Hi Keegan! Strategies or Systems in Place I think another way to get everyone on the same page is to establish a set meeting cadence for all disciplines involved. This helps get everyone out of their silos and creates a common time to discuss anything that needs to be addressed. Especially in-season, when schedules can get chaotic, having something pre-scheduled allows everyone to be proactive and stay on the same page. On a day-to-day basis, communication may have to happen through technology, whether that is email, phone calls, or another communication platform. I can understand how this can be particularly challenging in the private sector. In my experience, the athlete was seeing me for performance while seeing outside providers for PT/ATC services. As an S&C coach involved in the return-to-play process, we need to understand what is going on medically so we can appropriately program around it. I think sharing the program with the other professionals involved and discussing the return-to-play plan, whether through email or phone calls, is extremely important. At the same time, not everyone is going to have the same philosophy. For example, you may have a medical professional who says an athlete is completely out for lower-body training, but there may still be opportunities to train the upper body or work around the injury. They may not know what is appropriate from a performance standpoint without having a conversation with the S&C coach. Having that open line of communication allows everyone to understand what each discipline is trying to accomplish while keeping the athlete moving forward. Transition from Rehab to High-Level Performance I think this is nuanced, and there are a lot of variables involved in the decision-making process. However, I do think having established standards and metrics that the athlete needs to achieve before returning to sport is important. Those standards should be determined and agreed upon by the disciplines involved and communicated to the athlete and coaching staff. Of course, return to play is not linear, and there will be highs and lows throughout the process. But having established criteria helps provide everyone with a common roadmap. For example, if an athlete is returning to sport following an ACL injury, the medical and performance sides should have a shared understanding of the metrics needed to progress. That could include strength levels back within an appropriate range of pre-injury levels, acceptable right-to-left asymmetries, movement quality, sport-specific demands, and ultimately the athlete's ability to tolerate increasing training loads. Communicating and Coordinating Multiple Professionals In my experience, I have found this to be extremely beneficial but also challenging at times. It is always great to get high-level professionals in a room together. Everyone can learn from each other and challenge each other's philosophies. At the same time, people come from different backgrounds and may have learned different approaches. This is where sharing your expertise, understanding the role of each discipline, and establishing a shared common goal becomes important. From an S&C perspective, if I notice positive or negative trends in any of the metrics I am tracking, I relay that information to the performance team and work with the group to determine if something else may be contributing to the change. Nine times out of ten, a negative trend in one area can lead to questions about what may be happening in another area. What Has Worked Well @KatieRdATC hit the nail on the head — there must be trust with the people you work with, and sometimes that takes time. Being open to different philosophies, building relationships, communicating consistently, and showing your results and the rationale behind your plan can all help when balancing different philosophies and overlapping responsibilities. Ultimately, I think everyone needs to understand that we are working toward the same goal: getting the athlete healthy, performing at a high level, and ultimately giving them the best opportunity to return to their sport or duty safely and confidently.

Hello, everyone! My name is John Ames, and I'm a Senior Athletic Trainer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going into my 15th season on staff. Over the past year, I was given the opportunity to step into new responsibilities. With those came a fresh wave of mistakes. As someone who is notoriously hard on myself, those moments weren't easy to swallow. But looking back, making those errors and working through them was the single most effective driver of my professional growth. We see a lot of young sports professionals who are eager to advance quickly. Continuing education and new certifications are great ways to expand your skillset and knowledge base, but you simply cannot put a price tag on hands-on experience. That real-world knowledge only comes when you put in the daily work, navigate real-time challenges, and inevitably make mistakes along the way. We constantly tell our seasonal athletic training fellows not to be afraid of failing, but as experienced clinicians, we need to practice what we preach. Making a mistake forces us to pause, hone in on the fine details, and recognize patterns early so we can anticipate future occurrences. Meticulous attention to detail and effort is often what separates good clinicians from great ones. Talent and degrees get you in the door, but effort and experience set you apart. The most successful professionals, including those at the top level in the NFL, are the ones who remain critical of themselves and their work in a way that is uplifting rather than degrading. They learn from every setback and use it to elevate everyone around them. Setbacks in rehabilitation are inevitable. I've always been taught that if you don't ever have setbacks in your rehab, you aren't pushing the athlete hard enough. Whenever I have a setback, it is a signal to me to pause and reflect on what went wrong and what I could have done better. Did I miss a step in protocol? Did I listen too much to the athletes' subjective responses? Did I not allow for proper recovery from prior interventions? I use the experience of others around me to see what they would have done. It is always a humbling experience. I’d love to hear from this community: How do you handle your own mistakes when taking on new challenges, and how do you foster an environment where your team feels safe to fail, learn, and improve?

