“If we can remove our egos and understand that at the end of the day, the team is trying to win, the team is trying to make sure everyone is healthy, and the team is trying to make sure everyone can participate, then this is the way we can all get along.”
Amy Atmore
What You will learn
- How to manage communication between private & team specialists.
- Amy’s approach to return to play for an NFL player.
- Advice on how to be an ideal team player.
Have you ever worked for a sports team and the athlete you are training has private specialists who provide different advice than you. Or you’re on the other side working as a private specialist and the team staff is providing conflicting advice than yours? What do you do? In this episode Dr. Amy Atmore is going to share her experiences as a performance physical therapist from the NBA and NFL to help us figure this out.
Amy comes from a background of working as a member of the sports medicine staff on an NBA team and now working as a private performance specialist for an elite NFL player. She is a Doctor of Physical Therapy with extensive background in sports rehab, preventative care, aquatic therapy, and a private business owner.
Amy also recently began the journey of juggling motherhood while working in pro sports. In fact, you’ll even hear her daughter in the background because she had her newborn in the room with us during this episode. Her experiences of working on both sides of the team’s sports medicine staff and the athlete’s personal performance team can help us learn how to better manage the modern-day athlete.
Listen here – Finding Small Wins Podcast:
007 | Amy Atmore: Working as a private practitioner vs. as team staff in the NBA & NFL
Notable Quotes
“There is collecting opinions, collecting perspectives, intervening when you believe it’s appropriate but also trusting the athlete too.”
Amy Atmore
“An athlete will trust someone more who really helps truly protect them.”
Amy Atmore
Key Takeaways:
[1:42] Dr. Amy talks about her role right now.
[2:20] How was her transition from Seattle to Denver?
[2:48] Dr. Amy describes a typical day for her.
[4:30] Dr. Amy talks about the differences between working on the Team Staff and as a private specialist.
[5:50] How many hours does Dr. Amy spend with her client?
[6:30] Dr. Amy talks about the Team working for her athlete.
[8:06] Dr. Amy speaks of the times when the private and sports Teams differ in their perspectives and/or expectations.
[10:13] Is Dr. Amy, the point person for the team? Or is there another individual who has the final say?
[12:00] What does the integration between the performance team of the athlete and the sports team look like?
[13:52] What has Dr. Amy found to be successful for managing the relationship to help the athlete work with his team but then work with the sports team too?
[17:26] Dr. Amy highlights what she is looking for when an athlete returns to play. She shares what she believes may be successful when managing her expectations of the athlete and the team’s expectations from the return to play.
[20:00] How does Dr. Amy balance when the athlete tells her he wants to do something-
but in her mind, it either goes against what she believes in or it goes against what she thinks is
right at the moment?
[21:40] How do the other practitioners’ opinions, schools of thought, and philosophies, play into what Dr. Amy has to do?
[23:08] Dr. Amy talks about the first transition she made from working outpatient-
to then start her own private business.
[25:02] Dr. Amy advises those considering starting their own business.
[26:05] Dr. Amy shares what the transition from having her own business to working for the NBA was like.
[27:47] Dr. Amy talks about the most complex challenge she encountered.
[28:45] Dr. Amy emphasizes that the most essential aspect for a practitioner is to enjoy what they do.
[31:12] Dr. Amy describes the key differences between the roles that she had so far in her career.
[32;54] What are the most significant differences between the NBA and the NFL?
[36:30] How is Dr. Amy’s perspective on work-life balance changed after becoming a mother?
[38:02] Dr. Amy advises those who have a family but also work in professional sports.
[38:45] Dr. Amy shares one popular misconception regarding people working in professional sports.
[40:14] What’s one thing Dr. Amy only fully appreciated about professional athletes once she started working with them full-time?
[42:04] Dr. Amy shares a common challenge that she faces working as a personal physio for someone versus when she is working in a team.
[42:59] Dr. Amy answers three rapid fire questions.
