So You Want to Be a Sports Physio

16/06/14 22:08So you want to be a Sports Physio… | The Sports Physio

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So you want to be aSports Physio…Do you want to work inprofessional sport? Then I havesome very exciting news, there arepositions available in the GreatBritain Olympic Team!

However, before you get tooexcited, I think its well worth 10minutes of your time to read thisexcellent article kindly written for‘The Sports Physio’ by GaryAnderson (@CoachGA) who is thePerformance Director for the GreatBritish Bobsleigh Team and

https://twitter.com/CoachGA



Olympic Team Leader 2014, he isthe guy you will need to send yourCV too! He gives you a rare andinvaluable insight into what he islooking for before you even apply,and has a wealth of first handexperience of what its like to workin professional sports.

Having worked in professionalsports myself I agree entirely withwhat Gary says here, the longhours, the very unglamorous work,having to wind your neck in (whichI struggled with at times) butthere’s also the good stuff too!

Anyway without further ado, its



over to Gary, and if after readingthis, if you still want to apply forthe job, then I wish you all thebest…

Wanted a physiotherapist to workin High Performance Sport

“its not pretty and its not aboutyou”

Every day you will interact with the bestathletes in the world, get a very high

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salary, attend all the best parties, wearthe national kit and watch great sportingaction up close.’…yeah right, thinkagain…

In your role (and at those parties) youwill be doing your job in the changingroom, on the field of play or your hotelroom, which incidentally you willprobably be sharing with anothermember of staff, two or more if you arereally lucky.

Your clinical skills and know how will beseverely tested when you are filling upwater bottles and loading freight intocontainers in the early hours of themorning as you prepare to move onto the



next venue.

Often you will have no chance to see anyof the competition. When traveling withteams, expect to work 7 days/week, andvery long hours – first in last out type ofhours. (Probably be late for all of thoseparties unfortunately).

Oh and did I mention the all thebureaucracy, admin, politics etc ?… Ah“but I wont get involved in that” you say…yes you will. “But I can rise above allthat” …no you cant.

So I would like to share my philosophybuilt around my experience of beinginvolved in fairly high-level sport from



the age of 14 and then working in amanagement capacity at three OlympicGames. I am not for one moment sayingthat I am right or you should even putyourself in a position to endure life inhigh performance sport, its tough,thankless and pretty damn ruthless.

I don’t want to come across here as a“flippant arse” many people think I amanyway, but I am someone who is lucky,privileged in-fact, to work in this industrybut I also want to let you know a little bitof what life is really like. I will also tryand share what happens if you don’t get itright and the consequences.

I learnt the ropes starting at the very



bottom, as a washed up athlete that triedto buck the system and take every short-cut that I thought existed, I defiedauthority and found myself at the whimof many a disciplinary committee. I wasone of those athletes these that these dayspresent a constant challenge to me now.

I did however, become a student of highperformance, I went back into education,became a physiotherapist, that wasboring so undertook post-graduate studyin the science of high performance, Iundertook research that answered myquestions and have a very high qualitythesis unfinished, because I answered thequestion I needed answering. I wasfortunate in my time in professional



football to work with some charismaticand very knowledgeable individuals; theiradvice stays with me to this day. It wastough in high performance, initially everyday I thought about quitting but it getbetter as you persevere, I now only thinkabout it every other day !

Before I start, a mantra that was taught tome and one that I adopt currently itstands one in good stead for what life inhigh performance sport may throw at you–

“Shit happens, life is not fair andthe goalposts do move”

I would also like to share with you the



ethos and working rules within my teams.

Managing High PerformanceSupport Teams.

“A team is a group of people withcomplementary skills who arecommitted to a common purpose,performance goals, and approachfor which they hold themselvesmutually accountable.” – myphilosophy here is the Italian Coffeeeffect, the output of my team must begreater than the individual contributions.I love coffee, I buy the best beans, grindthem perfectly, I invested in a goodquality espresso machine, use good waterand get the best pressure from the



machine. But my coffee never tastes asgood as it does in Milan ! They justappear to have that magic ingredient – Ithink they call it the Dolce Vita orsomething like that.

My Support Team Criteria – “Teambehind the Team”

To make it into our team there areconditions to be met, obviously eachindividual discipline has their ownprofessional qualifications, membershipof professional bodies, post graduate this,PhD that, but what we look for issomeone who can do the job and fits intothe team ethos. So how do we determinethat ?



a) Best in Area – if not you then who?Strive to be the very best you can be.Everyday is a school day in sport. As aperformance director I want to learnfrom you. You should also want to learnfrom me and others. Tell me that. Buildup your intelligence network.

b) Contribute to team climate –know your job and respect others areas ofexpertise. What is your responsibility ?What is your level of authority ? – whodoes what. All staff will be given authorityto undertake their respective roles, withthat authority comes a level ofresponsibility, with that comeaccountability, you cannot have just oneelement, it comes as a package.



