The Athlete's Advantage

Antrim captain Eoghan McCabe on the Tailteann Cup exit he still hasn’t processed, and we go through the return-to-play checklist that ends the guessing on osteitis pubis and groin pain.
Eoghan is honest that he hasn’t got his head around the loss yet, and just as honest that no single moment caused it. We get into leadership when you are not the loudest voice, why any more than three focus points is too many, and why punishment as exercise teaches athletes the wrong thing.
Then the part I get asked about most. When can I return to play?
There is no set date you can go back on I’m afraid. But there are metrics you have to hit.

What you’ll get:
• A county captain’s honest read on a season that ended badly
• Leadership that doesn’t depend on being loud
• Why under-fuelling works against injured athletes chasing leanness
• The return-to-play checklist for groin pain and osteitis pubis
• How to weigh up playing now against waiting another two weeks

Chapters:
(00:00) Welcome back, McCabe returns
(01:13) The defeat he hasn’t processed
(02:45) Leading without shouting
(05:47) Only three focus points
(08:50) Pattern recognition, practised
(10:39) Punishment as exercise
(15:14) The body composition mistake
(17:04) Under-fuelling and the leanness trap
(19:11) Off-season standards aren’t a switch
(25:52) The problem with Hyrox training
(30:25) Osteitis pubis and groin pain
(31:57) The return-to-play checklist
(35:37) Weighing up the risk of playing
(38:02) Three months versus fifteen months
(41:22) Croke Park and GAA’s media shift
(45:19) Personal branding
(54:07) What’s next

Guest: Eoghan McCabe, Antrim senior football captain.

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

Connect with Peter Wright:
Website: https://peteyperformance.com/
Instagram: @peteyperformance https://www.instagram.com/peteyperformance/
Podcast: @theathletesadvantagepod https://www.instagram.com/theathletesadvantagepod/

This episode is for general information and education, not medical advice. Always work with your own physio, doctor or coach before changing how you train or rehab an injury.

Podcast produced in partnership with Dreamers Media. https://www.dreamersmedia.co

At 31 I ran a speed experiment on myself. Here is what got me to 8.63 m/s, plus your injury questions answered.

From three weeks in Portugal: the speed block I ran on myself, why ankle stiffness was my rate limiter after an ACL, and the eustress vs distress idea that let me push harder. Then a full listener Q&A.

What you'll get:
- How to get faster in your 30s
- How to train ankle stiffness without flaring up
- What to do when scans are clear but pain persists
- Rebuilding eccentric strength & RFD in the knee after an ACL
- Breaking into S&C coaching

Chapters:
(00:00) Three weeks in Portugal
(00:32) The speed experiment at 31
(06:20) Eustress vs distress
(07:13) First in-person day
(09:58) Q: Training ankle stiffness
(16:29) Q: How to deal with chronic injuries & clear MRIs
(24:52) Q: Post-ACL knee stiffness & RFD
(31:09) Q: How to treat osteitis pubis in-season
(35:49) Q: Do you need a degree to work as a S&C coach?
(39:52) Wrap-up

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

Connect with Peter Wright:
Website: https://peteyperformance.com/
Instagram: @peteyperformance https://www.instagram.com/peteyperformance/
Podcast: @theathletesadvantagepod https://www.instagram.com/theathletesadvantagepod/

This episode is general information, not medical advice. Work with your own physio, doctor or coach before changing your training or rehab.

Podcast produced in partnership with Dreamers Media. https://www.dreamersmedia.co

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.