Q&A: GRAHAM ANDERSON GRAHAMANDERSON Q&A
How long have you been a sports physiotherapist? 23 years.
Which sports have you worked in over the years? I began in rugby, and then gradually worked with different sports including badminton, judo, boxing, korfball, athletics, football, hockey, triathlon, golf, and road cycling - all at national/ elite team level. I then became more of a specialist in professional tennis, badminton and endurance cycling and have often been used to support GB squash too. Now most of my time is taken with tennis and badminton.
Which elite athletes have you treated? I have treated many household names when working at the last three Olympics with team GB, where as HQ physiotherapist I worked with rowers, track athletes, gymnasts and tennis players side by side. Now working in professional tennis, I treat all the men on the ATP World Tour from Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to some of the lesser ranked doubles players.
Date of Birth: 27th May 1962 Place of Birth: Renfrew, Scotland Place of Residence: SW London Marital Status: Married Years working as Sports Physiotherapist: 23
Number of Commonwealth and Olympic Games worked at: 7 Years working for AELTC as lead physiotherapist: 8 Years on ATP World Tour: 3
When did you set up Balance Performance in Clapham in London? Just over 10 years ago.
What services do Balance Performance provide and who are your clients? Balance Performance provide a medically orientated multidisciplinary sports and wellbeing team (including doctors, sports physiotherapists, masseurs, strength and conditioning trainers, podiatrists, nutritionists) to treat injuries and improve the performance of players from club to elite.
Everyone is treated like an Olympic athlete at a level tailored to their needs, be it injury or improvement. We provide expert and professional analysis through biomechanical knowledge and video analysis - be it in respect of a tennis serve, a golf swing, a running style or even on bike cycle analysis. Our speciality is rehabilitation, taking the client that bit further. Our feeling is that we need to turn an injury into a good thing and improve people 120% rather than just getting them 70-80% better.
What is different at Balance Performance compared to other sports physiotherapists? We work as a team and aspire to go beyond getting people better. We try to take them to a higher level of participation in their sport by improving their fitness and performance.
You have just spent five months working with some of the world’s leading tennis players on the ATP World Tour. Can you describe a typical working day? Yeah, it’s long! Get up, eat breakfast and meet with players, often by 8am... Go to site and prepare players for practice and early matches. Help players with stretches and KT tape.
Meanwhile I also have a long list of players with injuries requiring attention. Players competing on the day of course have priority but there is usually a queue. Once play starts, usually at about 11am, I am then on duty for all court calls. When called I usually have to stop treatment or player preparation and run fast to get to the court on time. It can be busy if I have three or four court
Leading ATP World Tour Physiotherapist Graham Anderson talks with International Tennis Magazine about his experience and life on the World Tour
www.isportgroup.com/InternationalTennisMagazine 26 | December 2011 INTERNATIONALTENNISMAGAZINE
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