Was reading the tennis elbow thread and got me thinking about knees.. anyone else have this problem and does it go away when you have been kiting for a while and strengthened them up? After a session mine ache like crazy for about 30min. I'm fine on the water but when I hit the beach...Ouch! Maybe this will go away as I only started kiting this season.. I'm sure there are lots of knee stories out there.

And before anyone says it ..I know HTFU!

Hey Pintofpale,

You can have a smoother ride with a longer board. Such board will not follow all the little bumps of the ocean. It will need to be relatively narrow in order to allow you to hold the edge in powered conditions. Also, it needs consistant speed to plan (or you sink!). These types of board are not common.

And yeah! you r right, HTFU

Cheers,

Fred

I had to get surgery on my knee after a kiting mishap (I tore my Medial Miniscus in my left knee) and that sidelined me from kiting for like 3 months and when getting better I could only go out for 20 mins to 1/2 an hour before it swelled up. But my point is, my other knee started feeling a little off too, but I now use a Glucosamine Chondroitin Supplement and it seems to help quite a lot. My knees feel a lot better nowdays. So try that, it may help.

D

I used to have really bad problems with my knees, mostly from an old rugby injury.
After kiting I stuggled on stairs and had lots of pain just walking about.

Someone recommended bikram yoga - basically yoga in a heated room.
Its a 90 minute workout and lots of it works on the strengthening the knees... the guy who invented it was a body builder who was told he would never walk again because he dropped a weight on his knees.....

after doing about 10 sessions of this yoga 2 years ago - I have not had knee pain any more,
I only go to the yoga about once a month now, which seems to be enough to keep them strong. highly recommended.

fver said...

Hey again, Pintofpale,

As I ve got bad knees from various traumatizes (in particular motorbike) i always ride with knee braces. I like to believe that they saved my knees a few times...

OK, I can HTFU...

Cheers,

Fred

What sort of braces do you use? I have been looking around but haven't really found any that I like.

Can anyone name a few bords that really fit the profile 'more rocker and flex'

Cheers Johan

Hey pintofale,
Just recently been kiting in WA and riding with some of the tour guys. I noticed one of them had added EVA foam under his footpads on the heel side only. I asked him why..his reply was simple... to stop knee and back pain.

I have been riding with a knee brace after rupturing medial ligament and menicus from wakeboarding. I almost certainly come off the water with knee pain until I tried putting this foam under my pads also. The result was immediate, because of the increased heel lift it puts you into a more anotomically and biomechanically correct position, similar to that of other board sports such as wakeboarding and snowboarding, thus loading your quads and glutes properly to help absorb shock. With flatter pads we tend to be over stretching through the hamstrings and low back which actually distributes the shock directly through the knee and hip joints as opposed to the muscles.

I tried with two by 18mm pieces at first, but have since found that I only need one piece of the eva foam. I just cut it out to the shape of the footpad (heelside) and glued it to the bottom of the pad. It also helps landings to blind and revert etc due to better weight distribution over the toesdie edge, it also helps with heelside edging as you dont have to pull up super hard on your feet. Try it, ley me know

Cheers Chris Wardell

yeah I'll try with my phone as we put the digi camera in the drink!

Hey Pinto'
I'm 53 and been kiting for about five years with periodic knee pain. Previous comments are on the money as I found these things seem to work. Maybe add fish oil to the mix. Could all be in the mind though. But its worth it to keep kiting.
I've found the liquid force footpads to be really soft and great on the heels and cushion the knees.

Bad knee and ankles, firstly get on glucosamine, fish oil and the new one I've added is Shark Cartilage(tablets of revenge....jokes)...would have trouble walking without it
The foam pads sound a treat, this weeks plan for sure.
Not sure about board size, I find my bigger board is worse on flat / chop, however find my short board worst in the waves
My problem is as soon as it get below 20*c all my joints start to ache and become way to stiff.....
only young(ish), shouldn't be arthritis yet, however knee op's and years of impact sports might have taken their toll, anyone got any other remedies

Thanks for all the tips guys...

Yep it might be my footpads.. Knee pain is worse the choppier it gets. I ride a board I made but its a good one (I'm a pro woodworker for a living) Vac bagged single concave to flat on the edges laminated and glassed with 6oz and epoxy. BUT....the food-pads could do with some improving. I'll try the foam under the heel trick and also the toe out angle suggested. My board is 142 and quite flexy..I 'm already on the glucosamine and fish oil... Anyway I read somewhere in the forum that lawn bowls is statistically the most dangerous thing you can do..Those guys n gals must really suffer in the knees! Anyone know a lawn bowl forum I can get some tips off?

POP

I have a ruptured ACL, torn LCL, cartilege etc etc you know the story. Full
surgical reconstruction. I wear a brace as pictured.
Brand is Donjoy - about $200



Check out www.kneeshop.com for some ideas. The support pictured is ideal
for kiting cos its made from wetsuit type material and doesn't rust. It has a
complex (double) hinge which mimics the hinge nature of a real knee. The
support prevents hyper-extension and dislocation due to rotation. It won't help
much with sore knees from chop impact however. The support won't make
your knee bulletproof - if your knee is completely blown plan to spend $500
on a more robust support.

Take the supplements mentioned by others, and most importantly keep the
quadruceps REAL strong. My physiotherapist used to strap a 25 kg weight
boot to my foot and get me to do straight leg raises - they really help to
stabilise the knee. Avoid kiting with your front leg held straight - instant
sore knee when you get off the water.

Check out this brace, Australia Owned.
www.podactive.com/
Here is a review from a US wakeboarding site
www.thewakeplace.com/Whats%20Up/files/b098a231ae899b7c271f0a111bab3a88-14.html