Preparation is Everything

#TeamBehindTheTeam

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It is a philosophy that is embedded throughout the club, with each member of staff having an important role to play in delivering the optimum team performance.

One of the men charged with the responsibility of keeping players fit and healthy is Academy Head of Physiotherapy Paul Kelly, an important member of the Team Behind the Team.

AXA, the Official Training Partner of Liverpool FC, sent Paddy McGuinness to visit Kelly to hear more about the importance of physiotherapy as well as to put himself through his paces.

“Everything we do is around injury prevention,” Kelly explained. “We screen the players regularly; we understand their past medical history - that’s vital for us - and we put together a programme for that individual player to try and avoid those injuries.”

“We’re constantly watching the player, how they move. You look at their face, are they grimacing? And obviously you get to know the players so well that you hope the communication is there,” he said.

The AXA Training Centre, based in Kirkby, combines the club’s first team and U23 team on one site. The state of the art 9,200sqm facility includes three full-size pitches, two gyms, a full-size sports hall, a pool, a hydrotherapy complex, and specialist sports rehabilitation suites creating a world-class facility that forges a pathway of improvement, progress and success.

Sports science is an evolving discipline. Pre-activation, is designed to prepare the body for the exercises it is about to perform and takes place before the usual warm up. This involves ‘turning on’ target muscles through an isolation or conditioning exercise.

Diogo Jota revealed that he is still learning about pre-activation but says that he welcomes the improvement that such an innovation can bring. “You’re already a stage ahead of warming up,” the Liverpool FC striker said.

“When I started playing, pre-activation wasn’t really a thing in Portugal, so I’m getting to know what to do, if this is going to help me, and of course I trust the professionals to help me work on that.”

“I don’t think there’s a favourite move for me because at the end of the day this is all work, but, at this level, you need to prevent injuries and you need to take care of your body to be at the highest level on the pitch,” he said. Meanwhile, Kelly offered his expertise for fans who want to get in shape and to activate muscle groups correctly. “It has to be gradual. Don’t go from a five-minute walk to a two-hour walk. Don’t change things too much,” he advised.

And underlines the importance of The Team Behind the Team - who do so much to make it one of the most successful clubs in the world.