John came to us suffering from severe pain every time he took to the field.

In his words, he was being limited to playing at 60% and simply trying to get through games with very little likelihood of elite performance.

He knew he needed a change.

But he didn’t know where to turn.

He’d tried to treat his groin pain in the past.

But he knew himself that he only really gave it half an attempt.

He never really committed to stepping away from the field and doing the work that he knew was necessary.

He also knew that his sleep and his nutrition could improve outside of his training as well.

He was showing up for training sore, underfueled, underslept and unconfident.

So, he made the decision to actually commit to doing something differently and getting some guidance from the experts.

He reached out to us and we quickly identified a few inefficiencies in his movement that we could begin to start working on.

We took the necessary step back from the field in order to give him the capacity to go after his current strength and movement deficits.

We made his current rate limiter our priority.

And this was a tough first step for John to take.

As a footballer, all you want to do is play football.

But his need/desire to play football was currently holding him back from actually playing at an elite level.

So, we took that decision out of his hands, asked him to take a step back from the pitch for a little while, and got to work.

And that is where so many athletes fall down when treating chronic injuries.

They try to play through the pain and get some work in outside of their training sessions and games.

But if you’re being tasked with playing at high intensity, multiple times per week, then you’re going to have less of an opportunity to push to intensity and recover from your rehab work during the week.

Every time you flare up the issue, you have to take a step back in order for it to settle and as a result, you’re losing valuable days and time that could be spent addressing your rate limiter.

Valuable time that you do not have.

And then championship rolls around and you underperform and ask yourself why?

Why?

Isn’t it obvious?

The thing that has been holding you back never really has been addressed.

And as a result the things that help you to stand out on the field have dropped off significantly as well.

So you’ve become ineffective and simply average out there.

And that is definitely not how you are going to reach your potential.

So, by taking a step backwards, John gave himself the opportunity to take a few steps forward.

We worked on his physical capacity.

We ironed out any strength deficits that were present.

We eliminated the chronic pain that had been ever present in his life for far too long.

We got him back on the field and helped him to move more efficiently in both his linear speed and change of direction.

We re-integrated him back in with the group steadily and continued to work on everything that had worked for us up to that point.

He waited for his time and took it when given the opportunity to play for the county.

He managed to finish the league strong and earn his jersey for a National League Final in Croke Park.

He played the whole game and extra time and helped his county to win their first summer title since 1944.

That’s something he’ll never forget.

And something that maybe wouldn’t have been possible had he not made the decision to take a step back and actually address his major issue.

He gave himself the opportunity to reach his potential this season by asking himself the tough questions and actually committing to the work.

And that’s what most athletes will never do.

And that’s why most will never reach their potential.

And once you improve your level, then you gain access to another level in the future.

But in order to do so you’ve got to repeat the same process again.

Identify what is holding you back, what your rate limiter is and then go after it.

Go after it with as much intent as possible.

And watch your performance break through the glass ceiling that’s holding it back.