?

How long you boys on your knees getting these carpet burns ??

Velocicraptor said..
If I'm on the water a lot, the tops of my feet and toes get torn apart. This happens due to a kneeling or stinkbug start technique where the tops of my feet are against the traction pad. Once the abrasions open up, the downward spiral begins it takes forever to heal and they just get worse and worse. There isn't really time for my feet to toughen up unless I was very prescriptive around taking time off the water and the tops of my feet and toes aren't a very natural place to have calluses.

I can adjust my technique and go from my butt to standing in some circumstances, avoiding being on my knees (which is when this happens), but this isn't my natural technique and doesn't work in all circumstances.
does this happen to anybody else?

Other than wearing boots (which I prefer not to - but am forced to sometimes to let things heal) any ideas on how to avoid this?

You could try kneeling on your toes like the guy in the bottom pictures here:

That way there is no pressure on the top of your feet at least. But it can be a bit less stable for bug starts.

reef shoes? I've accepted that no matter how much I surf and run bare feet, my feet will never be as tough as the coral. One cut will keep me out of the water for too long. So I rather wear shoes in the water so I can wear slippers on land.

I had the same thing and didnt want to use boots in the middle of summer. Once the wound had opened up i couldnt get it to heal in time for the next session.

My solution, a quick wrap of sports tape around the feet worked just fine for me. no need to change board or go to boots

for something more serious, some of the pro slalom windsurfers sailing 1000s of hours use this sort of thing:
www.ion-products.com/water/travelgear-accessories/accessories/windsurf-accessories/foot-protector/

Never had the issue, my feet and toes are off the side of the board, never along it. I found it uncomfortable to have my feet bent back so they have always hung over the side when either kneeling or stink bug start.

I hate wearing neoprene socks or booties when surf foiling. But don't mind wearing booties when winging.
But when learning to SUP a few years ago I got the sores. So I put good quality cloth bandaids over them before my sessions. They will obviously fall off after a while but by then at least I had a few goes before putting up with the pain. All good if it heals & has scarred.
I still dont do knee starts. I get onto my board the same as SUP surfing. I just have my board turning & pointing down wind as I get up. I hold onto the leash or strap nearest the Wing and then grab the wing handles. By this time my board has already started moving for better stability.
Obviously if I was using a sinker board it would be a different story.

For whatever reason, when kicking into foot straps. This being during transitions but mostly when getting up on my semi sinker. Often kick my toes into the strap/board connection. I have bruised toes, but not all of them, just the smaller ones. Takes bloody ages to heal - then to kick them again is frustrating!

I use these :
www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08MQC5TR9?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Pretty close to barefoot and good protection from sun, cuts etc... And cheap too.