E7 | Sheri Walters: Sport Medicine

Welcome to the team behind the teen podcast. I am your host, Donny Mae. This is the monthly
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show focused on building conversations around the teen based model approach to ethnic performance
strength. Conditioning. Sports Medicine. Sports Science. Mental health and wellness and
sports nutrition.
Man, oh, man. Do we got a special guest for you guys today? For those
of you just kind of picking up on the podcast, The Teen Behind the Teen podcast, the sole
objective is to interview and have conversations based around the team
performance team that surrounds athletic teams. So that’s strength conditioning,
athletic training or sports medicine, mental health, nutrition
and applied sports science. So those are the five streams will kind of poor information
from today. Our special guests that may be really excited about is Sherri Walters.
She’s an athletic trainer. And I first heard Sheri a
perform better summit and she was gave her a whole lecture on
strengthening the pelvic floor for all athletes. I had never heard a topic on that was definitely
eye opening and very informative and changed the way I thought about some of my lifting and
strength work I do in the weight room. So from that point on, I just kind of kept up with Sherri
on and off. We we got to attend the high performance symposium with
Tim Pulo in Colorado Springs this past May and so series in town speaking at our clinic,
the only thing she she is there’s a couple things against her before she get started. She is
a boomer sooner. And Aggie, she just took a job at Texas A&M. Congratulations. And
Sheri, welcome to the show. Well, Dan, I appreciate you having me both for the podcast and the conference,
despite our obvious differences in color, taste and sports teams.
And I would just want to say howdy to everyone listening to the podcast today. That’s awesome. Sara,
we’re so excited for you. It’s going to be a fun rivalry as we as we see each other across the cornfield
in the years to come. So I’m really excited for you and I look forward to it. So glad you
made it for the show. I appreciate it. Yeah, it’s great. I think, you know,
every show. I think it helps to give our listeners just a little context of who they’re
they’re hearing from. So. Sure. Can you just. I’d love to. And I’ve never even heard it myself. Just take
a little time here and tell us your story. You know, where are you from originally? I think
you’re from a small town in Oklahoma. Correct? Yeah. Well, Winuk, Oklahoma population and I can’t say that
population 437 when I’m home. That’s right. 4:38 when you’re home.
When you’re home. When you’re home. When you go and just tell your story of like where you came from and then
how you got the athletic training and what led you to this great, amazing role you have today that
you just accepted. Yep. So for any maybe young professionals or students listening, maybe don’t
take my route with the long way about it. But I grew up on a cattle ranch in
Winuk, Oklahoma. So with that work ethic drove me to try to
go to school and get get off the ranch a little bit. I had to work too hard for my dad. So
what is Central University? And when I went, I didn’t really have a major picked out yet.
I was hoping something in the medical field and I was set to play basketball there.
And now I about two weeks before school started, I had been in a pretty bad car
accident and had dislocated my shoulder. So when I showed up for four physicals,
athlete training staff let us through those and we had a conversation about that accident, my shoulder. And so
I ended up spending a considerable amount of time in the athletic training room, which is how I found the profession.
Obviously, we fell in love with it because of the medical portion of it. But then also because of my love for
sports. And so I did athletic training there as an undergrad.
From there, I went to Detroit and worked with the WNBA team and then had
the opportunity. Tell us what kind of intern with the Pistons while I was there. Oh, wow. It was an incredible
experience with Arnie Candar there. He both had athletic trainers
at those places, were also physical therapist. So really encouraged me to go to peaty school. But
I was already set up to go to University of Florida to go gators. And
to give a masters in athletic training. And while I was there, I worked football, women’s golf, and then went to
peaty school. I got spit all the time with Ron Coarsen at the University of Georgia. Georgia for an internship.
