BRAIN DUMP: Why Elite Athletes Travel for Rehab - The Bill Knowles Experience (& What You Can Learn From It)

We explore why elite sporting clubs send their injured athletes overseas for rehabilitation instead of keeping them at home, using NRL players visiting Bill Knowles in Philadelphia as the primary example.

• Breaking monotony is crucial during long-term rehab, with overseas trips providing a mental reset
• Bill Knowles focuses on rebuilding the entire athlete, not just repairing the injury
• Clubs send staff members along with athletes, creating valuable professional development opportunities
• The commercial benefits include faster return-to-play times, reduced re-injury risk, and recruitment advantages
• Content creation opportunities allow clubs to document the journey and create compelling stories
• The experience includes cultural immersion and cross-sport knowledge exchange

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https://open.spotify.com/show/1YJMztpYSgnPusEXB3fWcc?si=FJsWITv7QdSCSgCt3lkElw

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Episode Context
• 5:57 Why Athletes Travel for Rehab
• 8:51 Bill Knowles' Unique Approach
• 11:02 Commercial Benefits and ROI
• 14:09 Experience Beyond Just Rehab
• 16:39 Reframing and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:38

Welcome back to another episode of Brain Dump. First of all, thank you very much for the feedback last week. It was a bit of a mixed bag good and bad and everything in between but it was the most downloaded episode so far. So thank you very much for that, and especially considering it was just myself and no guest, that's pretty cool. So hopefully today we can back it up with a new episode that hopefully, for those that are new to the podcast, we'll give them some reason to hang around and, for those that have continued listening from the start again, maybe just one of those ones that will open us up a little bit to maybe a different perspective or different thinking or a different lens at viewing things.

Speaker 1: 2:18

So this one today is all about why clubs would send players overseas to work with individuals instead of keeping them in the country and doing their rehab here. Now I'll speak specifically to two scenarios in this episode and I want to get some conditions out early. So number one is this episode is going to be for those that are overseas listeners, because there is a fair few looking at the listenership. This will be for Australian-based athletes, in particular rugby league and NRL as the primary, I guess, case study, and then the overseas, or the individual or the facility that I'm talking about here is Bill Knowles and Knowles Athletic. Now again, full disclosure I have never met Bill. I have watched a lot of his videos in the past. I did a deep dive on him there a couple of years ago because I found what he does and how he does it very intriguing. I have spoken to many coaches that have gone over and experienced Bill, whether that be on their own or as part of one of these camps where they take a play over it for a period of time, and they have absolutely nothing but good things to say about Bill. And I also think that, going off the back of last week's episode, one thing that personal trainers do really good is they lift other personal trainers up. So in this episode, though I've never met Bill, I just want to give a huge congrats to him, because obviously what he's doing is amazing. The players that go over there seem to speak so highly of him. The rehab professionals, whether that be the head of performances, the head of physios, whoever it is come back and have nothing but good things to say. So full credit to bill and what he's done, and I'm going to try to break down from the outside in. So again, very, very clear from the outside in what he does and why it is so appealing for clubs to take some of their long-term rehabbers over to uh, where bill is based in philadelphia, and do a two-week camp with him.

Speaker 1: 4:22

So the question you got to ask yourself is why would some of the world's best athletes go to him specifically for their rehab? Well, I think there's probably a two-part we have to unfold to it. One, we've got the actual injury itself and the athlete that that they are dealing with. And two, and the thing that people seem to miss is the massive upside commercial benefit to being able to film and document an athlete going through their rehab journey. So I think the key thing here is a club's got to look at it, as obviously you've got to get the athlete back on the field, but also they've got to look at, I guess, for the business implications of that, what that looks like in regards to viewership, all the way through to the financial prospects around insurances for the club, all that sort of stuff. So number one thing is you've got to look at why they would do it and obviously the number one thing is that in Australia to get out of the country when you're doing your rehab would be an absolute blessing. You think about you've got a nine-month as an example for an ACL, a nine-ish month rehab and at that seven-ish month mark where you can go over and sort of use Bill's expertise, you get a break from the norm and breaking that monotony up over that long period of time is huge.

Speaker 1: 5:41

Anyone that's gone through rehab, especially a long-term rehab like that it can be really really boring at times, it can be really really lonesome and it can be really really, I guess, repetitive when you're in that same environment over and over and over again. So when you get the opportunity to go overseas, you get to go to the US. Everyone loves to go to the US, as everyone says it's been there and I have spoken to a fair few of the people that have taken some of the athletes over there. Everything's bigger, everything's brighter and everything's funner. So for an athlete to have a bit of a carrot while they're going through their rehab, knowing or potentially, you know, being offered to go over and do that, is amazing for them and it gives them an opportunity to reignite. I guess the back end of that rehab plus obviously, uh, get to experience, uh, a character like bill and what he can present and and add to um, I guess, that whole rehab journey.

