Dr. Neil Welch completed his undergraduate degree in Sports Science and Physiology BSc (Hons) at the University of Leeds, specialising in his final year in Biomechanics. He then undertook his MSc in Strength and Conditioning at the University of Bolton alongside Strength and Conditioning roles within Winter sports including national Alpine skiing programmes and then international snowboard cross. Further roles with multiple sports with Locker27 and in gait analysis in London followed before his move to the Sports Surgery Clinic in 2013. He completed his PhD on the role of strength and explosive strength in rehabilitation and performance with Dublin City University in 2019. He has a special interest in this regard in the Biomechanics of cutting.
He is the head of knee services within the SSC overseeing the flagship ACL review service.
In this episode Neil discusses:
- What is agility?
- How do we train to improve agility?
- How do we periodise agility and speed training?
- How important is training deceleration?
- How can we improve deceleration ability?
Neil's researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Neil_Welch
Neil's Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/agilitycoach/
Neil's twitter: https://twitter.com/nwconditioning
In this episode, David is joined by performance analyst, Brian Fitzpatrick.
Brian Fitzpatrick’s expertise derives from over a decade of working many teams across a variety of sports and levels in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
Brian has always been passionate about sport and whilst studying a Sports Science Degree in University, he completed his dissertation with the Welsh Rugby Union in 2014. This investigated the intervals between high intensity activities in tier 1 rugby internationals which led him to take an internship in Ireland working closely with many of Ireland’s biggest teams, including the Dublin Senior Hurlers.
Brian then accepted a role with the London Irish Rugby Club as the Academy Analyst. During this time, Brian was part of the U18 premiership winning support staff in his first season, before being promoted to Academy Analyst and Administrator.
The pair discuss:
- What is performance analysis and how has it's role changed over the years
- How to effectively integrate performance analysis into coaching and with other streams of sports science
- How organisational structure can massively impact the effectiveness of data flow and efficiency in a team
In this episode of the Synapse Performance podcast, David is joined by Broderick Chavez.
Bio from Broderick's website:
"Broderick Chavez is the Evil Genius. He’s a renowned trainer based in the US and has trained champions, Olympians and IFBB Pros as well as hundreds of other athletes. He is a sports performance expert, biologist, chemist, coffee connoisseur and an insomniac.
Not only has Broderick worked in Sports Performance field 30 years, he’s competed at a national level in bodybuilding, powerlifting and strongman.
He’s a critical thinker, lifter, speaker and thought provoker.
Broderick is uncensored and controversial. Rather than trying to prove to you or anyone else that he is the singular outlet for truth, he hopes to stimulate thought, experiment and dialogue that will bring us all closer to the truth."
In this episode, David and Broderick discuss performance enhancing drugs, the thought processes Broderick goes through when designing PED programs for his clients, and the methods used to avoid detection of drugs in tested sports.