When was the last time you spent time with someone who works with some of the best payed and most skilled athletes in the world? I spent the day with Darren Burgess, Liverpool FC fitness and conditioning coach today and it was awesome!
While lots of people would probably be intimidated by working with some of the top athletes in the world Darren takes it in his stride with his calm and genuine character. It’s easy to see why players would like working with him. I usually feel like I know why a guy is successful within a few minutes of meeting them and with Darren it was also obvious. Passion, attention to detail, work ethic and personality. It was a real pleasure to spend time with him and hear his honest evaluation of life in “the world game” fast lane.
As a physical performance coach you can’t get much closer to the pinnacle of world sport than Liverpool FC. While it’s clear that “football” is not a sport where physical preparation is such a decisive factor in whether a player succeeds or fails as sports like American Football or even Rugby League, when you’re working with millions of dollars of assets you need to know what you’re talking about or you’ll soon have the door hitting you on the backside!
On the inside we saw Liverpool FC’s physical preparation program has an extensive system of player management, designed to foresee and prevent injuries. The system comes to life through the work of 5 full-time physiotherapists, 1 doctor day to day doctor and Dr Peter Brukner – Head of sports science and sports medicine, 2 strength and conditioning coaches, a nutritionist, 2-3 sport scientists and a head of Fitness and Conditioning. They have an amazing facility at their Melwood training ground including an especially enjoyable cafeteria where we ate lunch (Lamb off the bone with beans and pumpkin :).
Seeing the players in action at training is a real illustration of the “Talent Code” principles. They move the ball as if it’s still in their control even when they’re not touching the ball! They make sharp decisions and they hit the mark with their passes. The goalkeepers have great hands and super accurate long kicks, interestingly they also have great control on their shooting after years of working for the other goalkeepers.
Thanks again to Dr Peter Brukner and Darren Burgess (soon to be PhD graduate) and Kenny Dalgleish for reluctantly allowing these Aussie visitors to see a different perspective on elite sport!
When will S&C guys get the fame they deserve hehe.
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