Science for Sport Podcast

344: Preventing Non-Contact Injuries in Professional Football

November 2nd, 2026  |  35 mins 8 secs

acceleration, andrew hyde, athlete development, athlete education, athlete monitoring, daniel booth, elite sport, football injuries, football performance, football strength and conditioning, force plates, gps data, hamstring injuries, individualisation, individualised training, injury prevention, load management, movement assessment, myolab, non-contact injuries, performance coaching, performance testing, physical preparation, player availability, player ownership, private coaching, professional football, rehabilitation, return to play, richard graves, science for sport, soccer performance, soft tissue injuries, speed development, sports medicine, sports rehabilitation, sports science, sprint mechanics, strength and conditioning, training load

Richard Graves is joined by strength and conditioning coaches Andrew Hyde and Daniel Booth to examine why non-contact injuries remain such a challenge in professional football. They discuss the limitations of squad-based physical preparation, the relationship between data and what actually happens on the pitch, training load, movement mechanics and the importance of understanding each player's individual needs. They also explore how clubs and private practitioners can work together more effectively and why educating athletes to take greater ownership of their physical development could be an important part of keeping players fit and available.

332: Growth, Maturation and Athletic Development in Tennis

August 10th, 2026  |  26 mins

athlete recovery, athletic development, change of direction, dukes meadows tennis academy, fuelling for performance, growth and maturation, hydration, injury prevention, joshua dragone, junior tennis, long-term athlete development, richard graves, sleep and performance, speed development, sports nutrition, sports science, strength and conditioning, tennis, tennis coaching, tennis fitness, tennis performance, tennis recovery, tennis s&c, tennis strength and conditioning, tennis training, youth athlete development

Richard Graves speaks with Joshua Dragone, Head of Athletic Development at Dukes Meadows Tennis Academy, about the realities of preparing tennis players for an unpredictable competitive calendar. They discuss flexible S&C planning, maturation, recovery, fuelling, parental support and the habits that help junior players develop into more capable, robust athletes.

329: The Five Qualities of Speed Development

July 20th, 2026  |  33 mins 20 secs

1080 sprint, acceleration, agility training, american football, athlete monitoring, athlete recovery, athletic performance, catapult gps, change of direction, coaching psychology, college football, conditioning, curved sprinting, deceleration, elite sport, external load, force velocity profiling, high performance sport, horizontal force, individualised training, injury risk reduction, internal load, matt gebert, max velocity, maximum velocity, multidirectional speed, ncaa football, ole miss football, ole miss rebels, performance coaching, player availability, sleep and performance, speed development, sports performance, sports science, sports technology, sprint training, strength and conditioning, training load, velocity-based training, wellness monitoring, work capacity

Richard Graves is joined by Ole Miss Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Gebert to explore how speed is developed, assessed and managed within an elite college football programme.

Matt explains how acceleration, maximum velocity, deceleration, change of direction and conditioning are trained across different position groups. He also discusses how Ole Miss uses sports science technology to profile athletes, manage training load and support player availability.

The episode provides a practical look at the relationship between speed, data, recovery and coaching judgement, while highlighting why effective performance programmes must be individualised to the physical and psychological needs of each athlete.