Hey guys, I recently broke my ankle/lower leg in 4 places and my surgeon recons that it will be at least 6 months before I can put full weight on my leg and kite and surf again. So I am going to get a knee board to get back out on the water in the mean time. Just wondering if any other cripples out there have tried to kite on their knees?

Your Neuro surgeon after fixing your spine will tell you not to do it again

Years back we did a ride trial
Sup,kayak,knee board, skimboard and inflatable thingy, the kayak punished our feet n toes, kneeboard did you back big time, but all in onshore waves wash n chop, the skimboard was great fun and rode it a few times with a zephyr and onshore winds in the shallows, doctor's always tell you not to do fun shidt

Only ever tried a knee board at the cable park but Cauncy is spot on: no cushioning for your spine. Also found you can't edge as hard and might have trouble staying upwind, maybe sit this one out and work on getting back to full health Marty.

Try knee board hydrofoiling to reduce chop shock on ya back and improve upwind efficiency? could even be an easier way to get into foiling if you're not already!

Here is some possible options....worthwhile watching just to see Greta

I broke my ankle last jan. go see another surgeon get a second opinion. Do not load up or put ureself in a worse position where u damage it more. Also watch your diet and exercise so not the gain the gut ??

Hope your leg gets better soon. What happened? One thing I found after breaking my lower leg is that the leg swells a bit generally and stays so for quite a long time (a break causes the the bone to leak fluid which pools somewhat due to gravity, on top of the general injury inflammation). Even more than 12 months later it may seem a bit fatter than the other leg. So what this means is that there may be noticeably more strain when bending at the knee and kneeling, kind of like the extra pressure you'll get at the join when trying to fold a fat sausage compared to a thinner one... Also if the injury is close to the ankle it may make it more challenging to point the foot for kneeling,again, due to swelling. So basically kneeling may not be that much fun for you. But of course you need to see what your body feels like... maybe what I've described may not affect your case so much for whatever reason. Good luck!

Would kitebuggying be an option?

Thanks for the great tips guys, so I'll wait it out until I am 100%. So what happened is I popped a small air on a wave and came down with the lip on a slightly sideways angle, with most of my weight on my front leg (the one that broke) as I landed the board twisted and my leg just collapsed. Strange thing is that it wasn't high or a hard landing and the wave was only about shoulder high. Result = snapped fibula, dislocated and broken ankle on all three sides. Here are some pre and post op. X-rays.

This is you...

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Gazuki said..
This is you...

Thats sick! I wonder if it puts much pressure on the ankle?

Seriously Marty...that 3rd pic looked like a lace up boot at first ..just maybe consider doing laps in a pool...for physical exercise...thats a bad break...and recover well in time

whoah, man those last couple of x-rays ...... I hope your recovery goes well. The only thing I could think of would be to take up photography, and maybe even water shots out in the action at your local kite spot if the leg was up to it.

I snapped my leg/ankle doing a strapless backroll, I was in disbelief. It rolled just like I rolled my ankle skating so many times but kept going and pop. Ligaments popped too.

It will be ready when it is ready. It's a very slow one, often with setbacks, but it slowly but surely repairs. Ice keeps down swelling.

I wish I had bought/rented an electric mobility scooter to bomb around in at the beginning .... I absolutely hated being stuck at home.

There you go... photography/filmography and an electric mobility scooter to keep ya sane/out and about.

Jesus Marty thats one hell of an x-ray!

Good luck with the recovery!

You could modify a twintip like this inspirational kitesurfer, but unless you are really desperate, you will just have to wait until you are 100% mended!

Horror X-ray man

i had pretty horror show broken left tibia, half way down (and some knee damage, won't go into that)

i couldnt weight bear through that leg nearly 10 months, so swimming was a saviour - good for mental health too, can get routines, set goals, challenges - also swim in pools or ocean to mix up.

got plate swapped for nail and could weight bear again. First progression for me from swimming was onto a sup, in flat water. Good for ankles and knees and soft compression on bones/ankle. I even started with an inflatable first for extra cushion

kept cranking up from there to sup in surf, then mal and shorty. Kite last as it is just so much more impact and dynamic if you consider time standing on board, and loftings and mis fly for hard landings etc.

got on kite about 4 months after nail - but I didn't have the ankle issue. Knees still farked on a bad day but glad the tibia has healed and I didn't rush getting back. All the best, +1 eat well and exercise (swim to win), stay possoand all the best.

Your body will tell you when it's ready.
Took me six months with my broken leg. Stupid mountain bike jump.
I was three months with no wait bearing.
You body has to repair, both mentally and physically.
Though I'm only foiling at this stage, so very low impact on my leg.

I found having a list of goals help keep my spirits up.

Wow KiteHume, that's some break. That would explain the lack of posts from the Hume Weir over the last season. (That and the drought).

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KiteHume said..





Your body will tell you when it's ready.
Took me six months with my broken leg. Stupid mountain bike jump.
I was three months with no wait bearing.
You body has to repair, both mentally and physically.
Though I'm only foiling at this stage, so very low impact on my leg.

I found having a list of goals help keep my spirits up.

Haha, rememeber me doing bumper repairs while non weight bearing kite hume? how many hours did i put in body dragging after that. Heaps ay. Had a blast sitting on keefies SuP, kiteing around too. Mostly, was just good mental health to catch up with the crew and watch while i waited to heal. I have screws up the top of my tib Marty, so i wasnt too keen to be on my knees. Cant answer that one. Id be happy you down the beach when your ready though. Kite hume used to walk my kite down to the waters edge and Id hookin from there

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Adam'KiteRepair said..

KiteHume said..





Your body will tell you when it's ready.
Took me six months with my broken leg. Stupid mountain bike jump.
I was three months with no wait bearing.
You body has to repair, both mentally and physically.
Though I'm only foiling at this stage, so very low impact on my leg.

I found having a list of goals help keep my spirits up.

Haha, rememeber me doing bumper repairs while non weight bearing kite hume? how many hours did i put in body dragging after that. Heaps ay. Had a blast sitting on keefies SuP, kiteing around too. Mostly, was just good mental health to catch up with the crew and watch while i waited to heal. I have screws up the top of my tib Marty, so i wasnt too keen to be on my knees. Cant answer that one. Id be happy you down the beach when your ready though. Kite hume used to walk my kite down to the waters edge and Id hookin from there

Thanks Adam. I got a set of these shin fins (no pressure on the ankle) on the way for rehab shinfin.com. Going to ride an esky lid over the winter and my goal is to see you boys down your way by spring.