In this podcast episode, our host, Jason, spoke with Rory Sutherland, Director of Sports Performance for San Diego Surf. Sutherland’s educational background is in sports performance, exercise science, and exercise physiology, and he brings concepts and ideas from his education to soccer players at SDS. We were excited to speak with him and learn a bit more about
Philosophy of Physio and Soccer
Sutherland takes a two-pronged approach to apply physiology to soccer. First and foremost, he begins from an energy systems standpoint. Practically speaking, this means that he focuses on his players’ aerobic engines. Building the aerobic foundation will increase endurance in all aspects of training and the game. For example, you can use tempo running to help with this.
The second aspect of his approach is postural in nature. Now it’s not what you’re thinking… this isn’t sitting up straight, shoulders back, etc. In fact, Sutherland argues that we need to redefine our understanding of posture; his concern is to “keep them in their most variable and neutral place.” With soccer players (or any one-sport player), over time, repetitive movement will impact posture. And when our internal environment changes, “it can be very damaging to performance, and it can increase risk of injury.”
Adaptability and Creativity
Our conversation about how young is too young to start working with a physio or movement specialist led to some interesting nuggets. The bottom line? It’s more important to do a variety of things at a young age and build the capacity to learn, rather than just learning one thing deeply. Why is this important? It increases our adaptability, which is transferrable to the soccer field—and most importantly, to life. Adaptability also impacts players’ ability to think creatively and strategically.
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