Older guy - knee brace - progression?

I've been researching the knee brace thing and while it might not "prevent" a knee injury I'm wondering how much it may actually help my progression.

I'm in good physical shape (gym regularly - stretch daily) a little on the heavy side 5' 10" 215 lbs - I'm also a little older than most at 43 yo.

Living in CT there is limited time so we (my boarding friends) try to get in as much water time as possible. Mostly it's twice a week although we have done up to four times per week.

I've never had any problems with my knees - some popping and soreness but that's really about it.

Along the same lines I started to wear a helmet after I took a digger and came up seeing stars, prior to that I was never really gun-shy about attempting things. Now that I have the helmet I've actually become more aggressive trying to get better.

This leads me to the whole knee brace \ progression thing. If a helmet can make me feel more comfortable about going bigger and trying new tricks, I'm thinking the knee brace might have the same impact and actually help me get better?

I'd appreciate any feedback.

TIA

weather your wearing em' cause you've been injured, or for preventitive reasons . I think its a good Idea, I wish I'd bought two instead of one when I got mine, but I only had one hurt knee.

i say if it makes you feel more comfortable and confident then go for it. that goes for anything...shoot, if wearing a pink bow tie makes a dude ride with more confidence i'd tell him to wear that too. it's all personal preference. what ever boosts your confidence and helps you ride how you want to ride should be done.

......if it gives you confidence and lets you ride then go for it. Dont take this the wrong way because I dont know your body type....but if there is any way you can return to a more reasonable weight say maybe 170's your body and joints will thank you. I am 5'11" and 150 ....when I was all bulked up at 170 I was getting killed by wakeboarding...all kinds of injuries etc.....I feel my body is more powerfull and resilient to injury today at 43 than when I was 37......basically because I lift lighter weights and less often and have increased my cardio. Lets face it by this age we have accomplished everything we can with weights....now its about body preservation and keeping it healthy and strong....and not over stressing it........and by the way I have broken one knee (tibial plateau fracture) and the other one was dislocated. I wakeboard better than ever today than at anytime when I was younger.

I'm 44 and in really good shape. I still play basketball on a regular basis and struggle with the fact the my knees are just not what they once were. I have been wakeboarding for about 5 years and love it. After taking a bad fall Memorial Day and having my knee tell me that I can't board for a month I decided to invest in a set of Asterisk braces. All my younger friends call me Robo-boarder but I don't care. I have found that wearing the braces does add to my confidence in my boarding. I have also found that on some crashes I definitely feel as though I have been protected to some extent by the braces.

Tom, I'm going on 48 and I'm 5'10" and 220lbs. Still wakeboard 1-3 times a week, doing backrolls, big grabs, riding switch, 180's, ect and have bad knees from snow skiing and barefooting. I always keep my knees flexible especially when I know I'm going to fall. I ride behind two boats, an 06 220 with 1500lbs plus the factory ballast and an 06 x-Star with 3200lbs and the factory ballast. I ride @ 80' and 23.7 mph. I've been riding since 98 when my son got started riding. I always relax when I'm going to eat it especially when I know it's going to be bad. Even when I take trick out into the flats, I always make sure I keep my knees bent. Another thing that I do is try new things much slower than I used too in my younger days. I really make sure that I have the pop and the position which in turn limits the number of bad falls.

Tom, I am 54 and love riding... I have had surgery on both knees... I rode with a brace for 6 months after the surgerys. Now I do not ride with any brace. My suggestion is to stretch alot, lose some pounds, take glucolsomine,and good vitamins... Keep riding you are still young in my book... I am still learning new tricks...

Good Luck & go for it.

Aloha from Huntington Beach, CA

First thanks for all the good advice.

At this point there is probably only a couple of months left in the season, the farthest we have gone is November 1st. So, I’m going to drop some weight and see how it goes. I’m also going to take the opportunity to work on basics like: Pop – line control – body position - keeping my knees bent.

I am truly passionate about being on the water especially boarding, so whatever I need to do to keep doing it I’m going to do (wow that was weird- lol)

Thanks again

Kudos to all of you guys who had posted here...I'm 27 and love to hear that there are guys 20 years older than me throwing big jumps, spins, even flips! Good for all of you and keep it up!

Tom,
I am the same age and still working on new tricks. I have messed up both my MCL's and have braces for both knees. I wore them for the recovery, but no longer wear them. I did happen to break my fibula due to wearing the brace, it probably saved my knee from lateral strain, but also caused a break. I would rather heal from a break than ligament or tendon damage though. All the advice above is good and I will probably start taking glucosomine to help with knee pain. Keep riding and stay in shape.

To any of you guys over 50... I ride at the Canyon Lake Contests in Cali. If we get enough of us older kids the WWA told me they would make a Super Veterans Division for next year.
Send me an email of anyone wanting to join us older kids above 50.

Aloha Joe / Huntington Beach, CA