Dr Matt Tuttle (Lead Sport Scientist & Physical Therapist at the Denver Nuggets)
Apr 28, 2024In Episode 11 I chat to Dr Matt Tuttle a Physical Therapist working at NBA team the Denver Nuggets as Lead Sport Scientist / Physical Therapist.
In this episode Matt explains modern pain science and how he / the Nuggets manage pain in an elite athlete population. Matt pragmatically shares the current evidence on this topic combined with his clinical experience and the reality of managing pain in a professional sport environment.
In the episode, in order we discuss:
- Matts background
- Role at Denver Nuggets as lead sport scientist and PT
- Amongst all the information that’s collected within PT and Sport Science, how does Matt funnel that information down to critical information for the other staff and coaching personnel.
- What is the 80% bang for your buck information that matters
- What inspired Matts interest in Pain Science
- The current thinking and understanding of pain science
- The biomechanical model for pain – Why are clinicians not evolving beyond this model.
- How do you approach pain management with Athletes in season
- Early Specialisation – Transitioning into the league and risk of injury
- How does pain management differ in the Nuggets or in pro sport – as compared to a conventional physiotherapy clinic.
- Making decisions, judgements and using intuition amongst objective clinical data.
- What tools does Matt favour at the Nuggets for getting pain under control
- Can we prevent injures verses reducing the risk of a potential injury occurring via ‘Good conditioning’
- When to diagnostically image or not in elite sport
