Science for Sport Podcast - Episodes Tagged with “Gps Data”

338: How Sports Science Has Changed Coaching with Simon Grayson

Science for Sport — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +0100

Few people are better placed to chart the evolution of sports science in professional football than Simon Grayson.

Across a career spanning five decades, Simon has experienced the game as both a player and manager, from an era of bacon sandwiches before training and beers on the team bus, through to the GPS data, individualised programmes and specialist performance departments that are now part of everyday professional football.

This week, Richard Graves sits down with Simon to discuss how that transformation has changed the way players train, recover and prepare for matches, and how his own approach to management has evolved alongside it.

Simon explains what he wants from sports science practitioners as a manager, why information has to be relevant rather than simply available, and why data should always be understood within the context of what actually happened on the pitch.

They also explore one of the challenges facing modern performance teams: finding the right balance between objective data and a coach's experience. Simon discusses why high-speed running is one of the metrics he pays particular attention to, how physical data can influence team selection during congested schedules, and why he has never wanted his training sessions to be dictated entirely by the numbers.

Drawing on his experiences in English football and coaching overseas, Simon also explains how climate, culture and the physical capabilities of players can force coaches to adapt their methods.

And despite everything that has changed, he believes one part of coaching remains as important as ever: getting the best out of people.

In this episode you will learn

How sports science in professional football has changed since Simon began playing in the 1980s
What a manager actually wants from sports science and performance staff
Why more data doesn't necessarily mean better information
Why Simon pays particular attention to high-speed running
How physical data can influence selection during congested fixture schedules
Why training load data needs to be interpreted within the context of the game
How managers balance sports science recommendations with coaching experience
What modern recovery looks like compared with previous generations
How Simon adapted his training methods when coaching in different climates and cultures
Why man-management and relationships remain fundamental regardless of advances in technology

About Simon Grayson

Simon Grayson has spent more than four decades in professional football as a player, coach and manager.

After beginning his career at Leeds United, he went on to play for clubs including Leicester City, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool. His playing career included promotion to the Premier League with Leicester and victory in the 1997 League Cup.

As a manager, Simon has led clubs including Blackpool, Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Preston North End, Sunderland and Bradford City, with promotion-winning campaigns at several clubs. His career has also taken him overseas, giving him experience of working with players and performance teams in different footballing cultures and environments.

More recently, Simon has worked in international football and advisory roles, while also launching the Simon Grayson Football Academy in Leeds.

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323: The Unseen Work of S&C and Sports Science

Science for Sport — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 06:00:00 +0100

This week on the Science for Sport podcast, Richard Graves welcomes Matt Parr back to the show for a deeper look at the work that really drives performance in elite sport.

Matt is the Head of Athletic Performance at Leicester Tigers, a former professional rugby player, and the founder of High Performance Puzzle. Having worked across both rugby union and rugby league, including Leicester Tigers and Catalan Dragons, Matt brings a rare combination of playing experience, coaching insight, leadership responsibility, and high-performance strategy.

In this episode, Richard and Matt explore the “invisible work” that sits behind successful performance environments. Not the gym programme. Not the GPS report. Not the testing data. But the conversations, decisions, relationships, standards, and judgement calls that determine whether the physical work actually lands.

They discuss why data needs context, how performance teams can align with coaches under pressure, what good decision-making looks like when information is incomplete, and why trust remains one of the most important currencies in elite sport.

For sports science, S&C, medical, coaching, and performance staff working in elite environments, this episode is a valuable reminder that high performance is not built by data alone. It is built through people, relationships, standards, and the ability to make good decisions when the pressure is on.