Speaker 1: 6:27

The other part to that is is that you or people only talk about the athletes going, so they'll send an athlete X over. Very rarely, if not at all, to my understanding, has an athlete ever gone over on their own from a club. When the club sends an athlete over, they will usually send one or two of their staff with them as well. So they're looking at it as not only an opportunity for the athlete to get better, but an opportunity for the staff to use that as upskill, to use that as professional development, to use that to learn themselves, to then bring that information back to the club. So it's not like that it's just the athlete that's getting something out of it as well, it's the entirety of the club.

Speaker 1: 7:06

Plus then, as I mentioned there earlier in the start, you bring or you send a videographer or the media team on board as well and all of a sudden you're creating a really compelling long form piece of content showing insights, not only for young players but obviously coaches that watch that content as well, to really give an insight into what goes on and the differences and some of the, I guess, unique style of what Bill specifically brings to that rehab case. And for me, some of the things that I really enjoy when I'm watching these clips and I can, if anyone does want to watch some of these clips, there's probably about four or five really really good ones from athletes again in the NRL that have gone over as of late is just the way that he interacts and the authority and the credibility and the way that everyone wants to listen to what he says is just amazing and I think that again, that just comes from his vast knowledge and experience over a very, very long time. So I guess one of the big things that what Bill looks at is he's focused on athletic normal versus medical normal and specifically in the most recent doco of Tino Fasulmulawi, who's went over there from the Titans, is really early on the piece he got angry at Tino for saying he's good and bad leg. It's his left leg and his right leg, not good and bad. And again, it's just one of those little things that you know. Rehab isn't just about fixing the injury. It's about fixing or improving athletes movement patterns, your muscle control and confidence and when you're looking at that, like for Bill to be straight away onto that saying it's no good, it's not bad, it's all about let's fixing the injury. Instead of just fixing the injury, he's looking about let's rebuild the whole athlete so that they can return stronger, not just the injury. And I think that's really what makes him different.

Speaker 1: 8:45

When you start to look at what is some of the I I guess things that he does, that may be a little bit different. And again, this is purely from speaking to some coaches watching videos and also watching plenty of Bill's presentations over the years. Things he does early on he does a lot of pool work, uses a lot of different surfaces so the athletes can experience different ground force reactions. Gymnastics and coordination-based drills are some of the big ones that he looks for. And then he uses that two-ish week period to build, I guess, like mini blocks of confidence and these mini phases for the athletes so that at each phase they feel like they're really achieving something. So they don't just get their day one and put their boots on onto the field. It's like, no, no, you need to go through my model, make sure that you're ready. So then you've got the confidence and the physical characteristics to be able to go and display what we want to. So it's a really interesting way of doing it. And again, if you look at some of the videos, you can see the uniqueness in the way that he's facility set up. It's not your traditional gym. There's a gymnastics floor, there's trampoline floor and then there's a big indoor turf, outdoor turf area as well. So just in that you've got three different surfaces that an athlete gets to play around with and expose themselves to.

Speaker 1: 9:56

Then you look at the commercial and, I guess, the medical side of what it does to send an athlete over there. Now it is a fair hit to go over there, but I think anything worthwhile is obviously an investment. It's not an expense, right. So you look at a club. If they can even shave a couple of weeks off, a high level athletes return to sport. Now again, we are speaking about NRL, but Bill works with many great athletes across the board NBA, nfl, so on and so forth, epl you know what I mean. Those guys can be on millions of dollars a week.

Speaker 1: 10:30

So to send him or her there at that rate is probably absolutely, or if they can accelerate that rehab process, can actually be a huge, huge return on investment back into the club. When that athlete's healthy, the team can be winning, especially if they're one of their big guys. So the big teams send athletes over there when rehab or that traditional rehab isn't working fast enough and that's just again huge credit to what he's been able to do there. If you can look at some of the other benefits around it, you're looking at probably a reduced risk of re-injury. Therefore you've got a longer-term ROI. So you're looking at re-injury rates, not only during that rehab process itself but any long-term injuries that may pop up as well, looking at what it can do to keep some of those key star or key players on the field.

Speaker 1: 11:19

The recruitment and retention side of things probably something that a lot of people don't look at is that if you can see a club is willing to invest in their key athletes and to send them over to the States which you know, as we mentioned before, is a large commitment, time, resources, energy from the club Then again that can help with your recruitment knowing that if athletes get injured, that they are willing to get out and seek the best people for them if the club can't provide or thinks that they can add a little bit more to that rehab process, which again is just a really interesting approach, versus trying to keep it in-house and everything like that and again, for coaches to go over there and learn themselves. It's a double-edged sword. It's a win-win either way. The other thing, too that we spoke about there before earlier on is like the ability to leverage that piece of content into a really great storytelling documentary.

