VALDCAST

What does it take to become a better performance practitioner in today's high-performance environment? In this episode of VALDCAST, Fearghal Kerin shares lessons from his career spanning elite sport, applied research and practitioner development, exploring how curiosity, critical thinking and communication underpin great decision-making. Rather than chasing metrics for the sake of measurement...

What does sports science look like when you're supporting everyone from soccer players and skateboarders to surfers, snowboarders and wingsuit athletes? In this episode of VALDCAST, Jordan Troester, Director of Performance at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center , shares how one of the world's most unique high-performance environments approaches athlete support across an incredibly di...

How do you build a performance system that actually improves decision-making? In this episode of VALDCAST, Trevor Short shares his approach to high-performance leadership, discussing how sport science, sports medicine, strength & conditioning, nutrition and mental health can work together to improve athlete outcomes. Drawing on his experience overseeing multidisciplinary performance teams, Tre...

In this episode of VALDCAST, Dawn Scott reflects on her journey from introducing sport science to England's Women's National Football (Soccer) Team in the early 2000s to helping drive performance innovation with the U.S. Women's National Soccer (Football) Team during an era that included multiple World Cup and Olympic successes. The conversation explores: • How women's football...

What does effective sport science actually look like in practice? In this episode of VALDCAST, host Dylan chats to Anna Cruse, Assistant Athletic Director for Applied Health and Performance Science at the University of Utah. They delve into the systems, relationships and decision-making processes that underpin successful sport science programs — explaining why collaboration, data quality and athle...

What does it actually take to work in elite sport environments?  In this episode of VALDCAST, Braylon Tatum discusses athlete profiling, objective data and the realities of operating in high performance sport. From managing elite athletes to building systems that support performance decision-making, this conversation dives into how modern practitioners approach performance, monitoring and developm...

What does elite ACL rehab actually look like in 2026? In this episode of the VALDCAST, Ziad from Ignite Phyzio breaks down how objective data, athletic development and clinician education are reshaping modern rehab.  From using ForceDecks and ForceFrame testing to guide decision-making, to integrating sport-specific drills early in the rehab process, this conversation explores what it really takes...

In this episode of VALDCAST, high‑performance leader Dave Hamilton shares insights from over 25 years across Olympic sport, collegiate athletics and the NFL. From his early days at the UK Institute of Sport to leading performance units in elite team environments, Dave breaks down how he cut's through complexity and builds performance models that genuinely move the needle. Dave explains why si...

In this episode, clinician and researcher Jarrod Antflick breaks down the real drivers of tendinopathy across the Achilles tendon and patellar tendon.  From systemic influences like metabolic and hormonal factors to the impact of high load sport, Jarrod explains why diagnosis is everything and why not all tendinopathies are created equal. He dives into the key differences between Achilles and pate...

What’s really changed in high performance over the last 20 years? In this episode of VALDCAST, Mark Fitzgerald shares lessons from decades in elite sport — from early days with minimal data to today’s tech-driven environments. He dives into: Why coaching intuition still matters (and how tech should support it) Managing athlete relationships and “owning the room” Making better decisions with both o...

In this episode of #VALDCAST, host Dylan sits down with Jess Ellis — founder of Rehab Code and former NBA health and performance director — to challenge some of the most common assumptions in modern rehab. From structure and function in elite athletes, jump testing and pathomechanics, Jess discusses the topics in rehab and performance that many often shy away from.  In this conversation, Jess refl...

In this episode of #VALDCAST, our host Ryan sits down with Dr. Marc Lewis — Director of Applied Sports Science for the Houston Texans and co‑founder of the Sport Science Network — to unpack what it really takes to build and run a high-performance system in the NFL. Shaped by his military background, Marc shares how systems based thinking underpins everything from in‑season decision‑making to long‑...

In this BONUS episode of VALDCAST, Ryan sits down with physio, biomechanist and researcher Dr. Chris Bramah to explore how practitioners can better profile and prepare athletes for HYROX. Chris breaks down the unique demands of the sport, highlighting why running remains the central performance driver and how factors like plantar flexor strength, tendon stiffness and reactive qualities underpin pe...