My last internship was with Keith meister’s Group in Arlington, Texas, with the Texas Rangers
group. First job stayed there for that. And then from there, I went to Indiana State
University, where I was the rehab coordinator. So single long term rehab for that for the athletes
there as a physical therapist. And then from there I went
to exos used to be called athletes. Performance was based out of Frisco, Texas,
and then eventually stepped into the role of overseeing rehab across all five of those legacy
facilities. And I think we’re to talk a little bit about how my philosophy
changed over time. But that’s where that change really started to happen for me was during my time
at exos and then from there. I kind of missed the
opportunity to to work with athletes long term as the athletes were coming into our facility at
exos. It was great. We got to work with these highest caliber athletes, but they would come with to
us in the office. Yeah. Seasonal for the for the off seasons or after
a rehab. But I never actually got to see them return to play. And the other aspect
with that, they’re already high level athletes had the opportunity to work with a three time Cy
Young Award winner, Major League Baseball MVP, your Super Bowl champion, since they were
already at the highest, the highest level. But I didn’t really have the opportunity to help young people
develop across that spectrum. I wanted to kind of get back into that. And so had
the opportunity to join USA hockey, women’s hockey. And I got the opportunity
to go with them and win a gold medal in Pyeongchang. And then that that situation
is more on a cycle with the Olympic cycle. It’s not a full time position.
And so just recently had the opportunity to take a direct role at Texas A&M.
Well, you have been a lot of different places. Just again, I think
that’s amazing that you just move your path definitely is not normal. And it
would not be kind of like this is the pattern, right? You say you took the long way out.
So you’ve definitely been somebody who’s persevered and stuck with it. I think
just from the people, the colleagues I know that know you. And just from the little time I’ve known, you seem
like you’re just very passionate and you love your job. What do you love
the most about your job? I think it gets back to the developmental piece. And especially like within
a high school setting or a college setting, you have the time to see a kid come into your program
and you have the opportunity to see them develop into a whole person. And so not just
see them develop physically and on the field, but then also what’s going on with them mentally,
academically, emotionally, and you get to see them grow into a young adult. And then
what was so great for me when I was at University of Florida. Chris Patrick had been at that university for
over 30 years. And guys would come back in to bring their high school aged kids
to watch a football game. And they would just come in to the athlete training room for after the game. Give
him a big old bear hug and, you know, they would catch up. And so he was obviously someone that stuck
with them in their mind as they move throughout their life and just to be able to have that sort of relationship
with people. I feel like there’s very few opportunities in life to be in a career
or a position where we we get to know people on that level. Yeah, I mean, it’s a Etho trainer. You
get to you see all kinds. I mean, you really get in and with people relationally
and get to know them and build such trust sets a powerful position to be in.
And it takes it takes somebody you got to really know what you do because you got to be patient and
just. You know, getting to know you that the past few years
you’ve mentioned before you’re a cancer survivor. And from what I recall, you said 2008
you got diagnosed with a form of cancer, metastatic melanoma. So why are some
black people? And I didn’t know that. So when I first had met you, I had no idea.
And it was a friend of mine, Tracy Folbre, who actually kind of brought it to my attention. And she went like,
you know, trying to tell Owen you’re anything. But just. She was asking. And I was like, no,
I didn’t know that you’d been through that. And then she and then she kind of explain everything that you went
through, the treatments. And you you just told me now recently it was five years and my
level of respect and admiration went through the roof because. You can’t go through
something like that as a human being and not transform you. How has it changed
you as a person and how you worked with with people? I’m still pretty goal oriented,
but I think before all of that, that was the focus. Like basically not
winning any costs. But it’s. Go, go, go. Very focused academically.
Just kind of get it done kind of person. And something like that.
And obviously, people get us during this podcast. And here most people will say looking at me in the face,
they can’t see it, but essentially out of corner of my face rearranged. And so I’m very blessed that
I had a Macy’s makeup lady that told me that she thought it was melanoma
and that I should get it checked and get it checked in a hurry. Turns out it was. Know that? Yeah.
