A sports therapist is a physical therapist who works with sports teams or individuals who participate in sports. People in this position may have jobs that are directly related to a specific team, or they may have a large number of clients, or both. Their work usually entails both injury prevention and post-injury rehabilitation. During the recovery process, they are usually in charge of determining when athletes are ready to return to competition and assisting those athletes in doing so without aggravating any injuries.
A sports therapist may look for problems in physical mechanics to help athletes avoid injury. Athletes frequently push their bodies to extremes, which can have serious consequences over time. In some sports, such as baseball pitching, where there is a high risk of repetitive stress injury, keeping an eye on mechanics is critical. A sports therapist may also suggest that certain braces be worn to protect specific muscle groups.
When athletes do sustain an injury, a sports therapist is usually able to assist them in getting back on their feet. This could include things like recommending rest and working with doctors to figure out the best treatment options. A physical rehab program, which may include specific exercises to strengthen damaged muscles or tendons and encourage healing, is often the responsibility of the sports therapist.
Athletes are sometimes forced to play in excruciating pain. They may have injuries that take a long time to heal but aren’t severe enough to necessitate rest. There is a culture of respect in some sports, particularly those with a lot of physical contact, that revolves around playing through injuries. Massage therapy and other techniques to soothe sore muscles may be used by a sports therapist to help these athletes deal with their daily aches and pains.
A certain amount of talent in dealing with people is often required of a sports therapist. For one thing, he has to deal with injured athletes on a personal level on a regular basis, and he may have to deal with their coaches as well. Apart from assisting in the recovery of an injury, all of these people may have different motives. Some sports coaches may even expect sports therapists to assist injured athletes in regaining their confidence. This isn’t something that all therapists are trained for, but if they don’t have these skills to some degree, it could be detrimental to their careers.