- WSL / Damien Poullenot
- WSL / Damien Poullenot
Backstage with Brother
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Kolohe Andino has been busy scouring the California coast in the off season. Backstage Vid: Tony Hillerby

Kolohe Andino has been keeping busy in the offseason, hunting high-quality surf as El Niño lights up the California coast. But last weekend, Andino was pummeled by a big closeout at Blacks Beach in La Jolla and suffered an injury that could potentially see him sidelined for the first event of the season. Andino wrote on his Instagram account:

"pulled into a wave and got exploded inside. turns out i got a thing called turf toe. dr. cramer said it could take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months."

Turf toe is usually plagues NFL running backs, and MLB baseball players, who are constantly pushing off their toes to get a jump on their defender. The constant jamming causes a sprain of the ligaments around the big toe joint.

Kolohe 2/1/16 injury Insta From Instagram (@koloheandino22): three evenings ago at the nude beach. pulled into a wave and got exploded inside. turns out i got a thing called turf toe. dr. cramer said it could take anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months. anyways, this was a day to remember w/@ian_crane @jacobvanderwork thanks to @brandonlillard - WSL

Andino had a rough time on the CT in 2015, falling below the cutoff and requalifying with a solid Qualifying Series finish (he tied Jack Freestone for second place overall with 28,500 total points). He'll need to recover quickly if he doesn't want to spend the season playing catchup.

A lot of Andino's success on the QS last year had to do with a win at the 6,000-point event in Manly Beach. He'll have to heal on the early end of his prognosis if he wants to defend his title, with the event kickoff February 29. Just 10 days later, the 2016 Championship Tour gets underway with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

Of course time out of the water isn't all bad. Andino's sign-off on Insta: "now to more bbq and dog photos. #nofilter"

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