So Macy’s makeup lady. People were had started to comment on it because it had started to change, had started
to grow. So I was trying to find a concealer to cover it up. And she tried for a while
and couldn’t find anything to cover it. And at the time I thought it was kind of rude. She
just said, you know, I think that’s melanoma. And the last time I saw one like it, the lady only lasted six
months. So I think you should get it checked. I was pretty upset about it, but it was enough to
kind of startle me awake because there had been other people, including a patient who had been a nurse who had
advised me several years before to get it checked. And, you know, when you’re in your 20s, you kind of think you’re
invincible. And so I hadn’t. So she kind of startled me awake. And
luckily, I got it checked quickly and found out what it was in the area that
I was in, in in Indiana at the time. The guy that essentially created the surgery and
textbook style was the guy that ended up being my surgeon. And so very
fortunate that there’s minimal scarring. And if I have any sort of makeup on, you really can’t see
it at all. But do that whole process, multiple surgeries
and treatments. You kind of have to take a step back and kind of re prioritize
what’s important in your life. So I still like to win. And, you know, we’ll love beating
up on Donny anytime that Maggie’s in the long Mortons me, you know. But obviously
we’re still gonna be friends because I had different priorities in life. So
thank you. Thank you for sharing it. By the way, we appreciate it. And I’m so glad that you
you’re a fighter and everything worked out because you’re awesome. So I’ve been creeping
on you a little bit on social media this year. You’ve taken some big trips. I had some unbelievable
trips. Yeah. Oh, my God. Sure. You’re living like your best life now,
right? Like, I’m, like, wasted. I was just here with the audience. Just briefly, what do you what
have you been doing this year? Yeah. So part of that, too, is just her perspective, like a
shift. Even when I had not been diagnosed, I had always wanted
to go to Australia. Koala bears were my favorite as a kid and now is a mission in life
to to go see a koala bear and during the process at Florida, got scuba certified to scuba
dove the Great Barrier Reef. And so part of that for me, I love to travel. And with athletics, we know we get to
travel a lot, but lots of times we don’t get to see things when we do get a tight schedule.
We have job responsibilities to take care of people. So I’ve kind of made it a priority
to to be able to experience some of those sayings. And I had a big birthday year this year.
So one of those things I kind of bucket list items was to I get up
in Tanzania, up a big mountain there called Kilimanjaro. So small but
highly recommended, if you want me to be honest. Milblogs may never be the same,
but how was it now? Gosh, nineteen six. You went to the top. Yeah.
And so that. Yep, that’s the goal. And so it took you several days six up
and then you supposed be two coming down. But I was in a hurry to get down so we only took one coming down. But then while
we were there I went to the Serengeti inaugural crater. So we did that this year.
Finland with women’s ice hockey. China think Peru so much of Picchu
with the Paralympic track and field this year. I feel like I’m forgetting something. But yeah,
we get this show on half went to Dubai championships.
That’s amazing. Amazing city. And then it
kind of sounds bad, but almost no way like that true American dream, just the way people from different races,
cultures, languages just melding together. And everyone was like,
honestly, the nicest person you would ever meet everywhere you went. And so obviously in our socio
political climate today, it was a start kind of refreshing trip
in terms of how it could be. Also, may I tell you what?
There it is. Sherry is being live at like Force.com. She just has seen
everything. And we all need to get on your level. So that’s well, I think these Aggies are gonna reign me in a little bit
now. Maybe. Busy a little a little bit busy area. Well, thank you for sharing
it. I’d love to just kind of change gears a little bit. Just looking over
your resumé and hearing your story. You felt some really cool roles and positions
over your home, your work timeline. What was it
like working in the college, setting the private setting? And then also within USA
hockey, kind of what what was it like? Was there some differences? Kind of expound on some of that?
Yep. So been very fortunate with every role I’ve been able to have and the opportunities
to learn and grow both personally and professionally. But there are obviously differences with that.
And so I alluded to the collegiate setting, just having that opportunity to work with people
and really help them develop long term because you have that kind of time. And then
just that immersion in a you’re seeing people, you know, every single day and especially from an athletic training
standpoint, we are helping them on every level from mental health. We’re working with the dieticians from
a news nutrition standpoint, and then we’re often with them at kind of their
darkest moment when they get injured and we’re helping them mentally, emotionally through that
process all the way back to one of their greatest moments when they get to return and get back to the
level that they want to be at. So we get to kind of ride that whole wave with them
versus in a private setting at exos again, had great opportunities to learn and grow
with other amazing professionals and then career professionals,
but then also professional athletes and and learning from the best in the business, both
in street conditioning, sports medicine, but then also the best in the business skill coach wise and then athlete
wise. But again, you were somewhat limited in what we’re able to do with them
in that in that private setting. And then depending on you where you are and your situation,
sometimes it could potentially be more about the financial aspect of that
versus maybe what’s best for a particular individual.
