Dusty Payne, who is amid the recovery process from a nagging ankle injury, was notably missing from Snapper and Bells this year. Unfortunately, it looks like the young Hawaiian is also likely to miss at least half of the 2012 season.

Payne tweaked his left ankle coming down from a small air during the Coldwater Classic in Santa Cruz last October. But in desperate need of points to keep his spot on tour, he surfed through the San Francisco event and Pipe Masters.

The consequence of surfing on a bad ankle for three months is that Dusty has been hobbling back and forth between Australia and America receiving physical therapy. One of the benefits of being a Nike athlete is that Dusty gets to use the facilities at their Portland headquarters, which include the best athletic and medical trainers available. Here is a clip from Volcom of Dusty just before he strapped on the boot and started rehab. He sure didn’t surf like someone who should have been on crutches.