Authority = Responsibility =Accountability

c) Cutting Edge – appropriatemethods, evidence based. Be careful of“fads” with my coaches, they have beenaround a long time – “no luminous K-Tape” in my dressing rooms. I dont knowif K-tape works (does anyone?) what Ican be sure of is that by making it brightorange does not improve thephysiological effectiveness of itssupposed actions.

d) No opinions in public – oftenmisinterpreted as facts. I always statethere is “No room for jugglers in mycircus”. The All Blacks have a great



philosophy that they adopt for both theplayers and the support staff, “NODICKHEADS” this is mentionedthroughout the book Legacy by JamesKerr. NO DICKHEADS is the antidote tothe leak, the enemy inside the tent. Apowerful and effective philosophy thathelps maintain an exceptionalenvironment. Read any leadersphilosophy they allude to this type ofoperation.

e) Success always due to the athlete– Never claim success, the athlete is theowner of the result, of course they sharethat and we all experience the emotionsassociated but it belongs to the athletenot me or not you.



f) Accept uncomfortableenvironment – you will be challenged,you will be wrong, you will be right butno one will believe you – one day you willprobably be sacked from a job in sport. Itmay well be that you are not at fault butthis goes with the territory. A resultsbased industry where if the requiredresults are not forthcoming then changesare made. Accept it.

g) Never an easy day – That said oneof the best pieces of advice I can give anymember of my support team – “if you arelucky enough to be able to take a day offdo so, because you don’t know when thenext time this may be. Also if you havenothing to do “don’t do it here”. I don’t



clock my staff in and out, nor do I expectthem to inform me of the number ofhours they have had to work recently.

h) Resilience – speed of recovery fromadversity – DO NOT PERSONALISE IT –logic over emotion always. Accept andmove on. Don’t sulk. All my team knowthat if they have been “balled-out” it wasfor that one thing and that one thingonly, not that they are not liked or un-loved, they were “balled-out” for that onething……

My Performance Philosophy that Iexpect staff to adhere to:

1) Athlete centered – the support



network is all about enhancing anathletes performance. If it does notcontribute to the sled going faster thenthere better be a good reason for it beingpart of the programme.

2) Coach led – our programme is coachled, the head coach is the filter to theathletes, all support services report to thehead coach and the head coach to theathlete. All athletes agree that ethicalboundaries include direct medicalreporting to the head coach on anymatter that could affect performance.

3) Performance driven – all decisionsare taken once their impact onperformance can be verified.



4) Services supporting – as it states,you are supporting the performanceprocess. Your only responsibility is toallow the athlete to perform better thanthey did previously.

5) Winning under Pressure – knowhow to do this, by its nature competitionis time driven, not only a measure ofoutcome but also a determinant in theperiod you have to do it. Time is aprecious commodity, do not waste it.

6) Not about athletes being happy –they can be happy when they have won,always ask the question is it what theathletes wants or what they need ?Evidence why it is necessary and in most



cases it will be ultimately accepted.

7) Do not confuse opinions for facts– advice will be given daily, it isimportant that you determine therelevance and sift the “opinion” basedupon preference to the actual factsappertaining at the time. People, can anddo often “re-paint scenarios”

I ask all my staff to ask themselvesseveral questions before each majorchampionship:

“Why are we here?” When thisquestion is resolved a support teamachieves purpose, personal fit and propermembership. Unresolved, this question



creates disorientation, fear anduncertainty.

“Who are you?” When resolved asupport team achieves mutual regard,forthrightness and spontaneousinteraction. Unresolved, this questionleads to mistrust, caution.

“Who does, what, when, andwhere?” When resolved a teamoperates with explicit assumptions, clear& integrated goals and identified roles.Unresolved, this question leads tomisguided competition and apathy.

Now for a true story and what thecoaches can be like:



So the terminology of loading here is notaccurate but you will get the idea, a coachI know and is part of my intelligencenetwork and his first interaction with anew Physiotherapist, (or an athletictrainer I think they are called in his partof the world)

Physiotherapist: “Do you incorporaterecovery weights in the athletes sessions?

Coach: Sorry ?

Physiotherapist: “Do you do recoveryweights?

Coach: We lift heavy weights forstrength; we lift medium-heavy weightsquickly for power or medium heavy



weights for high reps for muscle size.What the f******* hell are recoveryweights?”

Physiotherapist: “ Do you not think Itmay be beneficial to incorporate somelight weights on a stability ball toimprove the players core” ?

Coach: “Listen, We will start trainingwith light weights when our opponentsstop being strong 110 kg men who wantto smash our core muscles with theirshoulders, knees and fists”

The same coach had further dialoguewith a therapist, a different one (he didgive me some issues !) Upon being told by



the physio that an athlete should notinclude squats in their S&C programme.Can’t squat ? – they’re going to struggletaking a shit then, he then skulked off.

As a physiotherapist in my team your jobis to create the optimal environment forathletes to be at the best they can be onthe day of competition or to be able toundertake training to ensure they get thephysiological adaptation required. That isby ensuring that athletes that require itrehabilitate effectively and that fully fitathletes are maintained.

Athletes are not, in the main, in anaesthetic competition whilst training inthe weights room, to get adaptation they



need to move a Load from point A topoint B with the required / prescribedvelocity, if they can do that without pre-disposing themselves to injury I am nottoo concerned how the technique looked.Obviously they need to be coached in thetechnique but not above the reason theyare undertaking that exercise.

Do not forget the human interaction –effective communication overrides everyelement of technology or procedure thatyou have in your armoury. In myexperience the body has a very clever wayof righting itself in time, you are justtrying to accelerate that natural process.Show that you care, show that you havethe best performance interest at the for-



front of what you do, thst is very powerfulfor an athlete.

If you think you can cope with allthis, and me – we haveopportunities for Physiotherapistsand Soft Tissue Therapists to workwithin the programme. But if youdo want to be part of it please playnice and by the rules…… send meyour [email protected].

As a Performance Director – I listen withmy ears but watch with my eyes.

Gary Anderson

Performance Director & Olympic



Team Leader

Great Britain Bobsleigh

Twitter: CoachGA

Oh and if all else fails…

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So You Want to Be a Sports Physio

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