Dave has spent more than three decades working in elite sport, including roles with Chelsea, Leeds United, the England national team and the New York Knicks. He is now CEO of Apollo, where his work focuses on helping performance teams use data, technology and AI to better understand player availability, injury risk and performance.

Dave begins by sharing the latest developments in his Blind Screen approach, which looks beyond traditional testing by examining movement quality, control and rotational demands. He explains how Apollo is combining screening information with AI-generated insights, practitioner feedback and individualised exercise recommendations.

The conversation then turns to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Drawing on his experience of working with England at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, Dave discusses the challenges facing performance and medical teams across a long international tournament: heat, travel, accumulated club workload, recovery, sleep, mental freshness and the need to bring a squad together around one common goal.

This is a practical discussion about the margins that matter at the highest level of sport, from interpreting data more effectively to preparing players and staff for the demands of tournament football.

In this episode you will learn

• How Dave’s Blind Screen approach is developing and being used with elite athletes and teams.
• Why rotational movement may be an important missing consideration in traditional screening methods.
• How AI can help practitioners combine objective data with coaching and clinical insight.
• The key physical demands facing players heading into the 2026 World Cup.
• Why player preparation must become increasingly individualised after a demanding club season.
• The importance of sleep, recovery monitoring, travel planning and heat acclimatisation during a major tournament.
• Why mental freshness, squad togetherness and staff culture can influence performance at international level.
• What Dave learned from working with England at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

About Dr Dave Hancock
Dr Dave Hancock is the CEO of Apollo and an experienced performance director, chartered physiotherapist and strength and conditioning coach.

Across a career spanning more than three decades in elite sport, Dave has worked as Head Physiotherapist at Leeds United and Chelsea, served on the medical staff of the England national team at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012, and spent seven years as Performance Director of the New York Knicks in the NBA.

Through Apollo, Dave now works with sports teams around the world, using athlete management technology, data and AI to support player availability, injury risk management and performance decision-making.

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​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes
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In this episode, Carmen shares the story of her career, from an unexpected switch from behavioural psychology and criminology into kinesiology, through to working with university teams, NHL athletes, national-level performers and young athletes returning from serious injury.

The conversation explores what kinesiology actually means, how it sits alongside strength and conditioning, and why understanding the sport is just as important as understanding the science. Carmen also discusses the communication challenges that can arise between practitioners, coaches and athletes, particularly when return-to-play decisions are being made under pressure.

Richard and Carmen then take a deeper look at ACL rehabilitation. They discuss why training age matters, how the rehab journey differs between a professional athlete and a young adolescent athlete, and why parents can play such an important role in the process. Carmen also breaks down the place of isometrics, dynamic strength training, plyometrics and force progression in ACL rehab, while offering a clear, practical view of what effective exercise prescription should look like.

Finally, Carmen gives her thoughts on artificial intelligence in sports science and rehabilitation. While AI may help with programming and exercise selection, she explains why coaching, communication, technical feedback and human connection remain central to helping athletes return to performance safely and confidently.

In this episode you will learn

• What kinesiology is and how it differs from strength and conditioning
• Why practitioners need to understand the language and demands of the sport they work in
• How to communicate more effectively with coaches during return-to-play decisions
• Why ACL rehabilitation must be adapted to the athlete’s training age and experience
• The key differences between rehabbing a professional athlete and an adolescent athlete
• Why parents can be critical in supporting youth athletes through injury rehabilitation
• How isometrics, dynamic strength training and plyometrics fit into ACL rehab
• Why force progression matters when preparing athletes for sprinting, cutting and collision demands
• Where AI can support practitioners — and where it cannot replace real coaching

About Carmen Bott
Carmen Bott is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Practicing Kinesiologist, Sports Performance Coach and Educator based in Canada. She holds a Master’s degree in Exercise Science and has worked with athletes from learn-to-train level through to high performance and professional sport.

Carmen’s work spans physical preparation, ACL rehabilitation, return to play, collision sport athletes, multi-directional speed coaching and mental performance. She is also a university lecturer and has been teaching since 2005.

You can find Carmen on Instagram at @coachbott

FREE 7d SCIENCE FOR SPORT ACADEMY TRIAL

SIGN UP NOW: https://bit.ly/SFSepisode241

​ Learn Quicker & More Effectively
​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery
​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In
​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese
​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More
​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance
​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes
​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research