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SURF WIRE
April 22, 2012

Nagging ankle injury has Dusty Payne surfer out -- but for how long?


By: Mike Cianciulli
"No way! How'd he land that?" Talent, first and foremost. But also two pairs of joints below the waist called ankles and knees. These shock absorbers take most of the abuse during high-performance surfing and the world's best are no exception.

Dusty Payne's hurt his knees three times already but currently sits sidelined from the start of the 2012 ASP season with an ankle injury. As an electric part of the Dream Tour, everyone's been scratching their heads about Payne's whereabouts of late. But he's been around...just not surfing.

Surfline caught up with Dusty during a recent stop in SoCal, where he visited specialists. And while the severity of his ankle remains in limbo, the young Maui shredder seems pleasantly optimistic about his unknown return date to competition.

First off, when do we get to watch Dusty Payne surf again?
That's a good question. I think...sometime this year. I'll give you that.

Explain how your injury first happened.
I did it up in Santa Cruz during the Cold Water Classic. It was my first heat in the event and I did a little lein air and backwash hit me as I landed and jammed the foot back upwards and compressed it really bad. I kept surfing on it 'cause I pretty much had to requalify.

What was the original diagnosis?
I got it checked out after San Francisco. I lost first round there so I flew home and got an MRI and Dr. Kramer said that I needed to give it some rest. At that point I had surfed through the Cold Water Classic and I did pretty good, so I was like, 'I can keep going.' I finished off the Triple Crown and then I couldn't stop surfing 'cause the waves finally started pumping. So just kept going and then it just got a little bit worse and a little bit worse and now I'm paying the price.

Talk about Hawaii: Triple Crown, Backdoor Shootout, Volcom Pipe Pro -- you used your ankle a lot obviously. Did it give you trouble?
Yeah, it definitely gave me trouble. After the Triple Crown, I actually took a couple weeks off and just rehabbed it a bit and thought it would get better. But then the waves started pumping again and it was hard to stay off it, especially since I was home and the waves were fun and my friends were around. But my surfing was nowhere near where I wanted it to be and I could tell something was wrong because my leg was getting weak and it didn't feel right. So that's when I went to Australia and started working with some doctors, Wes [Berg, surf trainer to the stars] and those guys.

Talk about that last surf session.
My last surf was at the Volcom Pipe Pro. It was a tough heat -- I didn't get a lot of waves. I paddled out before the heat started and broke my board, swam in and got another board. The biggest set of the heat came through and washed out the place. I had to stand on the beach for eight minutes. And then I paddled back out and everyone was hustling pretty hard for waves so I just did my own thing but didn't catch waves. Everyone paddled deeper than me because it was all big lefts that day. I was just like, 'Oh well, I guess I just won't catch a wave.' Then a double-up right came and I was in the spot because everyone paddled deeper than me. So I went right and I got a good barrel. And that was the end of my heat -- I didn't get another wave. [Editor's note: Dusty's last wave was a perfect 10.]

What was it that made you realize you need to stay off it after that?
I knew going into the Volcom comp that it wasn't right. It hurt doing a snap. It hurt pushing off it. It hurt doing little things. I knew I had about five weeks until Snapper so I figured I could get it one hundred percent by then. But it was a lot worse than I thought it was.

So what happened in Australia? You went there thinking you were going to compete?
Yeah, I went there thinking I was going to compete, play golf and soak up the Gold Coast. But once I found out the ankle wasn't very good I took it pretty seriously and just did everything I could. I was going to the doctor every day and just trying to get it right. Training every day. I did everything I could and I still am doing everything I can to get it right. It's just tough. Injuries take time. And that's where I'm at right now. Just dealing with time.

And then you did platelet-rich plasma therapy in Australia?
Yeah, what they do is they take the blood out of your arm and they put it in this machine, spin the blood and it creates all the good cells and then they inject it straight back into your ankle. It felt pretty good while they did it. [Laughs.]

We heard you went to Portland for rehab too?
There's no better physical rehab and physical fitness place to go than the Nike headquarters. So I went up there and spent two weeks training every day and getting the ankle worked on. And that helped out a lot. Ankles are tough. I've never had to deal with one before. I've done my knees three times and that was so easy because it was just one motion. And your ankle's got so many different motions. So it's a learning experience for me. I've just been trying to enjoy my time and do things I wouldn't normally do -- going to concerts and basketball games. It's a bit of a bummer but there's not much I can do but stay positive and hope for the best.

The way surfing is going these days, knees and ankles seem like a pretty vital part of the body.
Yeah, for sure. With surfing the way it is now, ankles and knees are going left and right. They're not made to do those kinds of things that guys are doing...unless you're Kelly Slater. But it's going to happen, and you have to be a man about it, deal with it and take time off, lick your wounds and get healthy.

Are there certain things you can do when you're landing an air to prevent injury?
Nah, there's no way. If you're thinking like that all the time, you'd be ditching your board every time you hit a section. You just can't think like that. If you think like that, you will probably get hurt.

When can we expect you back to 100%?
I really don't know. That's a hard question. I'll know when my ankle is 100% and right now I'd probably say my ankle is 50% at best. But I'm out of the boot as of now. So I'm just trying to get better with physical therapy every day.

So no Lowers, no Brazil?
No Lowers, no Brazil for me right now. My main thing is I want to be one hundred percent when I start surfing again and that's first and foremost.

What do you miss most about surfing?
I just miss paddling out at home with my friends. I miss hanging out with them in the water. I like hanging out with my friends at home now but it's so much better when you can all go out for a surf together and enjoy it. It's a pretty spe