Date: 3/14/03
Author: Marty "McFly" Head, Waterski Boats Dallas

Related Items:
The ACL Experience - Part I - Injury and MRI
The ACL Experience - Part II - MRI Results and Surgery Prep
The ACL Experience - Part III - Surgery
The ACL Experience - Part IV - Physical Therapy
The ACL Experience - Part V - Knee Brace Fitting and Last Doc Visit

Marty 'McFly' Head

On February 18th, 2003, I went out to the lake to give my knee its first test. It was an overcast day and there was a slight bit of chop out on Lake Lewisville. Sean Teeples and I went out with Jeff Stephens in his 2003 Gravity Games Supra SSV to take a quick set before the sun went down and it got too cold. The weather was not the best, nor were the water conditions, so Sean spent most of the time on his board perfecting his switch riding and hitting a rail a few times to work on backside slides. Jeff went out and worked on beating the winter rust off of his riding by throwing some nice wake-to-wake tricks such as various 180's and different types of grabs.

I took my set on top of a wakeskate, since, not only was it the first time on a board since September, but also because Dr. Donegan had advised me to see how my knee would feel riding a board that I was not attached to at first just in case I did take a bad fall. Needless to say, my heart was pounding and I was very nervous, but I locked down my Don Joy Defiance Brace, slipped on my wet suit and hopped into the water. It seemed like an eternity for the rope to get tight, but as soon as it did, and I gave the signal for the boat to take off, every sense of nervousness, insecurity and fear was left behind me floating in the water. I got right up and everything felt natural, just as if I had ridden yesterday.

All I basically did on the wakeskate was focus on body position. I did a few 180's and surfed the wake and threw in a butter slide here and there, and that was about it. I stayed out for about 10 minutes before I decided enough was enough. I did take a few falls and I did concentrate on putting a little pressure on my left knee (the one that was repaired), but the only thing I felt was a little burning in my left quad telling me that it had not been used in a while.

Roll to revert

I did not experience any soreness or pain for the rest of the day. I did have my wife massage my knee to keep the blood flowing, just in case there was any swelling, and then I went to bed. I was worried that, in the morning, my knee would be sore, but it felt just fine when I woke up. Unfortunately, for the next couple of weeks, the weather took a turn for the worse here in Texas. I made an attempt to get on the bike every other day during this time, and I also continued to work my upper body to try to be better prepared for my first ride on the wakeboard.

The week before Sunday, March 9th was exciting. The weather forecasters were predicting a beautiful weekend and our spirits at Waterski Boats Dallas were very high. Walk-in traffic to our dealership was booming due to the warmer weather that we were graced with, and we had a huge amount of boats to get put together, lake tested and delivered to customers who wanted to take delivery of their boat by spring break. We knew the week would fly by and soon Sunday would be here. Needless to say, Sunday was the day we had planned on wakeboarding, and it would be my first time to put bindings on again in a very long time.

After much anticipation (I was just like a child on Christmas Eve), Sunday arrived and I, along with my wife, Sean, Don, Tami and Tammy headed to the lake. Once again, the wind shifted and was coming out of the north, causing a cool breeze to blow across our path. The air temperature had dropped from 70 degrees, which we were enjoying all week, down into the lower 50s. We really didn't care though, and Sean, Don and Tammy proved it by going out and taking their sets without complaint.

However, when it came my turn, my nerves came right back to me. I was anxious to get right out there and come in to the wake as hard as I ever had, but I knew that if I didn't hold myself back, it would be another 6 months of watching riders ride, while I watched myself sit out the season.

Casing the wake...ouch!

I got ready for my ride by strapping on Custom Don Joy Defiance Braces, one on each knee. I have been heavily advised by many people that it is natural to favor your good leg when returning to wakeboarding due to the fact that you don't want to land wrong on your bad leg and blow it right out. However, the overemphasis on your good leg can put too much pressure on it and blow it out, causing you to then have two bad knees. So, as I was advised, I wore both braces during my ride.

The cool thing that happened after I got both braces on and secure was the fact that, as I was moving and squatting and squirming around to get my drysuit and then my wakeboard on, I did not feel my braces, or even realize they were on there. This was very encouraging since I figured that they were going to be bulky and always be in the way.

