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Kim is an Australian high performance coach and physiotherapist who has spent the last 8 years at the pinnacle of world motorsport. Kim has worked for the likes of Hass F1 team, Alpine Racing and one of the most famous teams in the history of F1, McLaren Racing. Kim has also worked exclusively as a personal physiotherapist and performance coach for F1 drivers Romain Grosjean and Oscar Piastri. If you are fan of the Netflix series "Drive to Survive" or have ever wondered what's involved with working as a practitioner at the highest level of motorsport in the world, Kim shares an unprecedented view of the pressures, volatility, year round travel and the glitz and glamour of what is Formula 1 racing.

Highlights from the episode…

• How the opportunities in the sport of AFL and Netball early in his career laid the foundations for skills he would later use in motorsport.
• With a desire to work in the AFL and currently working with the feeder team to North Melbourne FC, why Kim decided to give it all up and move to the UK with no job.
• How Kim secured a role with the University of Leeds working with a newly developed athletic program covering 13 different sports and athlete profiles.
• How Kim was able to get his foot in the door of Formula 1 with Hinsta having no prior experience in motorsport.
• Kim shares his time with the Hass F1 team and the steps he took to implement a performance model for the team.
• Kim describes his transition from team physio to working exclusively with F1 driver Romain Grosjean and what is entailed being directly responsible for the health and wellbeing of 1 of only 20 F1 drivers in the world.
• The risks and rewards of working exclusively with an individual athlete as oppose to working as part of a team/organisation.
• Having worked closely with 2 different F1 drivers in his career he shares the differences in the working relationship and how he had to be adaptable and bespoke in the management of the different drivers.
• Kim shares the physical demands of a F1 driver, the level of G force each driver has to endure and how they prepare drivers for these demands.
• What other sports can learn from the F1 drivers when it comes to mental preparation, state control, rapid decision making and focus that drivers need when racing F1.
• The relationship of F1 drivers and ACL injuries. How F1 drivers improve reactiveness to stimulus and what other sports could learn to improve their response to an unanticipatory event.
• Having a resume that many would dream of, what has been the cost of having such career?
• After close to a decade at the pinnacle of world motorsport why Kim chose to step away from F1 and pursue the next chapter of his career.

People mentioned:

• Callum Repper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/callum-repper/?originalSubdomain=uk
• Peter Lion: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterlion/
• Clare Lion: https://www.onephysiotherapy.co.uk/team-bio/clare-lion
• Dr. Luke Bennett: https://www.hintsa.com/insights/blogs/story-of-luke-bennett/
• Mark Young: https://open.spotify.com/episode/17aAXmr5EdiTtxfqs1D1Zn
• Dave O’Neil: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-o-neill-60229442/
• Dr. Stuart McGill: https://www.backfitpro.com/about-us/

Kim Keedle contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimkeedle/

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.

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Paul Devlin is a world renowned high performance manager who has been able to successfully transition from working with high performance teams in the sports world to now working with high performance teams in the corporate world. Paul has led various teams in the world of Rugby and Rugby League having worked with the likes of the Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights, Hull F.C., Melbourne Storm, Paramatta Eels, South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Brisbane Broncos. This is an amazing conversation where Paul shares what he's learnt over the years working at the pinnacle of professional sport and then go on to recreate himself time and time again initially as a professional player, to a high performance manger in sport and now as a leader in the corporate setting with one of the biggest companies in the world, Amazon.