In this episode you will learn

Why the work that drives performance often sits outside the formal programme, session plan, or data report
How conversations between coaches, medical staff, S&C, sports science, and players provide vital context
What good alignment looks like in a high-performance environment
How to manage differing opinions between technical and performance departments
Why frameworks are essential when emotions and pressure start to influence decision-making
How to make better decisions when you do not have the complete picture
Why trust between the head coach, medical team, and performance staff is critical
How to use data without becoming over-reliant on it
Why standards often slip in small ways before they show up in performance outcomes
How relationships can make or break the effectiveness of even the best performance systems
Why gut feel still matters, provided it is shaped by experience and reflection
How elite practitioners can reflect more effectively on their own decisions and behaviours
Why discipline is a habit, not just a personal trait
What Matt has learned from working across rugby union and rugby league
Why the best players want honest feedback when standards start to slip

About Matt Parr
Matt Parr is Head of Athletic Performance at Leicester Tigers and founder of High Performance Puzzle.

Before moving into strength and conditioning, Matt spent around 14 to 15 years as a professional rugby player, representing clubs including Sale Sharks, Saracens, London Irish, and Leicester Tigers. His transition into performance coaching began at Leicester Tigers, where he initially combined a player-coach role with S&C responsibilities before moving fully into the performance department.

Matt has since built extensive experience across both rugby union and rugby league. After progressing through the performance setup at Leicester Tigers, he joined Catalan Dragons as Head of Performance, before returning to Leicester as Head of Athletic Performance.

Alongside his role in professional rugby, Matt has launched High Performance Puzzle, a consultancy focused on high-performance strategy, systems, leadership, and integration.

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271: Strength First: Why It Underpins Everything

Science for Sport — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 06:00:00 +0100

In this week’s episode of the Science for Sport podcast, host Richard Graves is joined by Leicester Tigers’ Head of Performance, Matt Parr, a former professional rugby player turned strength and conditioning expert with experience across both rugby union and league.
Matt shares his fascinating journey from the pitch to the performance department, offering valuable insights drawn from his time at Leicester Tigers and Catalan Dragons. With a career that’s spanned both codes of rugby, Matt dives into the key physical demands of each sport and how training must adapt to meet them. He also lifts the lid on what really goes into building strength, power, and robustness across a long and gruelling season.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The real physical differences between rugby union and rugby league – and why it’s not just “the same shaped ball”
How to build meaningful preseason plans that lay the foundation for success
Why strength underpins everything, and how it connects to power and injury prevention
The importance of athlete conversations over just relying on data
How Matt handles return-to-play protocols and balances performance with player wellbeing

Whether you're a coach in pro sport or working at grassroots level, this conversation is packed with practical takeaways and thought-provoking reflections on what it really takes to keep athletes performing at their best.

About Matt Parr
Matt Parr is the Head of Athletic Performance at Leicester Tigers and a former professional prop whose rugby career saw him represent clubs such as Sale Sharks, Saracens, London Irish, and Leicester. After transitioning from player to coach, Matt began his performance career at the Tigers in 2015, later becoming Lead S&C coach in 2020. In 2022, he took on the Head of Performance role at Catalan Dragons in rugby league, before returning to Leicester in mid‑2024 to bring his cross-code expertise back to the Tigers setup . With an MSc in strength and conditioning and a reputation for strategic planning, leadership, and performance optimisation. Matt combines top-level playing experience and science-backed coaching to help elite athletes perform and stay on the field.

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150: How Elite Football Teams Use Data To Optimise Performance

Science for Sport — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 02:00:00 +0000

In episode 150, Firdaus Massar, Exercise Physiologist, joins us.

Specifically Firdaus will be looking at:

Limiting factors in football performance
Data clubs look at
How to use data to improve performance

*About Firdaus

"My namer is Firdaus Maasar, I am Malaysian. I spent around 7 years in the UK, doing my postgraduate study, including a masters and a PhD at Liverpool John Moores University, during that time I also provided Sport Science Support for Championship and Premier League football teams. After that I spent two years at Aspire Academy in Doha as a football physiologist, and most recently I worked at Lion City Sailors in Singapore."

Social media: @Firdausmaasar

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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