Method and system for determining spin pad length in a data storage system. The data storage system has a data storage medium having at least one track for storing a plurality of data sections, a timing reference mark for the at least one track, and a recording head for writing the plurality of data sections on and for reading the plurality of data sections from the data storage medium. The data storage system further has a spin pad length determining mechanism for determining the length of a spin pad to be written on the at least one track as a function of distance from the timing reference mark during an operation of writing a data section on the at least one track. By writing spin pads of proper length on the at least one track, the total space occupied by the spin pads on the at least one track is minimized, thus providing additional space to store data.