Physics tells you recoil is the same with a pad and without but felt recoil is less with a pad. I never liked the super soft Gooey pads but do like the Kick-Ezz pads. They even look nicer that any white line pads. I learned that soft pads grind better when cold. So I put them in the freezer to stiffen them up before grinding. First I do a gross grind to get them down to within 1/16-1/8”. Drop them into the freezer and come back to do a fine grind down to proper size. Sometimes they expand 1/32” afterwards but nothing greater. I just smooth them off as needed. Funny thing is I rarely add a pad to any gun that does not already have one these days. I use a slip on pad and leave the gun as is.