BayAreaKiteboarding.com

I broke my ankle kiting at Waddell at the end of last season. Hit a big wave so hard that my malleolus just broke under the impact. I managed to make it back to the beach without drowning, but had to have surgery to put the bone back and a couple screws to hold it (I'm now a cyborg), then go through a looong recovery - 2 months stuck in bed then crutches until I could start learning to walk again.

Now it's been 7 months and it's getting better, I can walk around, even run short distances and I've been able to ski since the end of January (good thing ski boots hold the ankle so well). I think I'll be ready to get back on a kiteboard soon, but my range of motion is still limited and I'm scared of impacts - both for pain and risk of re-injury.

I know if I get back on my TT I'll have a hard time not jumping, and this might be painful, so I'm thinking of buying a strapless surfboard - seems like this would be challenging enough to keep me entertained for a while while limiting impacts on my ankle.

I'm wondering if anyone has been through a similar injury? Does my plan of coming back via strapless surfboarding seem sane? I'm also intrigued by foiling and wondering how much strain this puts on the ankles?

You will be fine but you really should spend A LOT of time in rehab working on strength, range of motion and scar tissue removal. You should be doing exercises as many hours a day as you can squeeze in and work it until you sweat.

I think this may have happened in Sept/Oct and I was kiting the following season

Ouuuuch that looks painful.

@Jules: Strapless surfing is a good idea I think. You still have to be careful in the chop / waves it's not uncommon to lose contact with the board and you better not twist your ankle when you land back on the surfboard.

Alternatively you could try to switch from straps on your twin tip to stiff bindings. They would help locking your ankle in place. It's not as stiff as ski boots but still much better than straps IMHO.

Looking forward to have you back on the water with us :-)

How did you guys actually get injured? Was it from the kite straps pulling your ankle? @super_monkey was it on a twintip?

My buddy busted his ankle at Waddell last season as well from straps on a wave. He was out most of the season, it was pretty bad :/

I'm just wondering if there is anything that can be done to prevent this in the future.

boost over waves as you're heading offshore, don't try to plow through them! I've definitely come close to damaging my ankle by thinking I could push through a wave that was bigger than expected, or under-estimating the time before the wave breaks. The typical injury is a hyper-flexion.

I also think riding strapped can hurt your ankle (and knee) by inducing a torque on your back foot. I still ride strapped, but I have the rear strap loos and keep my foot partly out when riding toe-side.

My wife is also recovering from ankle surgery, necessary after years of recurring sprains and dislocations. Hope you all heel well!!

My ankle broke because a twintip twisted it on a hard kiteloop landing when the front foot came out of the binding.

I had a friend shatter his knee at waddell many years ago on a strapless from the upward impact of a wave. These things are bound to happen.

Strapless is fun. Check out losethestraps.com for inspiration. Lots of options out there: surfboards, skimboards, alaias, wakeskates, hydrofoils, etc.
One thing you might consider is ditching surf style booties and riding wake skate style shoes. I don't wear wake skate shoes, but I wear street shoes instead. Stay away from leather (shrinks), synthetic is your friend. Look for something with an athletic inside insole. Look for good bottom traction, something that won't wear out too fast. In your case, I'd look for high top basketball style shoe for the ankle support. One trick that works is to wear a neoprene surf sock (bodyboarding) inside the shoe. This helps keep the sand and debris out, preventing blisters. Don't knock it until you've tried it, super comfy ride.

Thanks for the advice :)

@Arnaud I'm still scared of the stiff bindings. With a board tied to my feet I'm honestly not sure how I would have got out of the washing machine I found myself into after I fell. Maybe in the bay I can give it a try.

@bschwagg for me it was pretty much what BayAreaKite described: heading offshore, monstrous wave at a bad timing (was going to crash right on me), I think I underestimated the speed of the wave, tried to jump over it but a little too late and I hit the lip as it was breaking. Not sure exactly what happened with the board / straps, maybe there was a slight twist that combined with the big unexpected impact to break my front ankle. My knee was hurting as well for a few weeks but luckily nothing broken there.

It was my first time at Waddell and now it's clear that I picked a day where the swell was too big for my level. At the end of a season where I had been nailing it and making tons of progress I guess I got a little over confident and didn't evaluate the conditions well enough before going in