The Athlete's Advantage

One rule of communication that reveals what athletes actually mean, plus the framework I use to quantify injury risk on every decision on whether an athlete is ready to return.

Solo episode on the kind of clients we like to work with at Petey Performance, the ones that unfortunately stall, and the small handful of coaching rules I use to read what an athlete actually means versus what they say.

The standout is the "but" rule. When an athlete says "I know you don't do timelines, but..." ignore everything before the but. What comes after is what they actually mean, and that lets you identify an issue before it does any damage to the process.

The second half is the practitioner half. A risk-percentage framework that lets the athlete own the comeback call, five signs an athlete has quietly quit, the difference between a programmer and a coach, and what a three-star review taught me about our process and how we can improve.

0:00  —  Intro
0:18  —  The clients we like to work with
3:57  —  The clients who make the work harder
6:06  —  Why belief drives every outcome
7:06  —  Ignore everything before the “but”
7:37  —  Putting a percentage on injury risk
10:44  —  Five signs an athlete has quietly quit
16:02  —  Programmers vs coaches
20:40  —  A three-star review and honest coaching
23:54  —  Wallow or build: two options
27:16  —  The gap between thought and action

Take the next step
Stop guessing and start fixing the root cause. Book your free, no-obligation athlete’s assessment today.
peteyperformance.com/book-a-consultation/

Connect with Peter Wright
Website   peteyperformance.com
Instagram   @peteyperformance
Podcast   @theathletesadvantagepod

Podcast produced in partnership with Dreamers Media.

Your rehab cleared the clinic. It didn’t clear the pitch. Peter answers 5 listener questions on what real return to play actually takes.
Five listener questions, all from athletes and practitioners on Instagram. Session design and assessment, early ACL rehab, pelvic and rib cage stability, isometric hamstring programming, and what to do when you keep getting re-injured.
The hamstring case study is the standout for practitioners. Athlete kept breaking down at the lateral hamstring. Loading the biceps fem harder was not the answer. The fix came from understanding what the medial hamstrings were not contributing.
For athletes stuck in a re-injury loop: identify the rate limiter, train the underdeveloped area in the gym, then earn the return to match play on your terms. The body breaks the same way until that piece changes.
Topics covered: full in-person session and assessment protocol, early ACL loading philosophy and patellar graft donor site work, pelvic and rib cage stability with breath as range access, isometric hamstring programming and the medial vs lateral case study, and a framework for breaking the serial re-injury cycle.

CHAPTER TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro and today’s Q&A format
0:37 Q1: In-person session and assessment protocol (Robbie Burke)
16:19 Q2: Early ACL rehab + patellar graft donor site
20:13 Q3: Pelvic and rib cage stability
24:59 Q4: Isometric hamstring + medial vs lateral case study
38:32 Q5: Breaking the re-injury cycle
42:58 Wrap up

Take the next step
Stop guessing and start fixing the root cause. Book your free, no-obligation athlete’s assessment today.
peteyperformance.com/book-a-consultation/

Connect with Peter Wright
Website peteyperformance.com
Instagram @peteyperformance
Podcast @theathletesadvantagepod

Three injury buckets keep showing me the same overlooked deficit: athletic groin pain, ACL and hamstring strains. Most rehab plans never go near it.

Back recording solo episodes after a few months off. Quick update on what's changed at Petey Performance, then straight into what I've been seeing in my recent in-person sessions.
Three different injury presentations. One pattern keeps showing up across all of them. Until now, the issue has been unidentified and unaddressed.
Also walking through a recent case that went from chronic pain and orthotics 24/7 to back on the pitch at close to nine metres per second. And a few things on the transition from solo operator to leading a team — the parts nobody really talks about.