And so for me, at this point in my career, that that’s kind of where I wanted wanted to land is to
be able to see that whole growth and development process. You know, what would you say? Because we’ve
run into and I’m sure you do, too. We run into professionals wanting to make the jump
from the private sector into the collegiate or the professional. What would you
say? What are some challenges or sometimes I think roadblocks and how
would you kind of work? How would you what advice would you give? I think for me, seeing that process,
is it as a private person in the off season thing where
we’re not having to worry about an in-season sports schedule, we’re not having to worry about the
skill coach and what they’re trying to do in a practice session in recovery and regeneration? From that
standpoint, we’re working on recovery and regeneration. But it’s a different viewpoint versus a strength
coach in a collegiate setting. You’re doing with NCAA
rules. And in regards to the number of allowable hours, contact hours. And then also
what’s going on with a actual position or skill coach? If that
position, skill coach practice has been super hard, you might have laid out a plan that was also in
the weight room, fairly aggressive that day. But if they got crushed on the basketball
court that day, then you might have to take a step back. And so it I feel like really changes
how we period does over a season in that situation. From a sports medicine standpoint,
we’re kind of dealing with the same thing, especially from a rehab standpoint, is trying to help
someone get back to where they want to be if they have already returned to play. But working around
that coach’s schedule at the same time. Yeah, I kind of like to say it. I don’t know if this is accurate. You can
correct me. But I think I feel like you you lose some autonomy, would you say?
Yeah. Coming out of private in the collegiate. Not that you can’t do what you want to believe in. But there’s
there’s head coaches you gotta you gotta deal with and kind of manage. And there’s a performance team
that you you need to make sure that you guys are all on the same page with some of the objectives.
Would you agree? Yes. And it’s become that constant communication between sport site
counseling on the dietitians, the skill coaches, position coaches, individual
coaches, street conditioning and athletic training. And so it’s everybody coming together
and working together as a team. And we can all make each other better if we’re having that level of communication
that has that athlete at the center of that and their best interest at heart. Yeah, I think that’s
that’s it. When you think when you boil it down, it’s gonna be like it’s gonna be athlete centric
and decision making objectives, goal setting, planning, periodization recovery.
I think that’s that’s that’s spot on. You can’t touch those earlier. Sherry,
kind of talk a little bit about your philosophy and maybe how it’s changed
from when you started to where you are, what what’s kind of happened in there, what kind of influence to have.
So I mentioned before I was an athlete trainer first and then went to peaty school during that time frame,
massage therapy, a strict conditioning certification. And, you know, I really felt
like I had this movement based approach in return to play. And I thought I was, you
know, really dialed in on all of that. And then I got to exos
and I think probably first day as a speed coach.
I mean, he is the guy in terms of NFL combine prep training. I was doing a
multi direction, change of direction drill. And he was, you know, helping an athlete get the proper position.
And I was sitting there just absolutely mortified because from a peaty perspective,
the way that I thought he was coaching, it was setting that athlete up to injure their knee. And
fortunately, I didn’t open my mouth and just sat there and listened and really learned what he was
talking in terms of getting in the proper alignment, joint mechanics to be able to make that change
of direction. And I realized he was right and that I was maybe going to have to make a little
shift in how I was helping to rehab these athletes, because it was very
much. Let’s not get injured. Let’s not put too much stress on that knee so that you don’t
have perhaps like patellar from Aurel type pain. But at the same time, by how I was coaching them
up, it was going to make them less successful from a performance standpoint. So it was at
exos really helping to mold me to not just consider the
pain portion of it or the rehab portion of it, but how to help set that athlete up to not only
reduce injury risk or return from an injury, but also how to set them up for a high level of performance.
So while I was there, I think that that first year that I was there was pretty much like getting
hit with a firehose just taken in all the information, all the education I could
both internally from the existing staff in those facilities, but then also just the
sheer number of people that that came into our facilities externally that we had the opportunity
to learn from while we were there. You touched on a good point. I want to bring this back up and just get your
thoughts on it. But because if I hear you correctly, you’re talking about a performance
based model versus like a therapy base. Absolutely. Is that correct? Yeah. And
I know it can be controversial for sure. And I’ve heard both sides of
the coin like let’s build, let’s get some prehaps, get some exercises that are preventative, then
we build from there. You talk to the performance people and they’re like, know what it’s all about performance
in and drive that we got to be better athletes. And let’s not worry about this piece as much.
