John Florence Has Torn His MCL
There were deep gasps in the booth and at home when webcast vision first showed JJF lacing a brace across his knee in Grajagan.
"That's not a little preventitive brace," said an understated Richie, as Strider talked up the injury, and Ronny rattled off John's impressive absent-due-to-injury contest list. Despite surfing in the contest and claiming to feel OK a visit with the doc has turned up bad news: an MCL tear.
From John's Insta account:
"I learned yesterday that the pain I was feeling in G-Land is due to a torn MCL that happened during the event. Hard news for me to accept, and it means I have to officially withdraw from the next WSL event in El Salvador, and most likely the Brazil event too."
"This one really hurts to be honest. But, there will always be unforeseen moments out of our control, just have to try and respond in the best way possible."
"Thank you for the support and messages the last few days."
John is currently in third place with four events to go - not including the Finals Series - and a worst case scenario of two missed events would cruel any chance of a Trestles showdown.
The way the leaderboard is stacked, even one missed event will make it hard for John to make the Top 5, especially as he's already throwing out one low score.
This is the fourth season John has had a significant mid-year injury.
Comments
Not quite Derrick Rose but jeez what could have been.
The Tom Trbojevic of surfing. (For those non NRL followers - a superbly talented, humble and likeable player who absolutely dominates when fit but is a thoroughbred and spends half his career out with injury.) For a sporting product (WSL) which struggles to gain traction with not just the masses but surfers themselves, a big loss (probably more a loss for the surfers.)
That's a bummer man.
Dare say his pro career is done even if he comes back his confidence levels would have to be a bit off....always in the back of your mind will it happen again........
so whos going to replace him at el salvador
Conor Coffin maybe?
Not sure how it works. Is he the next cab off the rank?
Sheldon Simkus, Dylan Moffat or Jai Glinderman would be good.
Sally.
Good one Johnno !
Carlos Munoz.
Bugger.
Sort of felt like he hasn't quite managed to kick in top gear all year.
Maybe he's been nursing the injury longer than he's let on?
I doubt it. MCL’s are generally acute, traumatic style injuries, not usually things that grumble.
true.
he may have had knee soreness though- possibly.
At this point he has nothing to prove in the jersey... would love to see him chase swells with his bro
Might explain why Jack got the scores in Gland. WSL need an English speaking hero for balance.
Pity…will never get another world title. Such a good dude.
That’s a massive bummer.
I’m hoping now he recovers and goes on free surfing benders around the globe.
He’s got nothing left to prove in competition.
Florence Marine X-Ray
This was very good and deserved some appreciation! I couldn't read through the comments and leave this one unacknowledged.
Unfortunately X-rays don’t show us ligament injuries.
Damn, i’m no fun at parties.
What about, Florence is back on the CT….. scanner?
I would've called it good 'cept you defused my bomb so I won't.
florence MaRIne x
hahahahahaha to all of you!
I hope he returns to competition because watching him surf live and unedited is one of the great joys of watching pro surfing.
Yeah true, the tour loses much , almost all, of its appeal without him in it imo
Huge loss for the WSL viewing community when john drops off tour
Conrico. JJF profile pic. Knee injury. Conrico backwards backwards? Re-con. Knee re construction?
Prophetic profile
hahah I think you're onto something...
People talking as though he’s a race horse that broke his leg.
It’s an MCL. Unless it’s a full rupture (which I highly doubt given he surfed still in G-Land), he’ll rest, rehab and should be alright in 6-8 weeks. The other positive is it’s his front leg, much less valgus force (think drop back knee position) than if it were his right leg.
i can understand why freeride and stunet and co go on and on about all this stuff, but if you're not one of them you really need to get a fucking life.
You don’t enjoy watching people like him surf?
Wallpaper enjoys writing cnty comments on Swellnet. Remember the name Wallpaper and keep track through the future if you doubt me. I’ve never seen them write anything which isn’t one sentence of abuse.
Huh
wallpaper - you are on a surf website, in a surf article comment section? if you're not interested, act more like your name and do nothing
Agreed hall of lame
What a shame. Medina/JJF rivalry should drive surfing forward. However, there was no real rivalry and this season is a write off for both. I find the whole thing to be really uninspiring.
dam, feel for the guy, injuries are super frustrating, those epic turns and airs that only he can muster are writing cheques his body can't cash. Im gonna tell him to stick to the sail boat till fully rehabbed this time round.
Bad news for JJF - an MCL can be repaired of course, but each time this happens, he loses a bit of flexibility and confidence.
Carlos Munoz, who you may remember injured his arm at Pipe, then missed every other contest up to the cut, then failed to get an injury wildcard, will take JJF's spot.
That’s a really good call. Hope the fella goes well
Wish it was Liam O'Brien who took his spot.
Been thinking about JJF and his boating life lately.
The bastard has life sorted. Knee issues are heavy as a competitor and a surfer but he still has it all on a string.
Get better mate!
Problem for JJF competitively is what comes up must come down.
He's obviously World Title material, so every year when injury robs him of the chance to contend will diminish motivation.
Why bust a nut if you can't be number one- when you are obviously either the best surfer on the Planet or top 3?
I've never quite understood what motivates him to 'tour'. He's really introverted, is a squillionaire and has so many and varied other interests.
If you listen to him talking to Rasta on 'the water people podcast' he explains it a bit. Seems he has this deep seated competitive drive in addition to his cruisiness. Perhaps he feels he can only be at the top for so long so why not make the most of it?
Possibilities are endless though right? Big wave man, sail around the world man, comp wildcard man or..............home man - living a handsome life right on the beach on the North shore with his girl +/- a couple of John John jrs.
Choice is his. I'd say he'd like to dictate it on his own terms though.
