John Florence Ditches Pipe To Surf Snapper?!

A few days before the Pipe Masters were scheduled to kick off, the reigning World Champ withdrew his plans to return to the jersey. Citing his severe and ongoing knee injury, and the fact he “doesn’t have full trust in [his] movements yet”. 

While we knew that John John had been trialling his knee out in the lead up to his inevitable return, there’s been little to zilch in the form of footage showing John back atop a board.

Prior to his withdrawal, Stab had spotted John getting around the North Shore, even spotted for one session at Log Cabins, but he kept a low profile and seemingly disappeared soon after. Now, thanks to some handy camerawork and intel, we know exactly where he bailed to.

The Gold Coast; presumably to spend a little time with his Australian girlfriend, Lauryn Cribb, who resides on the sunny strip in Southern Qld. But while he was there he couldn’t help but R & D his knee on some waist high runners out at Snapper with Pyzel staffer and surfer, Matt Aldridge. 

It’s far from cooking, but from the waves we see John surf above from a Sunday session, he looks to be back in decent shape and form. Especially for someone who just spent six months off anything that could be loosely labelled a performance board.

Let’s hope the next time we see John surfing in a jersey it’s back at this same location next April.