Give us your thoughts on that. It’s over overtime and kind of where you are maybe currently. Yep. So really,
through that exos type model, it really learned that you can’t separate sports medicine
from strength conditioning from performance. To be able to function
at a very high level. All of those have to be molded together. And there’s been some great
pieces from Eric Cressey and different people that are kind of touched on this and some of their social media posts. But
I personally believe those can’t be divided out, that if you’re going to function at a very high level,
we may be safer doing certain things from a rehab perspective. But I think
long term and most evidence will indicate long term that if we continue down some of those
past that we might look really good on a table or a very close type skill.
But if we’re trying to do something in a reactive manner as an example, that Levitt’s performance
models are typically going to reduce or Andray plus eight in the performance benefits. Yeah,
and that’s pretty that’s pretty powerful, I think to touch on kind of
on who’s saying too, is it? And you said this in your story just now that you’ve got to be
humble sometimes and be open minded. Right. I mean, I always old-growth
mindset that we hear so much about units. I think the one my favorite quotes about your mind is like
a parachute. If it’s not open, it’s not gonna be useful for. I’ve not heard that, but I like it. So
I think that’s what I keep hearing you say, that you are the kind of practitioner you’re always trying
to get better and you’re not saying this is the only way we can do this. I tell my students
that I’m an equal opportunity thief. Thief. I stole from everybody. I like it. Everybody’s got something to learn
from. And kind of a more relevant topic to piggyback on what you just said.
You know, there’s a lot in collegiate settings and then you I’m sure you’ve heard some of this, you’ll even hear it more.
There’s been a lot of controversy or a lot of light brought on just athletes
not being trained properly. Injuries happening. What certification is the best certification?
And I think certification is a piece of the puzzle. But I really feel like the bigger piece of the puzzle is the culture
and the relationships between performance team. And so I’m at exos. They talked a whole
lot about checking your credentials or your certifications or your degrees out the door like those don’t
matter as long as we’re working together as a team with with that athlete. So best
interests at heart. And, you know, I’m a physical therapy, unlicensed and multiple states to to to
do that. I’ve taken a ton of continuing. Ed, that’s very peaty rehab based, a lot of manual therapy stuff.
But to be honest, the things that I’ve learned and that I tend to use the most in my actual clinical
practice really comes from a whole bunch of strength coaches that I’ve had the opportunity to work with through
USA hockey. You know, Jimmy Radcliff, a University of Oregon Verhagen Better Cal Deetz
were just USA women’s hockey were the guys that I was able to learn from. Same thing. Mark
Sagan obviously at exos and then that whole crew of guys, they’re like going to
stand to perform better conferences and the folks that have learned from there. But honestly, the majority of my continuing
ad that I use on a daily basis has come from street coaches. And so just because I have
a p_h_d_ and a d_c_t_ in physical therapy doesn’t mean that that’s all
that I do or what’s actually in the best interest of a particular athlete. It’s good
to hear you. You’ve definitely been around some just some really quality coaches and people in different
way, different systems. From what I’ve what I’m hearing you say, just so all those
guys do things way differently. And but there are some some similarities in there. And they’re all just trying to
to win at the end of the day, so. Yep. And what I’ve learned over time is different athletes respond
to different methods or modalities. I think honestly, some of the principles that those guys all
have are more similar than what maybe even they would want to agree on.
But they deuced often use different methods to get there and different athletes respond
to those differently. So it’s that’s the art of what we do, not not just the research and
the science of it. And that’s good. Let’s talk a little bit more specific about just
athletes in general. So as as a athletic trainer,
you definitely worked a lot of strength coaches. Overarching What have you seen that makes
the biggest difference in helping athletes, helping people become better athletes?
I had a graduate assistant when I was in undergrad who was a physical therapist. She
had come back to become an athlete trainer before that internship pathway had disappeared.
And she made a statement very early on when she was there that year that
she honestly didn’t believe that it had anything to do with what we did, treatment
modality wise that determine whether or not someone got better. It was all about the relationship
that we had with the person. If the the patient liked us, they were more likely
to get better than they believe they believed. And so we talked a lot about the placebo
effect like this treatment doesn’t work. It’s just a placebo effect. There’s a lot of discussion around that right now
and in the manual therapy world. But honestly, I don’t care what helped them get
better as long as they’re getting better and we’re going down that pathway to reduce
injury risk and enhance performance. So if it’s just because they like me, I’m OK with that.
So for me, that’s probably the biggest place is to be able to develop that relationship. We’re not all
going to get along, but as long as they know that I have their best interests at heart and I respect them
as a person and a human, then I feel that’s going to go a long way in getting there.