On 9/3/2026 at 10:05 AM, James.G said: To claim your Newly Certified Kit: Open the email you received and click “Claim Your Newly Certified Kit” You’ll be directed to the Gatorade Fieldhouse page to request your kit. Enter your information and click Submit to complete your request. If you run into any issues, feel free to send me a direct message! Did all the things even contacted Gatorade. Still have no option to claim anything. ????

These are both fantastic answers and I really appreciate you guys sharing your thoughts and experiences about leadership. @rcampbellat Awesome point about "leading by example". Recently I have been giving this a ton of thought as it is a pretty common answer amongst professionals when talking about their leadership style. Couldn't agree more with your points. Leading by example is the baseline. There is so much more to it than that passive action. Your points outline that extremely well. Leading by example is safe. Only leading by example, in my opinion, can limit the culture of your organization. Push past that safety! @achristy I love the point about leading from the middle. There is a great book called "Leading Without Authority" by Keith Ferrazzi that outlines this theory well. Leadership is contagious and I think when you bring a positive attitude and effort in each day it permeates through your organization. This is a great conversation and happy you guys jumped in. I think a good question to always ask yourself is "how are my actions influencing the culture of the organization?" It's easy to fall into selfish thoughts, especially during the dog days or when you are going through a hard time in the year / season. When you can expand your thoughts and actions to THE TEAM, it makes it easier to be selfless in your decision making which can help in your overall leadership within the organization no matter what your title is.

To claim your Newly Certified Kit: Open the email you received and click “Claim Your Newly Certified Kit” You’ll be directed to the Gatorade Fieldhouse page to request your kit. Enter your information and click Submit to complete your request. If you run into any issues, feel free to send me a direct message!

To claim your Newly Certified Kit: Open the email you received and click “Claim Your Newly Certified Kit” You’ll be directed to the Gatorade Fieldhouse page to request your kit. Enter your information and click Submit to complete your request. If you run into any issues, feel free to send me a direct message!

Hi Richard! There is a lot of crossover between the collegiate and tactical settings in terms of working with interdisciplinary teams. Like the college setting, when managing readiness, return-to-play, and long-term performance, in the tactical setting we work together as team to provide the tactical member with proper return to their duty operations. Communicating with athletic training, nutrition, and physical therapist helps collectively work together to get the tactical member back to their operational duty. The difference between an athlete and the tactical athlete is that the tactical athlete is always ‘in-season’ and must be ready whenever duty is called upon. Getting them ready diligently and meticulously is important to prepare them for duty so we do work hand in hand to make sure the duty members are prepared and ready to go. There is a lot of crossover between the collegiate and tactical settings when it comes to working with interdisciplinary teams. Like the college setting, when managing readiness, return-to-play, and long-term performance, the tactical setting requires us to work together as a team to properly return the tactical member to full operational duty. Communication between athletic training, nutrition, physical therapy, strength and conditioning, and the individual’s leadership allows us to collectively develop a plan to get that tactical member back to their operational duties. One of the biggest differences between a traditional athlete and a tactical athlete is that the tactical athlete is essentially always “in-season.” They must be prepared to perform whenever they are called upon, which makes managing readiness and recovery especially important. We must be diligent and meticulous in how we prepare them for their occupational demands, while also making sure we are not creating unnecessary fatigue that could negatively impact their ability to perform. Because of that, we work hand in hand across disciplines to make sure our service members are healthy, prepared, and ready to perform when duty calls.

