From my experience working with collegiate basketball, I think one of the biggest challenges with in-season training is finding the balance between maintaining consistency and respecting the physical demands of a long competitive season. With travel, practices, games, and the academic responsibilities of student-athletes, it can be easy for training to become less of a priority. One strategy I have found particularly important is maintaining communication between athletic training, strength and conditioning, and coaching staff. When everyone understands the athlete's current workload, injury status, and recovery needs, we can make more informed decisions about modifying training rather than automatically canceling sessions. I also think it is important to establish the expectation early that in-season training remains part of the overall performance plan. The objective isn't necessarily to push athletes through the same workload they would complete during the offseason, but rather to maintain strength, power, and movement quality while managing fatigue. Sometimes that means shortening a session, reducing volume, or modifying exercises based on an athlete's individual needs. From the athletic training perspective, I believe we can help create buy-in by demonstrating how strength and conditioning supports rehabilitation, injury management, and return-to-play progression. When athletes understand that training is being individualized to help them perform and remain available throughout the season, they may be more receptive to maintaining consistency. Ultimately, I think the key is making training adaptable without allowing it to become optional. Maintaining that balance requires collaboration, communication, and a shared understanding that strength and conditioning is an important component of the athlete's overall healthcare and performance plan.

Hi @MGould I have typically kept my on-the-road equipment pretty light—mostly what you have listed, such as bands and recovery modalities. If I needed larger pieces of equipment, I would usually request weight room access at the places we traveled to, especially for longer stays. I’m curious, has your travel equipment list evolved as you’ve worked at different levels, such as collegiate vs. professional?

Hello! I’m newly certified collegiate athletic trainer that’s currently going into my 1st season as the men’s basketball AT. Is there any advice you can give me that’s specific to basketball? Your go to shoulder maintenance exercises? Any exercises you think make all the difference to rehab for basketball? Thank you!

Hey Corey. I am in the same boat as you with using some of my business skills. Although my career has been primarily in athletics, earning a minor in business has influenced the way I approach athletic training. It has helped me recognize that our role extends beyond clinical care and that many of the skills used in business, such as organization, communication, resource management, and process improvement, are directly applicable to our profession. In my experience, these principles have been particularly useful when managing the day-to-day operations of an athletic training room, coordinating care among multiple healthcare providers, and supervising staff. I've learned that creating efficient systems and establishing clear processes can improve communication, reduce unnecessary inefficiencies, and ultimately allow us to dedicate more time and attention to our student-athletes. It has also influenced how I approach leadership and decision-making. Understanding the operational and financial aspects of a department helps me consider not only what is best clinically, but also how to implement sustainable solutions that benefit the entire organization. Ultimately, my business background has reinforced the idea that being an effective athletic trainer involves more than providing excellent clinical care. It also requires the ability to manage people, resources, and processes in a way that supports both the healthcare team and the athletes we serve.

When recovery time is limited, my top three priorities would be hydration, nutrition, and sleep. Hydration is something I’ve seen emphasized heavily during my time with the Cincinnati Bengals. It starts before practice or competition and continues throughout the day, rather than waiting until an athlete feels thirsty. Nutrition then helps replace the energy and nutrients used during competition and provides the building blocks needed for recovery. Finally, sleep gives the body and brain the opportunity to recover and prepare for the next performance. What I find interesting is that research doesn't necessarily support one “magic” recovery strategy. A 2022 systematic review of recovery methods in professional football examined 39 studies and found that the effectiveness of different recovery strategies varies depending on the outcome being measured. That makes the athletic trainer's role especially important: when time is limited, how do we determine which recovery strategies will provide the most benefit for that individual athlete? Question for the group: When you have a short recovery window between competitions, how do you individualize your priorities for hydration, nutrition, sleep, and other recovery strategies? Querido, S. M., Radaelli, R., Brito, J., Vaz, J. R., & Freitas, S. R. (2022). “Analysis of Recovery Methods’ Efficacy Applied up to 72 Hours Postmatch in Professional Football: A Systematic Review With Graded Recommendations.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35961644/

I work with amateur and professional golfers and have completed numerous "sweat tests" in different environmental conditions in order to estimate losses and then develop individual hydration strategies. Have you experience, or recommendations to measure sodium losses? For example the Gatorade Sweat Patch (I have never used it). How accurate is it? Or should we use it as a decent guide? Thanks!

I agree! Recovery is definitely a “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” situation. Hydration, nutrition, rest, and movement all work together. I’d also add sleep, mobility, and listening to your body sometimes the best recovery tool is knowing when to chill instead of trying to do the most. Recovery isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing the right things at the right time.

You can educate athletes by explaining that recovery is just as important as the work they put in during practice. I would emphasize that proper rest and sleep allow the body to repair muscle, restore energy, and prepare for the next training session. Sleep has a direct relationship with athletic performance because quality sleep can support reaction time, focus, decision-making, recovery, and overall performance. As athletic trainers, we can encourage athletes to prioritize a consistent sleep schedule, especially during demanding training periods, and help them understand that recovery is part of their performance not time away from it.

Hi @jpedulla Thanks for sharing your speed bucketing and profiling system! I’m curious how you’ve implemented this model in a team setting. Understanding that time can sometimes be challenging and manpower may not always be available in the collegiate setting, I’d love to hear how you’ve been able to implement this practically with a team. I have used GPS tracking to help guide in-season training decisions, particularly when determining if adjustments needed to be made in the weight room based on sport-specific loads. I’d be interested to hear how you’ve used this profiling system to help guide training decisions throughout the season. Thanks!

On 9/8/2026 at 2:42 PM, achristy said: I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on what you do when someone continues to make the same mistake. I absolutely believe mistakes are part of the process of learning and growing, but at what point does repeated failure become something that needs to be addressed differently? Thanks for the follow-up! I think having candid conversations around what is happening is my approach. If I repeatedly see someone making the same mistake, I usually just ask, "I've noticed this has happened a couple times, why do you think this is happening?" I try to let them feel out why they are having the problem in the first place. That usually draws out more open conversation around what is going on for them. Sometimes it is a lack of self-awareness. They don't even notice that it's happening. Then you can bring it to their attention and they will be able to recognize the pattern the next time it comes around. If they have the awareness and continue to make the same mistake, then my approach would be to set an expectation with a clear objective. Giving a hard line for them to not cross lets them know that it is an important piece of the puzzle. Best example would be a repeat soft tissue injury. You could say something like, "Our goal as a performance team is to not have re-injury after clearance for return-to-play. Let's do a case review and get everyone together to find out what we can do better as a group so this doesn't happen again in the future." Create the team support environment, and push people to help each other! We all have cross-disciplinary skills and can see from different views. I think that's a very undervalued insight.