Hi everyone, after getting into some more serious tricks, I'm starting to understand why half the pros out there have knee braces. So far I've managed to inflame an ankle to present as something akin to tendonitis (which took a LONG time to disappear and even now rears it's head after long sessions), and I also managed to hit the peak of a wave with my leg locked and came close to tearing a tendon around the knee (which took about 2 weeks to heal).

My question is... aside from not landing with a locked knee, does anyone have top tips for avoiding knee/ankle joint injury? This could include both pre- and post-session warm-up/cool down techniques, etc.

Mattress said..
Go strapless on surfboard. I've had to after two knee ops. Haven't had a problem since.

yep - I had heel pain from TT landings, moved over to strapless most of the time and problems have gone away :)

Kite with more float for softer landings. Board with more flex and higher rocker to smooth the ride and make the landings softer.

Just foil man omg best thing ever you ca go anywhere you want.

Wow, thanks for the response! I'll check out those sites, hopefully a little more specific training and a focus on floaty landings will help. Took me a moment to figure out what you meant by 'lunch', but yeah, I do that and love the dangle!

I did actually change my board to a more flexible one, and land one edge first, it absorbs a good amount energy so I'm happy with that change.

Miser - I laughed hard. Turns out, you may be right. But screw it, I'm not easing up unless I have to. I'm still keen for TT, but I'll keep strapless in mind if things don't go well.

Next step: check out a foil.