How did you get into sport?
This is the “How did you get into sport?” podcast where we explore the ins and outs of working in high performance sport.
These are conversations with leaders in the industry about their journey and most importantly how they got to where they are. Working in professional sport is one of the most sought after yet highly competitive industries with limited professional organisations offering opportunities to work at the highest level of their respective sports.
This podcast was created on the back of countless conversations with a diverse range of experienced professionals overly frustrated yet still highly motivated to work in their dream role and asking the question “How did you get to work in professional sport and what did you have to do to get there?” Host Luis Resa is a Sports Physiotherapist who has worked in various elite professional organisation both in Australia and internationally.
In each episode, Luis has deep conversations with Sports Physiotherapist, S&C coaches, Head coaches, High Performance Managers and other leaders in the field of elite sport to discuss what it takes to excel in the world of sport as well as diving deeply into the intricacies of what got their foot in the door of some of the world’s most desirable roles.
Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. In the meantime, enjoy a deep conversation and learn the specific do’s and don’ts of both securing and surpassing expectations in the field of high performance sport.
How did you get into sport?
Kelvin Giles - The "Godfather" of athletic performance coaching.
Kelvin is one of the pioneers of athletic performance coaching with over 50 years experience in sport working with such organisations as British Athletics, Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS), Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos (NRL) and the London Broncos (UK Super League) to only name a few. In the industry it is hard fought to not have Kelvin’s influence brought up in any conversations with the current leaders in the field of high performance sport and having coached over 14 Olympic athletes over 7 Olympic Cycles, winning 5 out of the 7 Rugby League grand finals and to this day still continues to mentor, consult and provide advocacy for many in the industry, you can see why he is consider one of the godfathers of athletic performance coaching not just in Australia but the world.
Highlights from the episode…
- After meeting a former Team GB Track and Field (T&F) coach this set his path towards pursuing the goal of being a national T&F coach.
- Kelvin shares how he acquired the role as the first ever T&F coach at the AIS, his experience and why he describes it as the biggest mistake he ever made.
- After not having his contracted renewed by the AIS, Kelvin went on to coach several Australian record breaking athletes while working as a relief teacher and a bouncer at a night club.
- The unique strategies Kelvin put in place to structure a season long periodised S&C program during the semi-professional era of Rugby League.
- How Kelvin took what he learnt from coaching T&F athletes and implemented what was at the time a contrarian approach to S&C at the Canberra Raiders.
- “You got injured during motion, we’re going to mend you during motion.” The rehab process he used with Mal Meninga.
- “Most teams use pre-season to prepare for the season. At the Brisbane Broncos we used the pre-season and the season itself to prepare for the finals".
- “When coaching your athletes you’ve got to build roots for them to grow but ultimately you need to build wings for them to fly”.
- Kelvin shares his time at the QAS and the incredible practitioners who he worked with who have gone on to work with some of the best teams in the world.
- Explicit and Implicit instruction and how coaching athletes requires both.
- The stages of athletic progressions of General, Related and Specific, and how each stage is vital.
- Efficiency, Consistency and Resilience and how to implement each in a conditioning/rehab/injury prevention program.
- The importance of “Pedagogy” in training athletes.
- We discuss the challenges that currently exist in athletic programs with the growing trend in organisations to simply focus on chasing results/medals at the cost of long term athlete development.
- What Kelvin believes is the crucial skill set one needs to develop when working in high performance environments.
People mentioned:
- Frank Dick: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRnsG4gXcdw
- Don Talbot: https://sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame-member/don-talbot/
- Bill Knowles: https://www.knowlesathletic.com/team-ka
Kelvin Giles contact details:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelvin-giles-225b9818/
- Movement Dynamics Website: https://www.movementdynamics.com/
Host: Luis Resa
Contact me on:
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-resa-a975196b/
- Email: luis.resa@outlook.com
Thanks for listening and please leave a review. If you would like more information on anything mentioned in this episode simply send me an email.