I cannot speak much about the professional setting, but in the collegiate setting, the sports I have worked with typically concluded their seasons at the start of an extended break from both academic and sport-related activities. Given that mandatory time off, this allowed for a natural restoration period for the athlete before getting into the true off-season phase. Each athlete is different, and if an athlete needed time off mentally and physically, then that is what they needed. If an athlete wanted to train, I typically kept the training very simple, low intensity, and non-sport specific. Typically, how I have balanced programming from general to sport-specific training is that the athlete is going to get their sport-specific skill training and conditioning from playing the sport. In my opinion, you cannot fully replicate the demands of a sport outside of practicing and playing it. From a general preparation standpoint, this is where we can supplement the athlete’s performance on the court and improve their overall athletic capabilities through strength, speed, power, mobility, and general conditioning. I do include more sport-specific conditioning leading into preseason to prepare athletes for the practice demands they will encounter, as well as plyometric training that is more demanding of the sport. Basketball is not my main background, but what I have noticed in other plyometric-heavy sports, such as volleyball, is a tendency to implement a high volume of plyometric work early in the off-season. I do believe we need to build a plyometric base to prepare athletes for the demands of practice and competition, but I also think the time off after a long, demanding season needs to be considered before immediately increasing plyometric volume. Gradually rebuilding that capacity seems to be a better approach than trying to make up for lost time early in the off-season. I also think another mistake that may be common in basketball is placing too much emphasis on conditioning too early in the off-season. I think developing a general aerobic base is important, but considering the demands of a long basketball season, I would place more emphasis early on rebuilding size, strength, and general physical qualities. As the athlete gets closer to preseason, I would then begin shifting the emphasis toward more sport-specific conditioning and preparing them for the demands they will encounter in practice and competition.

Good morning, I would like to use this space as an opportunity to have more open and meaningful conversations about the topics that impact our profession, our athletes, and the people we work alongside. I’m interested in getting involved in discussions that go beyond simply agreeing with one another. I want to explore ideas that challenge conventional thinking, spark healthy debate, and encourage us to look at issues from different perspectives—even when those perspectives may challenge my own beliefs. I certainly don’t have all the answers, and I think some of the best professional growth comes from being willing to say, “I hadn’t thought about it that way.” My hope is that we can create conversations where people feel comfortable asking difficult questions, respectfully disagreeing, and considering viewpoints they may not have previously considered. For me, the value of these discussions isn't necessarily in reaching the same conclusion. It’s in being willing to listen, challenge our assumptions, and leave the conversation with something new to think about. As athletic training continues to evolve as an autonomous healthcare profession, how should our regulatory and clinical models evolve with it? If athletic trainers are educated, certified, licensed, and accountable for their clinical decisions, how might physician standing orders evolve in determining what we are permitted to do? This is something I've been thinking about and is based on my personal experience, so would love to hear from others on their experiences too.

Hi Elbert! I totally agree with you that, as Strength and Conditioning Coaches, we need to know when to implement stress and when to pull back, and this becomes even more intricate during in-season. In the sports world, the game is the priority, and training should supplement the athlete’s ability to perform at their best. Some weeks will naturally be lighter, while others may allow us to push a little more when the competition schedule provides the opportunity. As you mentioned, training should also be differentiated between high- and low-minute players. This allows high-minute players to prioritize recovery and be ready for the next game, while keeping low-minute players strong, conditioned, and prepared to contribute when called upon. I understand professional sports can look different from the collegiate setting, and each sport has its own demands, but I’m curious what metrics or KPIs you have used in-season to track readiness and help decide what type of training an athlete should do? When I’ve worked in environments with limited technology resources, I typically relied on game statistics, athlete feedback, and coach input to help guide training decisions. In environments with more technology resources, I’ve been able to incorporate those factors along with force-plate data and GPS tracking. I’ve found that having multiple data points can provide a much better picture of what an athlete may need on a given day. I’d be interested to hear how you weigh those different metrics when making in-season training decisions.