I always thought he gave off very vague competitive vibe. Like he's not quite sure whether he wants to go all in and really fight to be nr 1. It takes a very honest brave attitude to stand up and go "I want to this badly, and I'm going to fight for it". Not sure JJF has really done that.
He obviously hasn't done the physical conditioning necessary to keep his joints strong enough.
I understand there is a perception that you can protect your joints from injury, but could he just be unlucky? Genetics? Maybe no blame needs to be apportioned to him and we can just empathise? As humans we do like to blame others for their woes sometimes.
John John has been a delight to watch, and seriously inspiring on the carving snowboard style carves on huge waves on little boards (interesting designs too!) front. If it is not to be, I'm looking forward to see where he goes into the future, like everyone said there's a lot of interests he could follow really well.
Yep, Imagine him chasing huge lumps of water around the globe with his brother. Tahiti last week, Fiji next week. I would love to watch that way more than his scratching at 3 foot (ok Craig there were a few 4fters) boring inconsistant comps
Yeah I’d been keen to see this
Ongoing knee problem it seems. Saw him at Snapper back in 2018 just cruising cos of knee issues.
His bro Nathan is big on weight training and cross-fit type of HIIT strength and conditioning training.
Maybe Jon should get on the program and see if that helps things.
I thought of that strange fact more than a few times.
Nathan cops some massive poundings as I’m sure you’re aware and he seems pretty resilient. Could be something in it!
Curren, TC, Italo, Gabe. Just a few world champs that have legs like tree trunks.
Island Bay ... channelin' that gym junkie from South Aus that you use to post on here all the time about 'leg strength' etc.
Had plenty of heated comments and debate about 'leg strength' in surfing ... and surfing blacks.
What was his name?
We are forgetting the work Mick did coming back from serious injury. If JJF put that sort of work and dedication it would not be a problem coming back. Footy players do it all the time and they put heaps more stress on their legs (AFL).
No one’s forgetting that. But Mick had a crazy drive and determination as he hadn’t won a title yet. Jon has a couple so could be forgiven if he’s not as dedicated as Mick
Who’s to say John isn’t putting the work in? He’s not going to Instagram it. The lad has come back from two bad knee injuries to blow minds and win comps - you don’t do that if you haven’t put the work in.
There is no peer reviewed evidence that demonstrates various forms of preventative style training and avoidance of injury. It simply isn’t there.
Of course it makes sense the fitter the better but this guy is fit. People are unlucky. He’s dealing with an unpredictable environment, he puts himself in some outrageous positions with absurd forces through on top of that.
If you look at the list of fair dinkum heavy water surfers (not to mention other extreme sports: snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, motocross etc) you would be hard pressed to find any athlete that hasn’t had multiple serious injuries over their career.
How many footy players retire due to several knee and shoulder injuries? They do the work they are mostly unlucky.
Perfectly said mate! Are you a physio?
Ivr had both shoulders and both knees with full recons....who still just surfs.
And that was perfectly said.
The bloke above clearly hasnt been through it.
Solitude, you can tell by the look of his legs that he hasn't.
And of course strong legs/glutes stabilise you and prevent injuries. JJF has now had so many knee injuries, and different ligaments too boot, that a few warning bells should have gone off.
Respectfully, strong legs etc help a person to a point. But I am telling you, unfortunately there is no evidence that states doing X,Y or Z will prevent an ACL, MCL or otherwise rupture. I know it makes sense intuitively but it just isn’t true.
If John wasn’t inherently strong how could he do the turns he does at Margs, Haleiwa, Rockpiles etc? You don’t have to look like Mr Universe to be ‘strong’.
Despite this I found this pic. If we’re going by what someone ‘looks’ like, then his legs appear toned and chunky to me.
https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a33298094/john-john-florence-rehab-l…
I grant you there may be aspects that ‘predispose’ a person to subsequent injury, first and foremost being a previous similar injury. There may be other factors such as his height, technique, ligamentous laxity…..the list can go on but just a saying that ‘he’s not strong’ , it is pure speculation.
I reckon it's just his body type, not lack of conditioning. Kinda tall, skinny but fit. That height gives him leverage for his peerless turns, but maybe a liability for injuries? So many other pros are short and stocky. Hope he gets back, it's a privilege watching him unleash on o/h walls.
I count 6 years blown from injuries.
He tweaked his knee a Teahupo on his title year.
Ripped all the tendons off his ankle first full year on tour.
Its the vegan diet I tells ya....
No protein for recovery........
Pity such a good surfer but will never be what he could have been competitively now, just to injury prone like some AFL players.
My mcl recovery. They say mcl heals well but until it does you have doubts.
Sideways instability and sense of fragility for about 6 weeks. Rolling over in bed could cause major pain.
Surfing carefully was okay but wipeouts were scary cause you can't control sideways forces.
After 6 weeks felt pretty good but could still sense the fragility.
Second six weeks was when real imorovement towards normal began.
Time is part of it but squats helped a lot. Built strength but forced the leg to do full range of motion and start its own mysterious healing - break up scar tissue maybe?
Protect at first but don't over protect longer term.
Now feels goods. But I don't surf big pipe, do airs, do the tour or live in Hawaii.
John John should recover well but needs to get his bro as his PT and build super strong legs.
Even so, the ligaments do a lot of work - the muscles don't just lock everything down. So you have to hope the body heals the ligament well. That varies from person to person.
Some forums mention problems that persist for years.
Hope JJ is one that heals well.
How much longer for JJF? He'll give next year another crack and call it a day I reckon. Seems detached from the tour this year even when competing. If he isn't going to win the title, surfing with his family and sailing will be a bigger pull. The world is his oyster, I can't see injuries and a top 5 finish appealing to him for much longer.