The best scientists get out and talk to the coaches

Are you a sport scientist and medical team member wondering why the coaches can't understand you? To make you feel better let me say you are not the only one. In a survey with high level football club staff it was reported that their injury prevention programs' effectiveness was lower than initially expected. The reason being the low coaches' engagement (1).

As many would agree there is a gap between the staff in the lab and the treatment room and the coaches. Sometimes or most of the times they don't speak the same language. What can we do? Let's start with small changes. The first step is to get out of the lab and talk to the coaches. Talk to them using a language they can understand. Talk when it's needed and communicate what's important. Day by day communication will build trust. Trust will build confidence in your relationship and, with time, trust and confidence will make things better.

The figure below is a short description of steps that could help in making the connection between team members stronger. Should you want to read more on tips of more effective communication you can read this article

Figure 1. Four tips to become a better professional.

For further reading
1.Akenhead and Nassis (2016). Training load and player monitoring in high-level football. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 11(5): 587-593  here