As I slid down into the water and waited for the rope to get tight, my anxiety was killing me. I was ready to just get up and go. And, before I knew it, the roar of the boat told me that I no longer had to wait. Just on natural instinct as the boat pulled me up, I cut hard to the left (on my heels) and ramped off of the start up wake. It felt so wonderful to be back in the air again, although it was for a half of a second. The boat came up to speed and the wake looked so inviting. I took a slash at it, and then another. Wonderful! It felt so good to be out there, until I realized that the second slash had not gone quite so well, and the heelside edge of my board felt as if something had grabbed a hold of it and it was pulling me down. And pulled me down it did. My very first pull on a wakeboard in 6 months lasted a full 40 seconds before I was in the water waiting for the boat to bring me the rope again. I guess I was a lot rustier than I thought.

But, before long, I was back on the board and a smile was back on my face. I tested all of the very small fundamentals before I decided to go wake-to-wake. The wake had a great size to it as well, so I knew that as long as I stuck to my fundamentals, then clearing the wake would be no problem. I began with a heelside wake-to-wake, concentrating on landing on the down slope of the opposite wake. Everything went according to plan and I then did the same thing toeside. With each jump, I got more confident and more excited. Also, each time I left the wake, I concentrated on landing evenly with weight on each leg, instead of landing with all my weight on my right leg. I did case the wake on one toeside jump, but I saw it coming, so I kept my knees bent and let my legs absorb the shock. I did hold on and waited for my knee to give me some pain, but it never happened. That was a very good sign.

First invert - scarecrow

After about 10 or so wake-to-wakes, it was time to give the knee a real good test. I am most comfortable with toeside inverts (ironically it was a toeside invert that took me out in the first place), but I figured it was time. I cut in for a small wake-to-wake crow and stuck it. But, as you can see in the picture, I was very dependent on landing with most of my weight on my right leg. However, it was the first one in my first set in six months, so I couldn't complain. I decided that I would go through one more test and do a heelside roll to revert. This trick is another that I am very comfortable with and I knew that as long as I rode the board all the way to the top of the wake before initiating the rotation, I would not have to worry about not clearing the wake. This trick went perfectly and I landed on the down slope of the other wake, with no problems at all.

After that 10-minute session, I decided that I better not push it anymore and I dropped the handle and sank back into the cold water. But the relief was wonderful. I was not feeling any pain, my ride was very relaxing, I never noticed either one of my braces, and, despite the fact that I was extremely rusty, my confidence in my 2003 wakeboard season had sky rocketed.

I am now looking forward to getting back out there more than ever. But, without the following people, I could have never made it this far, this fast, and now be this strong without their help.

Heelside shifty 180

Dr. Kerry Donegan and his staff, thank you for being straight up with me and telling me everything that I needed to know about the long journey that I just completed. Doc, you are the one that had to give me the bad news that I did, in fact, blow my ACL, but you were also the one that gave me the good news saying that the surgery you had just performed on me was a success. Dr. Donegan's best piece of advice he ever gave me was "get your knee as strong as possible before you go into surgery, because the stronger you are going into surgery, the stronger you will be coming out." This is the main reason that I recovered so quickly.

Thank you to everyone at Physical Therapy of Flower Mound, especially Keegan. You guys (and girls) are the ones that stayed on me about my post op exercises, and you were the ones that were there to ensure that I was doing the exercises correctly. When I first went to your office, I could not do a straight leg raise at all on my left leg. Now, a few months later, I am once again going upside down on a wakeboard.

Tom Robinson, thank you for the information and the customization of my Don Joy Defiance Brace. Your explanation and instruction on the brace helps give me the confidence I need when I am returning to full sport.

Thank you to my wife, Tish, for putting up with me and taking care of me when I was down. Thank you for being there by my side whenever I need you.

Marty 'McFly' Head

Thank you to the Wakeworld Community for allowing me to share my story in hopes that it can help prevent a lot of you from doing the same thing and, for those of you that have injured your knee, by possibly giving you some insight on what is yet to come for you. Believe me, it is really not that bad if you can just be patient, be strong and listen to your doctors and therapists!

Also, thank you to my parents, my family, my Waterski Boats Dallas family and all of my friends and sponsors who have stuck with me through this tough time. Without your support, I very well could still be limping around with my spirits down in the dumps.

Now, I can officially say, "I will see you on the water!"

Part V - Knee Brace Fitting and Last Doc Visit

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