Yeah, that’s good. What about so if you flip that a little bit again, just this is very
general and broad, but just keeping athletes healthier. What have you seen kind of some of
the what are some things that when you look at an athlete that’s healthy, that maybe
I’ve seen athletes injured, you know what to do. You’re gonna, you know, assess and address that and put a plan together.
But just keeping athletes healthy, I think probably one of the biggest shifts in the last few years is the focus
on some of the sleep studies and making sure that our especially our collegiate athletes who
have a huge demand in the classroom as well, and the social aspect of what goes on
a campus. So making sure that they’re getting plenty of rest, recovery sleep is probably going to go the longest way
in in both enhancing performance and reducing injury risk. There’s
a lot of different theories on the different recovery methods of whether or not we should be foam rolling, cold tubbing,
recovery boots, all those sorts of things. And and I really like how Cal
Deetz approaches that in terms of you need to find something that works for you. Some athletes
who will respond really well with a cold tub. But if you put a athlete in a cold tub and they tense
up, that person tends not to recover very well, recover very well. And he’s correlated
that with some away to a mega wave test as well. And so basically
finding something that that athlete responds well to in terms of their recovery. You. Yeah,
I’ve seen that over the years to just some athletes. I’ve had athletes. They don’t really respond well to massage.
Yeah. Makes them feel heavy legged and, you know, did leg it on. We have several
in the women’s ice hockey program that wait for their soft tissue. Would much rather get a
big old needle stuck in there and it piston and twisting. So some of the dry needling techniques and they would rather
to get a massage. Deep tissue or otherwise. So they all respond differently.
Athlete Yeah. They just it’s a different body, different and it’s just wired differently. And some of the end that
is that wiring is that neurological aspect of it. Whether somebody is more sympathetic versus parasympathetic
think really plays into that or they more type A, type B that’s going to influence what they respond
to. It’s good. Talk a little bit about how you’ve
definitely repaired several or rehab several ACL. You talk
a little bit about returned to play. What are some how
do you kind of take some? That’s maybe a torn ACL and talk about some of the protocols you do. Yep.
And so the protocols obviously have really shifted over time. I think when they first started
doing the ACL. So it’s really more in your timeframe back in the day versus, you know,
mind, you know, more recent. But back in the day we could move to move
and literally they would cast you up to your hip for about six months. And so there’s some great stories about
some legends that had their ACL reconstructed, like Pat Summitt, who was casted. And, you
know, for example, she was trying to make it to the Olympic Games. And so her dad cut the cast off. And so because
of non-compliant athletes like that, we’ve learned over time that movement and
early reconditioning is going to help get back quicker, more safely with
less like less likely to to re injure or injure the opposite side.
And then also from a performance standpoint, we often talk about kind of like this threshold where it takes
really a full season to get back to your high level of performance. But what we’ve
seen eyes with, we can get someone back integrated into those movement based drills
really early on. So someone may be as early as a week. Depending on range of motion,
quite control, but doing some of our movement type drills and whether you believe in wall
drills or not. In terms of sprint mechanics, but putting post-op ACL person in that wall drill position
and in just even talking to them about acceleration mechanics and from that position doing
a calf raise or a low lift or a single exchange working on just walking mechanics in
that wall drill position. I don’t know if it’s the physical aspect of that or even just
the fact that we’re talking about week one. We’re working on Sprint mechanics, if it helps them from fear avoidance,
psychological standpoint, that’s a big piece, a huge piece of it. So being able to integrate that stuff
in very early on, we’ve seen really great success with people not really needing
that full athletic season to get back to that that high level of performance. I was very fortunate
when I was at Indiana State to work with the team position there. That’s also with the
Indianapolis Colts, Dr. Tom Klutznick. And based on how a person looked,
they might go back to say you like racquetball i- if they’re a basketball player
for six, eight weeks after an ACL reconstruction. So they’re reacting to a ball very quickly.
And one athlete in particular that I was able to come back after her ACL reconstruction
and make first team all-American the first season back. And so she didn’t have that
gap of needing a full year. And obviously, athletes are different in that. But the sooner
we can get them back to doing some of our more movement based type drills. Marching, skipping.