Highlights from the episode…

• What led to Paul being asked to be the nutritionist and rehab coach at a professional rugby club whilst he was a player.
• Paul and I discuss the thin line between having a “growth mindset” and becoming an “insecure overachiever”.
• How Paul made the decision to leave the UK and join the Melbourne Storm in the NRL.
• After decades filled with the highs and lows of professional sport, how Paul is navigating the change of working in the corporate world.
• “You need to be able to step on their toes without taking the shine off their shoes”. The differences of coaching in sport and the corporate world.
• Making the big move from the UK to Aus. What conversations and considerations did Paul have to make to ensure this was the best decision for him and his family.
• In an industry that is not always inducive to a strong family network how Paul has worked at the pinnacle of sport and corporate and have a remarkable 18 year marriage and family life.
• How do you instil an S&C/high performance culture in an organisation or a sport that has historically not had this culture?
• “The outcomes don’t justify the means”. When successful how does one look to improve a program, know what to improve and how best to improve it?
• There is no lack of robust evidence, well structured programs or exceptional practitioners in the youth athletic development, so where are we getting it wrong when it comes to developing young athletes?
• In an industry evaluated through the use of statistics, metrics, KPIs…what are the KPIs for High Performance Managers. What should High Performance Managers be evaluated against?
• Dealing with scrutiny during a challenging season. Paul shares his time at the Broncos and how he dealt with the unprecedented publicity, scrutiny and judgement that came during that period.
• What is Paul's "Why", when it comes to his journey as a high performance leader through various roles.

People mentioned:

• Kelvin Giles: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2g1eUNqD0zQXRsKWno93Ce
• Alex Natera: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-natera-035a7765/
• Frank Dick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-dick-0b559630/?originalSubdomain=uk
• Dean Benton: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1vtkbUw2IWpdvKLOzI7wVQ
• Phil Coles: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-coles-8945803a/
• Dawn Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawn-scott-83000820/

Paul Devlin contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauldevlin81/
• X: https://x.com/pauldevs?lang=en

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.

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Tim is an Australian Sports Physiotherapist currently working in arguably the most competitive, physical and high pressure leagues in the world. Before joining the NFL he worked as Head Physiotherapist for the Canberra Raiders (NRL), ACT Brumbies (Super Rugby), Australian Rugby Men’s 7s team, Port Adelaide Power (AFL) and has provided consultancy to other clubs such as the St George Illawarra Dragons and Cronulla Sharks (NRL). In addition to working directly in professional sport he has also owned his own private practice and is the director of “Pitch Ready” that provides data driven return-to-sport and injury prevention strategies to professional teams and athletes across the globe. In this conversation we leave no stone unturn diving into all aspects of professional sport, to running a business, to family and how he navigated it all to become one of the most sought after practitioners in world sport.

Highlights from the episode…

• The decisions around completing a PhD, and where others may make the mistake when choosing what they should study next.
• Only 2 years since graduating, how Tim’s was able to secure a head physio role in the NRL with the Canberra Raiders.
• Most of Tim’s roles have NOT come from a formal hiring process. Tim shares how practitioners usually get appointed to professional sports teams.
• Although now having a flourishing career in professional sport, why Tim chose to go into business and take the risk of opening a private practice?
• Tim shares the challenges in the early days of business including not being paid for 6 months, acquiring patients, needing to learn business skills etc.
• After persisting through the challenging years and now having a thriving practice, why Tim chose to move to Adelaide to take on the Head Physio role at the Port Adelaide FC.
• How Tim remotely managed running a private practice and maintaining stability with his family, while he was working interstate with Port Adelaide (AFL).
• With no prior experience in the NFL, how Tim was able to secure a senior role with the Washington Commanders.
• The genesis of “Pitch Ready”, what it does and how it can help performance teams and athletes in RTS decision making.
• When anlaysing data how do you know what metrics to pay attention too and in turn what and how to correct what you determine is fundamental?
• Does movement efficiency matter? Or does the body just compensate for inefficiencies and in turn this is what actually builds robustness?
• If an athlete has poor movement (Eg. Cutting) is this a skill issue or a capacity issue?

People mentioned:

• Ed Hollis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-hollis-66a16732/
• Darren Burgess: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6RtvVQHvNNU4eRjJNQ7Mrz
• Tim Parham: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4W9EViwgEvNRwnRYqQjtyD
• Ian McKeown: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-mckeown-a5551625/
• Mark Young: https://open.spotify.com/episode/17aAXmr5EdiTtxfqs1D1Zn
• Simon Rice: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2NOUezYUtUXFUk53Ky4ZOK

Tim McGrath contact details:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-mcg/
• Pitch Ready: https://www.pitch-ready.com/about-us/
• X: https://x.com/_timmcgrath?lang=en

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.