The Athlete's Advantage

How do you take an athlete from the first days of rehab to match play without skipping steps?

In this solo episode, Peter breaks down the four-stage framework we use at Petey Performance for rehab and return to play: isolate, integrate, intensify and improvise. He covers where it came from, including the influence of Frans Bosch, why the stages overlap instead of following hard lines, and what each one looks like using an ACL return as the example.

Along the way he looks at why coordination is often undertrained, a point Stu McMillan has made on other podcasts, and why running mechanics drills still matter after an injury. He also covers how to build an athlete's confidence before they return and how coaches can use constraints in small-sided games.

What you'll get from this episode:

- A clear four-stage framework for rehab and return to play

- What isolate, integrate, intensify and improvise look like in practice, using an ACL example

- Why the stages overlap and don't follow hard lines

- Why running mechanics drills, intent and feedback still matter after injury

- How exposure to open drills and small-sided games can build an athlete's confidence

- Why a GAA, soccer or rugby athlete returning from the same injury shouldn't follow the same plan

- How templates and systems help a coaching team make better decisions

Chapters:

00:00 - Introduction: the four stages

00:53 - Where the framework came from

02:42 - Isolate and integrate

03:29 - Intensify and improvise

06:58 - Isolate in practice: an ACL example

09:30 - How the stages overlap

11:29 - Integrate: movement patterns, plyos and coordination

15:32 - Intensify: velocity and rate of force development

16:36 - Why running mechanics drills still matter after injury

18:02 - Intent, feedback and competition

23:20 - Improvise: open drills and rebuilding confidence

25:58 - Small-sided games and coaching constraints

29:42 - Why every coach needs a session plan

32:05 - Same injury, different sport: tailoring return to play

34:56 - Templates and systems in your business

37:29 - 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 for education and shares Peter's own approach and experience. It is not medical advice. If you are returning from injury, work with a qualified practitioner who knows your history.

Why a coach has to respect an athlete's right to make a call they disagree with, even when every instinct says otherwise.

Peter opens with a business update: a record September, new team members, and why September through November are consistently the busiest months for new enquiries. He also talks through sitting out a club rugby game early in his own return. Not because anyone told him to, but because he hadn't built up enough training exposure yet.

From there, three listener questions, all circling the same theme: trust, risk, and who actually gets to make the call.

On trust between practitioner and client:

Particularly when a client pushes back or gets anxious about a decision. Peter breaks down task conflict vs. personal conflict, why understanding has to come before trust, and how asking "why" can surface information that changes the whole picture. He walks through a worked example of how a risk-percentage conversation can turn an opinion-based disagreement into an objective one.

Then he gets personal: breaking his hand two weeks before a university tournament, refusing the cast, and playing anyway. "It's my body, my choice" and why, as a coach, you have to be able to hold that line even when you disagree.

On whether return-to-play protocols are actually being used at a high level:

Peter pushes back on the idea that elite programmes skip this work. The real gap, he argues, is at club level, where there's often no dedicated practitioner with the time to deliver it. He also responds (with some fire) to two claims he'd seen online: that return-to-play running is a waste of time, and that load management is a "cop out" in rehab.

On what a return-to-play progression actually looks like:

From return-to-jumping through to return-to-running, and why a hamstring injury and a calf injury should be built back up differently, right down to the volume and velocity of dribble conditioning used for each.

What you'll get from this episode:

• Why trust between a coach and an athlete has to be built on understanding before it can hold up under disagreement
• A practical framework for turning "are they ready to return?" into an objective, numbers-based conversation instead of a personal one
• Peter's own broken-hand story, and what it says about where the line is between coach judgment and athlete autonomy
• Why return-to-play protocols differ so much between elite and club environments
• A breakdown of how a return-to-jumping and return-to-running progression is actually built, and why a hamstring injury and a calf injury need genuinely different programming

Chapter timestamps:

• 00:21 — Business update: record September, new team members, and the "rolling the dice" pattern in GAA championship season
• 04:51 — Getting back into club rugby and the value of sitting out a session you're not ready for
• 08:51 — The performance journal, process goals, and reframing self-talk
• 11:11 — Q1: Trust, task conflict vs. personal conflict, and the risk-percentage framework for return-to-play decisions
• 24:11 — "It's my body, my choice" — athlete autonomy, Richie McCaw, and Peter's own broken-hand story
• 24:21 — Q2: Are return-to-play protocols actually being skipped at a high level?
• 30:11 — Why "return-to-play running doesn't matter" and "load management is a cop out" don't hold up
• 34:21 — Q3: Building a return-to-jumping and return-to-running progression
• 44:11 — Why hamstring and calf injuries need different return-to-run programming
• 49:51 — Wrap up

A note on this episode: The risk percentages discussed are illustrative examples used to explain a way of thinking about return-to-play decisions, not clinical thresholds or guarantees — every case depends on the individual athlete, the specific injury, and a full assessment. This content is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for individualised medical or rehab advice.

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.

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.

Stuck in a frustrating cycle of nagging groin pain and recurring hamstring injuries? You're likely falling victim to outdated advice and common rehab errors. In this episode, Peter breaks down the REAL reasons athletes keep getting hurt and provides clear, actionable solutions.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The "terrible" return-to-play criteria causing recurrence after recurrence.
• Osteitis Pubis & Groin Pain: Why common treatments fail & the steps that ACTUALLY work.
• The #1 BIGGEST MISTAKE athletes make after a hamstring tear (It's NOT skipping exercises!).
• Stop Stretching! The counter-intuitive approach NEEDED for high hamstring tendinopathy.
• Achilles & Calf Pain: How to identify the root cause beyond just "load management."
• PLUS: Peter answers your questions on ACL timelines, finding mentors & complex cases.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP:

Stop guessing and start fixing the root cause. Book your free, no-obligation athlete’s assessment today.

CONNECT WITH PETER WRIGHT:

► Website: https://peteyperformance.com/

► Instagram: @peteyperformance

► Podcast Instagram: @theathletesadvantagepod

Podcast produced in partnership with Dreamers Media.