Chapter Timestamps
00:00 - Welcome back / why we've been on hiatus
01:57 - Why podcasts dropped off but the business grew
03:00 - Building the team: Mitch and Oisin day to day
04:13 - Why SOPs and the why matter, not just the what
05:15 - The injury buckets we keep seeing
07:53 - Bringing in Kieran Lillis (sports psych) and Dearbhla O’Moore (nutrition)
15:25 - Force frame vs force plates: where I'm leaning on testing kit
16:30 - Athletic groin pain: lumbopelvic control + foot/ankle stiffness
22:39 - ACL clients: deep knee flexion, fast eccentrics, ankle access
25:47 - Hamstring strains: hip extension + ankle dorsiflexion deficit
27:45 - The thread connecting all three: foot and ankle as the rate-limiter
35:52 - Case study: orthotics out, chronic groin pain to ~9 m/s pain-free
40:12 - Influences: Gary Ward, David Gray, Romain Tourillon, Cal Dietz
41:12 - Wrapping up
44:02 - Industry standards are improving
46:26 - 20 to 30 minutes a day. Compound it.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP:
Stop guessing and start fixing the root cause. Book your free, no-obligation athlete's assessment today.
https://peteyperformance.com/book-a-consultation/

CONNECT WITH PETER WRIGHT:
► Website: https://peteyperformance.com/
► Instagram: @peteyperformance — https://www.instagram.com/peteyperformance/
► Podcast Instagram: @theathletesadvantagepod — https://www.instagram.com/theathletesadvantagepod/

Podcast produced in partnership with Dreamers Media.

Five years into his AFL career, Hawthorn's Conor Nash was a stalled half-forward. He was pulled aside for the one conversation every pro athlete dreads: "Look, this isn't going to work."

In this episode, Conor reveals the single positional change that "revitalised my career" and turned him from a fringe player into a dominant, "unorthodox" tagging midfielder. He also discusses the "insider" paradox of pro-sport: why his 'team-first' mentality "hurt me at times" and why the high-performance culture at Hawthorn empowers its players to "just be Irish".

In this episode, discover:
The positional change that revitalised Conor's career.
How to handle the one conversation every pro athlete dreads.
The paradox of why a "team-first" mentality can sometimes hurt you.
The choice between a Leinster Rugby contract and a Hawthorn rookie deal.
How Hawthorn's culture empowers Irish athletes.

GUEST: CONOR NASH
► Follow Conor on Instagram: @cnash_11

TAKE THE NEXT STEP:
Ready to find your edge? Book your free, no-obligation athlete's assessment and let’s build your advantage together.

CONNECT WITH PETER WRIGHT:
► Website: https://peteyperformance.com/
► Instagram: @peteyperformance
► Podcast Instagram: @theathletesadvantagepod

Podcast produced in partnership with Dreamers Media.

She’s now the equal-fastest player in AFLW history to 50 career goals, but when Aine McDonagh (AFLW Hawthorn) first arrived, she was a 6-foot, 53kg athlete who openly "feared the contest".

Aine reveals the private fear that "kept her out of games" and the brutal, "insider" off-season playbook she used to gain 17kg and transform from a target into a leader who can finally "win the contest".

She also discusses the "massive clash" she experienced when her "super-competitive" Irish mindset met a professional environment with diverse personalities.

In this episode, discover:
The brutal off-season playbook used to gain 17kg and build a body that "wins the contest."
How Aine overcame a private fear of contact that was keeping her out of games.
The "massive clash" between a "super-competitive" Irish mindset and a diverse pro environment.
The evolution from a dual-sport star in Galway to a key leader at Hawthorn.

GUEST: AINE MCDONAGH
Originally a dual-sport star from Galway, Ireland, Aine was an inaugural member of the Hawks' AFLW team and is now a key member of their leadership group.
► Follow Aine on Instagram: @ainemcdonagh

TAKE THE NEXT STEP:
If you want to take your performance to the next level, there’s a pathway for you. Book your free athlete’s assessment and let’s build your advantage together.

CONNECT WITH PETER WRIGHT:
► Website: https://peteyperformance.com/
► Instagram: @peteyperformance
► Podcast Instagram: @theathletesadvantagepod

Podcast produced in partnership with Dreamers Media.