Speakers:
Elizabeth Chaffin, PT, DPT, MS, ATC - USTA Medical Coordinator
Brian Hainline, MD - Chief Medical Officer, United States Tennis Association Chair and will be the new Chief Medical Officer for the NCAA starting in 2013. He is also a member of the iTPA Certification Commission.
Neeru Jayanthi MD - USPTA, Vice President, STMS. Dr. Jayanthi is also the Director of Loyola Tennis Medicine and Primary Care Medicine Program at Loyola School of Medicine in Maywood, IL. Dr. Jayanthi is also a member of the iTPA Certification Commission.
W. Ben Kibler, MD - Dr. W. Ben Kibler is the Medical Director for Lexington Clinic Sports Medicine Center and Shoulder Center of Kentucky of the Lexington Clinic in Lexington, KY. He is the team physician and orthopedist for the Lexington Legends; class A minor league team in the Houston Astros Organization. He also is team physician for numerous colleges and high schools in the Lexington area. Currently, Dr. Kibler serves on the Sports Science Committee of the U.S. Tennis Association, as a consultant for the Women’s Tennis Association, and is a founding member of the Society of Tennis Medicine and Science. Dr. Kibler is a Fellow and former Vice President for the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr. Kibler has presented and written prolifically on all areas of sports medicine. He specializes in the upper extremity, shoulder pathology, scapula, and biomechanics of tennis. Dr. Kibler is a member of the iTPA Certification Commission
Mark Kovacs, PhD, FACSM, CTPS, CSCS is the Executive Director of the International Tennis Performance Association (iTPA) and is a tennis researcher, certified strength and conditioning specialist and certified tennis professional. He was a former tennis All-American and NCAA champion.
Page Love, MS, RD, CSSD, LD, CSCS, ACSM - Registered Dietitian and Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. ACSM Certified Health and Fitness Instructor, President and Founder of Nutrifit, Sport, Therapy, Inc. Page is a member of the iTPA Certification Commission.
Satoshi Ochi, CSCS, CTPS - Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at the United States Tennis Association (USTA). He is based at USTA National Training Center Headquarters in Boca Raton, FL. Satoshi oversees and manages Strength and Conditioning programs for the USTA Player Development program. Prior to joining the USTA, Satoshi was the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Creighton University where he was also an instructor for the Exercises Science Department. Satoshi, from Shizuoka, Japan, received his M.A. in Exercise Science from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Satoshi also received his B.A. in Exercise Science at Creighton University and played tennis for the BlueJays while attending the university. Satoshi is a member of the iTPA Advisory Board.
Marc Safran, MD - Past President STMS, Orthopaedic Consultant WTA. Dr. Safran is also the Associate Chief of Sports Medicine and Fellowship Director of Sports Medicine, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Safran specializes in Sports Medicine and arthroscopic and ligament reconstructive surgery on the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee. He is a diplomat at the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and member of such prestigious societies such as: The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the ACL Study Group, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Society, the Paradicus Society, the Multicenter of Arthroscopic Hip Surgery Outcomes Research Network, the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network, and the Society of Tennis Medicine and Science in addition to the American College of Sports Medicine. Dr. Safran is a member of the iTPA Certification Commission.
Oliver Stephens,PTR Master of Tennis-Performance, PTR Clinician & Tester (currently studying for the TPT exam)
Kathleen Stroia MS, PT, ATC - Vice President, Sport Sciences & Medicine and Player Development WTA Tour, Inc. Kathleen is a member of the iTPA Certification Commission.
Walter C. Taylor, III, MD - Program Director for Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship, Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education, College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Department of Education Services, Jacksonville, Florida and Medical Advisor - WTA Tour, Florida
Joseph S. Wilkes, MD - Dr. Joseph S. Wilkes has been providing Orthopaedic care to his patients for over 20 years. He is a general Orthopaedic surgeon with fellowship training in sports medicine, and surgery of the hand. Dr. Wilkes’ practice encompasses total orthopaedic care including upper and lower extremity and joint replacement. He specializes in complex disorders of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hand, including arthroscopy repair reconstruction.
The conference hosts Drs. Neeru Jayanthi, MD (STMS Vice-President and Director, Tennis Medicine Program at Loyola University) and Mark Kovacs, PhD, CTPS (iTPA) opened the conference talking about the importance of balancing improving performance with reducing tennis injuries. One important takeaway from this presentation was for the different specialists (physical therapists, athletic trainers, medical doctors, certified tennis performance specialists etc) to continue to look at each athlete as a total person and focus on finding the cause of the problems rather than just focusing on symptom. Focus training and analysis from the core region out and the lower body up. It is important to understand why you choose certain exercises at certain time with each athlete. One important concept was that exercises are not typically good or bad. The problem is exercises that are applied at the wrong time in a periodized program, to the wrong type of athlete, at the wrong age and stage of development or for the wrong goals. These were a couple of simple concepts that sometimes you may forget when working with your tennis athletes.
The iTPA Inner Circle (www.itpamembers.org) will be bringing an in-depth summary of the major presentations over the next two weeks including some video footage from the on-court sessions. The iTPA Inner Circle is available to all iTPA members. Register for TPT or CTPS today and you will gain access to the Inner Circle. Happy holidays!