MATT Banting will be the first to admit the last two years have been a challenge.
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After mixing it with the world’s best surfers from a young age, injuries then provided the setbacks which ultimately cost him a place on the world tour.
Now, after a painstaking 12 months out of the water, the 2014 Surfest winner is again on the comeback trail.
Almost one year ago to the day, a pelvic injury forced him to take stock following a competition at Sunset Beach in Hawaii.
“I stopped surfing competitively on December 4 last year and I knew it was going to take a fair while to get back to where I wanted to be,” Banting said.
The pelvic injury followed a dislocated left knee he suffered while surfing at J-Bay in South Africa in 2015 and a subsequent nine-month recovery process.
Six weeks ago he returned to the water and feels almost at “100 per cent now.”
“I wanted to take a year off, regroup and go again because I’ve been surfing since I was about seven years old so it was good to have a break,” he said.
Banting admitted the injuries to his knee and then pelvis and hip flexor had provided an opportunity to reassess what he could do better.
I wanted to take a year off, regroup and go again because I’ve been surfing since I was about seven years old so it was good to have a break.
- Matt Banting
He has no doubt the two were related to each other.
“With the knee, I tried to get back a bit too early and with your toes, everything then goes through your ankles and up to your knee which supports your pelvis,” he said.
“I was loading a lot through my right knee to try and support my bad left knee at the time and that’s where most of the pelvis instability and problems came from.”
As a result, he changed his gym program in the hope the injuries would become a thing of the past.
“I was doing a little bit too much in the gym with dead lifting and heavy weight training,” Banting said.
“So I’m going back to lighter stuff, feeling a lot more mobile through the joints and have a bit better core control.
“The last six weeks has been super enjoyable and now I’m getting to the end of the rehab program I’m able to do more things which puts a bit more of a smile on the face.”
The last six weeks has been super enjoyable and now I’m getting to the end of the rehab program I’m able to do more things which puts a bit more of a smile on the face.
- Matt Banting
Currently training on the Gold Coast, Banting has his sights on competitions at Manly and Newcastle in the new year.
“I want to get the mind ticking over and I’ve had a couple of wins there so they’ll be a good little confidence boosters for me,” Banting said.
“Hopefully I can get a kick-start in the points rankings there and then head overseas after that.”
A top 10 finish in next year’s qualifying series will be enough to elevate Banting back onto the world tour.
“Every year 10 spots in the QS are saved for the World Championship Tour and the back 10 of the championship tour fall off,” Banting said.
“They count your best five finishes over the year.”