At first I thought it was just me, or that they have a smaller profile maybe, but I'm having the damndest time with some of those swoop boost pads. Sometimes I'll go right down the middle and they just won't activate. Anyone else have this problem?

If you're travelling at a high rate of speed when you hit them, I'm guessing that a "rev limiter" was put in to place to make it seem (swoop engine) more realistic.

If you're at a slow rate of speed & hitting the pad right down the middle, then I'm sure it's one of the many bugs that have been discussed for this game.

I haven't experience any trouble at slow speeds...but I know if I'm travelling pretty fast & hit a pad it won't "boost" me anymore.

 

Hope that helps!

Some users report a problem with swoop racing where the swoop floats unusually high above the track, preventing a proper race. This can be fixed by holding down both mouse buttons before a race begins. Other reports say hitting space then left mouse button before the race begins fixes the issue.

 

I don't know if this is your problem, but it's worth trying. Good luck!