Change of direction. I feel like the performance outcomes are better. I also feel
like they’re less likely to get injured. We look at sports like women’s soccer, that the retailer heart rate
is so high, the contra lateral terror rate is so high. That’s crazy. Often
concerned that it’s because of the actual rehab process that we’re not getting them reconditioned
quickly enough and then we’re returning them to sport. Yeah, that’s
the one thing I’ve seen with these CEOs just in my years is just kidding. I think
the recondition is getting, especially for females. It seems like it’s so
much harder to get that mass back up. The Quatermass, the leg mass.
I personally haven’t had an issue with it, but it goes back for me personally to my experience with Dr.
Klein like and the protocol and what we were allowed to do very early on. And again, it depends
if later, if they have a lot of pain and a lot of swelling, that’s going to eliminate that reflexive inhibition.
If there’s pain or swelling, the brain knows something is wrong and that quad just won’t fire. And so we
have to get them over that hump first. But I if we’re able to do that quickly, then
it seems to make a huge difference in that that. Quatermass Yeah. And I know
you know, that torn ACL in college and we did a lot of like Legba was the old
school machine, the big evil then sbx machine. Yeah. Eissa
kinetics with that thing gave me the word. I miss it.
So we’ve moved away from that in the rehab setting to take all the bullets
wrong. We a lot of physicians will still have it as part of their protocol, especially
for testing in return to play, making sure that there’s symmetry in quad and the quads bilateral
hamstrings bilaterally and that that ratio and it’s part of their protocol to to make sure that
they’re within a certain percentage range, just like a lot of them will have different single leg hop, horizontal
hops, vertical jumps, that sort of thing. Looking for that asymmetry side to side.
But in terms of the actual rehab process, I think people are not using it quite
as much just because that open chain position is not a function of movement.
It is tough on the tendons, whereas it down quick. So.
Changing gears a little bit again. You’ve like you’ve worked with some really, really
high level teams as a leader. What have you done in the past to
help build really good relationships with your head coaches?
So every situation’s obviously different, but I think that level of communication and then
the earlier that you’re able to start that kind of setting the expectations of what
they’re looking for from the sportsmen staff in terms of how frequently
I what level of detail, like some coaches want the nitty gritty, like everything
that’s going on. And the other ones are can they go or can they not? So setting those expectations
early on in terms of what they’re looking for and then, you know, you’re not always going to agree
on whether or not somebody is ready to go. But being able to respect their position
and their stance on it. And at the same time, being able to communicate with them, why someone physically just
isn’t ready to go and be able sometimes to demonstrate that either with
maybe something as simple as a video looking at the differences, asymmetry or some sort of objective
testing. You know, we’re very fortunate now that the cost of some of the forced plates, for example,
the forced sex are at such a level that it’s pretty easy for us to be able to quantify can quantify
a 50 percent difference. She might actually look pretty symmetrical with just
with the naked eye, and that’s what they’re seeing. But here is the force output. Here’s the difference.
I decide if we have that kind of a symmetry, she’s three times more likely to get
hurt. So we can’t go there yet. Do you want her for this game or do you want her for the rest
of the season? Yes. I’m not that they would ever be difficult.
The head coaches are never difficult and demanding. But if there were some out there, say
it. If there was, how have you managed and worked through some of that? What have you learned? And have you kind
of have to have a thick skin? There was a really great photo that was on
Google Images for a while. I haven’t checked in a while of me getting screamed
at by a certain football coach. It was during a practice. I used to always put it
in my PowerPoint presentations because I thought it was funny, but
that was the key with that. Like, I didn’t take it personal, like I didn’t take it home with pride
at the time. But, you know, I got over it quickly and that’s the way it is. The coaches
have a job, they have a responsibility. Their contracts are usually based on win losses.
And if that’s their number one athlete that they’re trying to get back and they know that that’s has the potential
to influence a game, then then emotions sometimes run high. But as a sports medicine professional,
sometimes you just have to kind of let it roll off. And I’ve never had an issue where a coach blew up like
that. And then we were not able to have a civil conversation later. They usually simmer down a person.
They come back and apologize. That particular coach came back and apologized profusely for it.
And so you don’t you can’t own it and make it a part of who you are as a person
after something like that happens, you know, and that’s something I’ve always just working with other trainers
through the years. You guys have the wonderful job of having to take some of the most
difficult information. You’re basically like a messenger. Bad news bear. Yeah. And you.
