What is a Sports Therapist

What does it mean to be a professional in Sports Therapy?

Having a career as a professional sports therapist means that numerous skills are a necessity; stretching from communication and understanding an individual’s needs, as well as having a thorough knowledge of the human anatomy and physiology. A professional sports therapist will need to be able to work on their own or part of a team which could include personal trainers, coaches and fitness advisors. There is a variety of careers in which a sports therapist can pursue within a vast majority of organisations (Prospects, 2017).

A sports therapist will need to know the human anatomy inside and out; from the phalanges in the feet to all the bones in the skull. Knowing the anatomy is just the basics of becoming a sports therapist as you will need to learn new skills in massage, soft tissue therapy and rehabilitation. According to the Society of Sports Therapists, a professional in sports therapy will also need to be trained in “immediate care of injuries and basic life support in a recreational, training and completive environment” (2013. P:1). So if a player has been injured during a sports game the therapist will be able to treat the player, or if it was a serious injury and they did not have the equipment on pitch side, they would take the player to hospital for further treatment and diagnosis.

A sports therapist will also need to have be comfortable operating with the public as they will be working with patients from all ages, body types and sizes. They will also have to be understanding as to their patient’s requests. For example, if they wish for the therapist to leave the room so they can undress prior to treatments; or if they would prefer a therapist of the same gender. Along with good comfortability with the public, a sports therapist will also need to have good communication skills with their patients throughout the treatment, thus be capable of multitasking. For example, by making sure they aren’t pressing too hard on a massage, communicating with them regarding what they are doing to help the patient relax, and telling them what is wrong and the diagnoses. It is then the responsibility of the sports therapist to arrange a work plan so they can do stretches and exercises at home (or the gym) so the patient can recover faster and rebuild their strength (Central Sports Massage, 2017).

To become a sports therapist there are certain qualifications that a person will need to achieve and to achieve them a undergraduate degree in Sports Therapy must be completed. This will contain many modules, including anatomy, physiology and soft tissue therapy. The course duration is three years and over that time period the student will also have to complete five-hundred hours of clinic time to graduate. (Marjon, 2017)
Reflecting on this, it is clear that to become a professional sports therapist means helping clients fluently and efficiently with injuries that they have sustained through sports, work or even leisure activities. A professional will do this by using numerous techniques taught at university level to identify the source of the pain and work from there to repair the damage that has been done.

Reference List
Central sports massage, N.U. (2017) What to Expect from Soft Tissue Therapy. [Online] Available from: http://www.centralsportsmassage.co.uk/expect-soft-tissue-therapy/ [accessed 30 October 2017].

Marjon, N.U. (2017) BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy. [Online] Available from: https://www.marjon.ac.uk/courses/sports-therapy-degree/ [accessed 30 October 2017].

Prospects, N.U. (2017) sports therapist. [Online] Available from: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/sports-therapist [accessed 30 October 2017].

Society of sports therapists, N.U. (2013) sports therapist. [Online] Available from: http://www.society-of-sports-therapists.org/index.php/public_information/what-is-sports-therapy [accessed 30 October 2017].