In this episode of VALDCAST, our host Ryan sits down with biomechanist and Griffith University researcher, Tyler Collings, to break down one of the most common and most misunderstood topics in sports technology: validity and reliability. Tyler explains what these terms actually mean in practice, why they’re often confused and how human variability, testing protocols and “gold standards” influence...

In this episode of VALDCAST, Dylan sits down with physical therapist and Impact Sports Physical Therapy founder Bobby Esbrandt to unpack what it really means to assess, treat and develop athletes beyond a single metric.  Bobby shares why relying solely on the countermovement jump can leave critical gaps in decision-making, and how building a complete athlete profile — spanning strength, power, rat...

In this episode of VALDCAST, Ryan sits down with Taylor Evernden, coach and Co-Founder of ORKA Performance, to explore what truly effective return-to-performance looks like when rehab, performance and people are fully aligned. Taylor shares how ORKA has built a collaborative model that moves athletes seamlessly from acute rehab into performance — balancing objective data, subjective feedback and t...

In this episode of VALDCAST, Dylan sits down with physical therapist at New York City Football Club, Hannah Marchant , to unpack one of the most challenging cases in knee rehabilitation: medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction, recurrent patellar instability and complex cartilage lesions in a Division I-bound football athlete. Hannah walks us through the full journey — from baseline t...

In this episode of the VALDCAST, our host Ryan sits down with the co-founder of ForceDecks Dr. Daniel Cohen — sports scientist, researcher and long-time leader in force plate methodology. Together they unpack one of the most important (and misunderstood) areas in athlete assessment: what force plate data actually means . Dan breaks down the insights behind VALD's 2024-25 Premier League Report...

In this episode of VALDCAST, our host Dylan sits down with Physiotherapist and ORKA Performance Co-Founder Travis Gaudet to unpack what meaningful technology integration looks like at a company level.  Travis breaks down the growth of ORKA’s clinical and educational arms and explains how technology became a central driver in that evolution.  We cover:  ✅ How to create cohesion in testing processe...

In this episode, Ryan sits down with Karl Goodman , co-founder of Athletes Authority, for a deep dive into how one of Australia’s leading performance facilities was built (and rebuilt) through smart use of technology, clear business principles and hard-earned lessons.  Karl explains how Athletes Authority used testing and objective data to differentiate their brand from day one, elevating athlete...

Our host Dylan sat down with co-inventor of the NordBord, Dr. Tony Shield , to unpack the origins of the world’s leading hamstring testing system. In this episode, Tony discusses the evolution of hamstring research, the rise of eccentric training and how a pair of load cells became a global standard for injury prevention and performance. Tony also shares insights into why dosing, data and simplici...

In this episode of VALDCast, our host Ryan sits down with Jo Clubb — founder of Global Performance Insights and one of the most respected figures in applied sport science — to unpack her journey from elite team environments to life as a private consultant. Jo reflects on formative experiences across the Premier League, NHL and NFL, including her time with Chelsea FC, the Buffalo Sabres and the Buf...

In this episode of the VALDCast, we sit down with Associate Professor at La Trobe University Dr. Lachlan James — sports scientist, consultant, and founder of ForceLab — to decode one of the most misunderstood areas in performance: strength domains . With modern technology offering hundreds of data points from a single jump or lift, practitioners might find themselves monitoring too many metrics. L...

Our guest today is Dr. Phil Graham-Smith , Reader in Biomechanics and Innovation at Manchester Metropolitan University and co-founder of ForceDecks . Ryan and Phil discuss the origins of ForceDecks, how far it's come since Phil and Dan Cohen first joined up to create the product, the concepts of validity and reliability in force plate testing, and the importance of applying scientific princip...

“It’s not just for research anymore — every surgical patient gets tested throughout their recovery.” – Dr Catherine Logan In this episode, orthopedic surgeons Dr Ivan Wong and Dr Catherine Logan join cohosts Mark Opar and Dylan Carmody to discuss how objective measurement is transforming patient care and surgical decision-making. With backgrounds spanning physical therapy, elite sport and orthoped...