And unfortunately, most of time, you’re not giving good news. Right. And I just I got
so much respect for you guys, because that is a that’s a tough position to be in. But I also feel like it takes
a certain quality person to be able to deliver that news and not if you get a coach that’s in the
heat. The mommy’s emotional and they don’t understand and they don’t like what they’re hearing. They’re kind of
come back out with guns blazing, but they’re not really personally attacking you. They’re just they’re just kind of eviscerated
the situation. And that’s how we have to look at it. They’re not happy with the situation. And
in that moment, it’s their ability to vent. And then they move on and we move on and
we circle back later. That’s good stuff, too. That’s definitely a lot of people can take away
from that. So just professional development now. What do you do? You kind
of mentioned some of it. What is your kind of big go to own?
Are you a reader? You like clinics? Are you you like to kind of do more roundtable
stuff kind of leadersand. Because you’re definitely very intelligent and sharp
woman and talk about that for a minute. katic joke about
being maybe not the most appropriate term, but a continuing at [INAUDIBLE]. I
circle about trying to surround myself with this many, many people
as I can and try to be selective and going to and spending
my money. I guess in my time to be at places where I’m really interested in
is what a certain person or speaker has to say or or a topic until
we’ve mentioned perform better. They have an unbelievable selection of of people that are there
delivering lives for you. They do a great job. They do an amazing job with that.
So that’s an another one. You know, I mentioned went to a bunch of P.T. stuff for professional development, but again,
bought a. Use on a daily basis that performed better, one is one of them that I’ve really found
value in. I read a ton in every imaginable
topic from specific exercise physiology, different biomechanics stuff all
the way to different leadership type books and sometimes just straight fiction
and you can pick out different life stories from those that meeting. Yeah. Then
something that you can kind of chew on and apply to to to your daily life.
And then I’ve been very fortunate to to have the opportunity to do some different online type things and
different courses as well. I’m a big reader. Anything you read recently that kind of stands out.
Anything comes to mind and it can be work or leadership or whatever. At so recently,
because every year I read one book at the beginning of the year because it’s a very quick read
and for me kind of like that. I’m not a huge New Year’s resolution kind of person that
I’m not Beagle, but Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s Search for Meaning. Got to read
that. I love the quotes from it. It’s good. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. I cry every time,
but it is a very powerful book and I read it every year at this series
is kind of a nutshell. He was a Holocaust survivor, but before he
even went in. He was a psychologist. And so he basically found
the purpose for in his mind, a purpose for our life. And so obviously with
my medical background, it had a lot of meaning for me as well. But
we have to find purpose in whatever we’re doing, in whatever situation we’re in. And through
that find somebody some sort of meaning and in whatever we’re going through in life
and a purpose in it. I’ll have to after write that one down for this year.
Thanks for sharing that. Well, sorry, we’re kind of coming close to the end of the show
and it’s been a great conversation. Just moving forward.
Where could if people want to reach out, they got more questions. They’d like to connect with
you. Just just kind of see what you’re up to. Just follow you. What’s the best way that people can
connect with you? Yep. Probably the best way is through email. And it’s just s as
in Cherie’s. So s Walter’s at athletics plural dot T-A
IMU. So Texas A&M, Texas A&M University e._d._u. So it’s s vaulters
at athletics. Dot Teemu dot e._d._u. Can
you say what they say. Thanks them. You said give me. If you say I got gig them. We got howdy.
We got work. Yeah. Well folks, shearwaters, you’re
awesome. Thank you for making time. If you have never met
Sherry, if you’ve never heard her speak any more speaking engagements coming up. You got your
our clinic more than anyone else. Clinic. And then a Kennedy to figure out my life with this. This new position
at Texas A&M and then hopefully be able to get back out there once I kind of know the ebbs and flow of a
collegiate setting again. She slows down at some point. She’d be somebody I would highly recommend bringing
in, not just to speak, but just to, to dialog with and collaborate with. She’s
incredible person and a great coach and athletic trainer. And just she’ll impact
your program for sure in the city. Thank you for your time again. Appreciate you, Dani. And you go ahead, say what you say over their
next move and hook them giggle. That’s right. It’s been real. We’ll catch you on the next episode.
Thanks so much for tuning in. Listening to this episode, the team behind the team podcast
for future episodes go to i-Tunes, Spotify, Google Podcast or
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