About David
David has been involved in a variety of sports, both as a participant and as a coach. He has played competitive Rugby Union, Soccer, Athletics (track and field), studied Martial Arts, has also been known to take part in the occasional 10k run for charity and has spent several seasons competing in triathlons.
He has coached youth Rugby Union and women's Rugby Union, has been a fitness instructor for the Police constructing and instructing training schedules for individuals with sports specific, injury rehabilitation, and general health and fitness goals.
More recently, in addition to his existing coaching qualifications, he has qualified as a Level 5 Advanced Sports and Exercise Nutritional Advisor with the Health Sciences Academy, and completed the Coach Clean course with UK Anti-Doping with whom he has also qualified as an Accredited Advisor providing support and advice for athletes of all levels. He is also a successful Level 2 triathlon coach having qualified with Triathlon England, and now regularly coaches a number of individual clients to succeed in achieving their triathlon goals.
Throughout his years of sports participation and after having sustained several different injuries for which he was successfully treated using complementary therapies, he developed an interest in the therapies that had helped him to recover. To combine this interest with his instruction and coaching qualifications he studied with the prestigious London School of Sports Massage based at Regent's College in London, achieving their Diploma in Sports Massage Therapy (with honours) and Certificate in Remedial Massage Therapy leading to a BTEC Higher Diploma in both.
To broaden the services provided by his practice and to complement the therapies already available he has trained with the UK's SCENAR Training Centre becoming one of comparatively few therapists throughout the UK able to provide SCENAR treatments.
He has studied diploma courses in sports injuries, exercise therapy & sports injuries rehabilitation, and also electrotherapy with Sports Therapy UK, which is run by renowned author and principal lecturer of the Sports Therapy BSc Degree course at The University of Bedfordshire, Tim Paine, and latterly also studied kinesiology, electrotherapy and clinical effectiveness at Brunel University. David has also been published as a contributor to the professional journal Sportex Dynamics.
To date his practice has developed across the Northampton and Kettering areas of Northamptonshire and and has a client list that also includes individuals from Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Cambridgeshire, Rutland, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire, and even some that travel from Essex and Devon. In the past David spent five years working as part of the medical and performance departments at Northampton Saints RFC, and six years as part of the medical and performance team at Northants County Cricket Club, and on a freelance basis at an event with Surrey County Cricket Club. Away from the sports scene David has also worked at several private clinics where he has treated many non-sporting individuals and conditions.
After much 'encouragement' from others he entered the addictive world of triathlon, completing his first at the popular Roade sprint triathlon in 2010. His current training plans are aimed at training towards completion of an Ironman event and doing other distance triathlons along the way. This regular mixed-discipline training is something that helps to form a strong appreciation of what a client may be experiencing themselves, and assists with a better understanding of not only how injuries may have occurred, but also with the formation of a realistic approach to management of injuries, and their subsequent rehabilitation back to full fitness.
IMPORTANT
Consider when finding a sports therapist or massage practitioner that standards of training and practice vary enormously - if your sports therapist or massage practitioner is not suitably qualified, at best your treatment could be ineffective and at worst it may cause injury.
Qualifications - Unlike Physiotherapists who have state registration and title protection, which means it is an offence for anyone who is not a registered physiotherapist to portray themselves as such, under current law anyone is able to call themselves a sports therapist or massage practitioner. It is very important that any practitioner you visit is a member of the Federation of Holistsic Therapists, who require evidence of qualifications, insurances and continued professional development. They will have the letters MFHT after their name and will be able to show you a current membership certificate, membership ID card and valid certificate of insurance.
