The Inform Perform Podcast is an industry show focussed on Sports Performance and Sports Medicine. The show interviews thought leaders and professionals that support elite athletes and teams. The aim of the show is to deconstruct the strategies and philosophies the guests utilise in their working environment or area of expertise. Featured guests have worked across the NBA, NFL, MLB, F1, World title Boxing, EPL and more.
Episodes
Tuesday Jan 05, 2021
Tuesday Jan 05, 2021
Episode 63: Andy McDonald chats to Daniel Greenwood a skill acquisition specialist from the University of Memphis. Daniel is currently Director of the Human Performance Center at the University of Memphis, but was previously a Senior Scientist at the Australian Institute of Sport, Singapore Sports Council and Queensland Academy of Sport. Daniel has over a decade of international applied sport science experience with a variety of team and individual sports. His career highlight was being embedded with, and contributing to, multiple Australian Medalists at the London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
In this episode Andy and Daniel discuss:
- Daniels background
- Skill acquisition - how do people learn
- Does perfect technique exist?
- Balancing test sterility and transferability
- Force profiling for skill acquisition
Where you can find Daniel:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Sunday Dec 20, 2020
Episode 62: Ben Ashworth chats to Stig Andersson a Physiotherapist, PhD. Clinician, lecturer and researcher. Stig works at the Norwegian Institute of Sports medicine in Oslo with an interest in the prevention and rehabilitation of shoulder injuries in overhead athletes. This episode is a part of the Inform Performance European shoulder series.
In this episode Ben and Stig discuss:
- Stig’s background
- Handball demands
- Preparing the shoulder for handball
- Determining readiness after injury
- Benchmarking late stage rehab force profiles
- Early stage rehab
- Offloading the shoulder via the kinetic chain
Where you can find Stig:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Thursday Dec 10, 2020
Episode 61: Ben Ashworth chats to Dr Fredrik Johansson from Soffiahemmet University Musculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center & the Tennis Research and Performance Group. Freddy as you’ll hear has a background and special interest on the shoulder so who better to interview or chat to him than inform Performances own Mr Ben Ashworth.
In this episode Ben and Fredrik Johansson discuss:
- Fredrik’s background
- Balancing performance and risk mitigation
- Preparing high velocity movements
- Efficiency of movement
- Specificity v general preparation
- Strength training for tennis
- Monitoring in tennis
- Resilience
- The melting candle analogy
Where you can find Fredrik:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Friday Dec 04, 2020
Friday Dec 04, 2020
Episode 60: Ben Ashworth chats to Paudie Roche the lead S&C for the under 23's and under 18's at Arsenal. Paudi has a wealth of experience and before moving to Arsenal in 2013, Paudie worked with the Irish National rugby union team, Munster Rugby and also with University College Cork. He was also crowned Coach of the Year (Youth Sport) by the UKSCA in 2015. In this episode Paudie and Ben discuss LTAD for academy players with Paudie providing very transparent examples and stories from his experience at Arsenal.
In this episode Ben Ashworth and Paudie Roche discuss:
- Paudie’s background
- How S&C has changed over Paudie’s career
- Bench marking player development
- Academy gym based markers
- Transitioning players from academy to senior team
- Training alongside fixture congestion
Where you can find Paudie:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Episode 59: Andy McDonald chats to Strength & Conditioning Coach and educator Chris Tombs. Chris's expertise lies in both rugby and cricket where he has worked in Elite sport for the last 16 years. He is best known for the physical development of some of Welsh rugby’s highest profile current players. Since we last spoke Chris has been the performance lead for Seattle Seawolves rugby in the MLR and has found Pegasus 85 an in-person coach education provider. We had Chris on the show in December 2019 for episode 9 to discuss VBT and this episode will progress that conversation.
In this episode Andy McDonald and Chris Tombs discuss:
- Chris’s background
- Pegasus85 Education & face-to-face education
- 25 years in 250 words
- Camera based VBT systems
- Continuous athlete monitoring
- VBT verses percentage based training
- VBT and managing fatigue
- When to monitor velocity in a session
Where you can find Chris:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Episode 58: Ben Ashworth hosts his first episode of Inform Performance. On this episode Ben chats to Dr David Opar the Director of the Sports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre at Australian Catholic University. David completed his undergraduate degree in Human Movement at RMIT University in 2008. He commenced his doctoral thesis (PhD) in the area of hamstring strain injuries at the Queensland University of Technology in 2010. He also heads up the ACU Hamstring Injury Group and is leading the way in hamstring injury research. Dr Opar and his team are in close consultation with professional sporting codes both nationally and internationally to deliver evidence-based prevention and treatment strategies for their athlete group.
