i went out to watch some guys (while i'm waiting for my stick to get out of repair) and it looked like they were positioned way more forward on the board when they were paddling out to the waves than when they would paddle into one. it seemed, to me at least, that when they would turn to take a wave, their nose was a bit further out of the water.
again, until i'm able to get back on my shorty, all i can do is ask questions