Speaker 1: 12:08

So a couple that come to mind, as I mentioned before tino's is the most recent one, but you had, uh, tommy turbo go over there, um, from manly. You had latrell go over there from the rabidows, you had paps go over from melbourne. They're just a couple of ones that come to me straight away. I know there's been plenty of other players go over there and do it as well, but I think those probably four stand out as what the clubs manage to leverage from a content standpoint, and then also the athlete also gets to utilize that as part of their, I guess, off-field strategy as well. So there's plenty to it, and so what I'm trying to say, and what I'm trying to say with this is here is it's not just what the um, not just the training experience and the benefits they get out of the training itself, it is the experience entirety. So it's the whole feel of going over there, going to a different country, going through a different process, but it's probably somewhat similar at the same time feeling what it's like to work in that high pressure environment with someone that doesn't really take a whole lot of shit but will also reward you and keep you accountable along the way. But then it's everything else that comes with it.

Speaker 1: 13:20

Based in Philly, that's really close to New York. So I've seen and heard that many of the athletes will either spend time in philadelphia, which means they can then go to philadelphia 76s, which is the nba team, and check out their facilities and go, and then staff as well, be able to speak to their staff. You've got the um super bowl champions in the eagles and again a lot of athletes will go to games or go to the training facilities and be able to check out all that. And then, not too far away, if you wanted to make the trip over the weekend, you can head into New York, which is again about two and a half hours, three hours away. So it gives you the opportunity to have a mini holiday whilst in amongst all that as well, but then also immerse yourself in the culture of US sport and again bring that back to what you do.

Speaker 1: 14:01

So, I think, will athletes keep getting sent overseas? Absolutely, and they should. There's plenty of benefits to it. Could you argue that there is plenty of benefits keeping them in Australia? Absolutely, you could, but I think you've got to think what the bigger picture is. So, instead of looking at it going, why are Australian athletes going overseas? Is there a way you could reframe that and go? Is there the opportunity to bring overseas athletes to Australia? I don't know, but it would be pretty cool if you had a NFL, nba, mlb whatever it may be athlete over here for a short period of time, based in Sydney. I'm pretty sure you could do a pretty amazing experience immersing athletes in the Sydney culture, australian culture, for a couple of weeks as well.

Speaker 1: 14:48

When you think about what opportunities there are here, where there's some fantastic facilities, fantastic coaches not only in the the cost, arguing about the person facilitating it Think about why they do it, not just the performance-based outcomes, but everything else that comes with it and then maybe how you, instead of bagging someone else out, could take on what has been done because there's proof that it works and do your own version of it. And again, like I said, I've never met Bill. I would love to, so I'm sure Bill's not listening to this, but if you are, bill, great job. And I believe you are presenting at the Sportsmith Summit in LA, which I will be attending, so if that's the case, I'll be very much looking forward to trying to have a quick chat to you and just share some of my thoughts around what you've done. So I just wanted that one to be a little bit of a different episode.

Speaker 1: 15:50

I think, again, we love to find the negative in situations, or love to criticize or blame or whatever it may be, instead of looking at the bigger picture and understanding why, what else and why that could be an option versus the other way around. And again, I think it's amazing that athletes have the opportunity to go over and do that, and I think also for the coaches they get to go do it as well, and the performance staff. It's also an amazing experience for them to be able to go over, learn hands-on from someone else that's been and worked with plenty of amazing athletes and then bring that information back to help with their future rehab systems and then also upskill and educate their current staff. So, a bit of a shorter one, a bit of a different one today. Let me know what you think.

Speaker 1: 16:35

I'm also happy to be told that I'm completely wrong, but I will die on the hill that I think it's a fantastic idea for athletes to be able to go over there and utilize someone like Bill. You know, if you think about who could be like that in the UK and again, I'm sure I'm missing plenty of people here, this is just people I'm aware of Someone like an Al Murdoch doing an intensive camp with him, you know, is something that I know a lot of athletes do and that back into rehab. And again, a fantastic practitioner that delivers amazing results. So, and again, a fantastic practitioner that delivers amazing results. So, yeah, have a think about it.

Speaker 1: 17:08

Maybe it will just get your brain twisting a little bit and thinking versus, you know, maybe it will get you to maybe reframe and think about the positives in that scenario in particular, and then also future scenarios where you might look at that as a negative and think, okay, rather than looking at all the things that are wrong with that or all the things that should be better or could be done better or whatever else. Look at why it is a possibility in the first place and then where you could potentially take or modify that yourself and be able to implement that into what you do on a day-to-day basis. Hope everyone has a fantastic week and again, let me know what you think. If you are new and you do get two seconds, it'd be amazing if you could just give us a five-star review on Apple or Spotify. If you don't do five-star, don't bother. No, I'm just joking, but it'd be good if you could do five stars, because it does help the show grow and it helps me know that what I'm talking about is somewhat on the track. So