In this episode Ben Ashworth and Dr David Opar discuss:
- David’s background
- Hamstring Injury risk mitigation
- Minimal dose for hamstrings
- Optimal sprint dosage
- Timing training stimuli within competitive schedules
- When & how to use nordics
- Load tolerance
- RTP Criteria’s
Where you can find David:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Thursday Nov 12, 2020
Thursday Nov 12, 2020
Episode 57: Andy McDonald chats to Tom Farrow a Physical Performance Specialist who is the Founder & Co-Director of Areté Performance. Until August, when the programme was unfortunately cut due to losing funding, he was the Head of Physical Performance for England & Team GB 7s Men’s teams. Tom was also a Contact Skills Specialist with the Men’s 7s programme and has worked in this capacity with the 2016 Team GB Women’s 7s team, Tokyo Toshiba Brave, Fulham FC Academy and Richmond Rugby Club. He has previously worked as a strength and conditioning coach with the English Institute of Sport, GB Canoe, & Speedworks. Until Sept 2014, Tom was a Senior Strength & Conditioning Coach with Wasps Rugby and co-led their First XV programme. After starting his own business Tom also spent time working with the Wasps Academy programme as both a Strength & Conditioning Coach and Contact Skills Specialist. In this episode Andy and Tom discuss speed and agility training and program management.
In this episode Andy and Tom discuss:
- Tom’s background
- Starting his own business
- Tom’s interest in speed training
- Tom’s approach to training:
- Acceleration
- Max speed
- Change of direction
- Implementing technical standards in open skill environments
- Program management
Where you can find Tom:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Friday Nov 06, 2020
Friday Nov 06, 2020
Episode 56: Andy McDonald chats Jesse Elis the Director of Health and Performance at the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team. Jesse is a PT with a background in professional tennis in the WTA and was formerly the Director of Physical Therapy at EXOS. In addition to this he is also the co-owner of Phoenix Manual Therapy. This conversation with Jesse is focused around communication, collaboration and biomechanics through Jesse's broad knowledge and appreciation for performance, leadership and sports medicine.
In this episode Andy and Jesse discuss:
- Jesse’s background
- Current role at the Trail Blazers
- Communicating with players as a PT
- Communicating with management
- Risk management
- PT S&C’ collaboration
- Communicating diagnosis with S&C’s
- Biomechanics
Where you can find Jesse:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Wednesday Oct 28, 2020
Episode 55: Andy McDonald chats to Sérgio T Fonseca. Sérgio is from a clinical background originally and currently works at the Department of Physical Therapy of the University Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil. Sérgio teaches and advises in the areas of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences. His main research focus is on human movement, applying concepts of ecological approach and dynamical systems to human perception and action. This episode will focus on the philosophy of patient or athlete management as it relates to his work on systems.
In this episode Andy and Sérgio discuss:
-
- Sérgio's background
- Reductionism, complicated and complex systems
- Equifinality
- Evidence based practise
- Synergetic’s
- Evaluating your own systems
Where you can find Sérgio:
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team
Friday Oct 23, 2020
Friday Oct 23, 2020
Episode 54: Andy McDonald chats to Mike Friday USA Rugby Mens 7's Head Coach. Mike began his sporting career as a player transitioning from the amateur rugby years into the professional era, before becoming renowned as a coach. He has enjoyed multiple coaching roles across the UK, Kenya and more recently USA. In this episode with Mike we will discuss his journey from player to coach and pick out some of the key lessons he has learnt along the way.
In this episode Andy and Mike discuss:
- Mike’s playing career
- Athlete retirement transitions
- Effects of Covid on Rugby
- Current state of World Rugby 7’s
- Mike’s coaching background
- Role at USA Rugby Sevens
- Working for Kenyan 7’s
- Lessons learnt coaching in different cultures
- Sharing medical information with coaches
Where you can find Mike:
The aim of this survey of physiotherapists is to identify criteria for diagnosis of tendinopathy. This study aims to establish the key clinical questions and tests physiotherapists use during clinical examination of Achilles tendinopathy. Establishing a set of clinical questions and objective measures for Achilles tendinopathy will allow the validity of these criteria to be investigated in future projects.
Sponsor
Inform Performance is sponsored by VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training
Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:
Our Team