Episode 25: Kevin McLaughlin

This week Rory and Rudds sat down with retired rugby player and now VP of operations of Kitman Labs, Kevin McLaughlin.

The guys discuss the rationale behind Kitman labs, to harvest data to help elite sports teams deal with injuries and rehabilitation and how it’s inception was borne at Leinster Rugby by Stevie Smith.

One of the big topics of the episode is - Will coaches be driven more about objective measurements of certain criteria, for example a 2nd row in rugby should be this height, weight, bench press X amount and squat X amount, when it comes to selecting players into academies or sports teams?

Kevin offers some great insights into how elite level coaches use the data as a measure of objectivity but never lose sight of their innate coaching abilities to make decisions.

Kevin shares what habits he has picked up from visiting various clubs from different sports at elite level, and compares them to what he experiences dealing with the 4 provinces in Rugby at home and more specifically his time with Leinster. Kevin also shares his thoughts on the best ways, from his experience, to try and build a good club culture and how this is very different between sports like Rugby and Soccer where money and ego play a much bigger role.

The guys discuss dealing with a long list of injuries and set-backs throughout Kevin’s career.

Rory gives some practical advice for recreational athletes on running an inventory of their bodies capabilities and regularly assessing these bench marks in order to spot any red flags for injury.

In this weeks Quiz, Rory is thrown under the bus by Rudds in a Leinster Heineken Cup themed quiz where the loser takes on the 50 burpees for time forfeit.

Enjoy.

2 mins; The rationale behind kitman labs, to harvest data to help elite sports teams deal with injuries and rehabilitation.

3 mins; Being passionate about going into business.

6 mins; How do you determine the data or physical tests for different sports or sports teams? Helping sports teams focus on specific data points for specific injuries found in their sport.

8 mins 15 seconds; Is there any generic or consistent indicator/metric across team based sports that lead to injury?

11 mins 30 seconds; Is there any innovative ideas for Kitman labs? Are you expanding your product and what can we expect in the future?

13 mins; Will coaches be driven more about objective measurements of certain criteria, for example a 2nd row in rugby should be this height, weight, bench press X amount and squat X amount, when it comes to selecting players into academies or sports teams?

19 mins 20 seconds; Do you meet up with your clients to get feedback and build relationships ?

20 mins; What has really opened your eyes from visiting your clients and can you give comparisons to other sports, such as football vs rugby?

21 mins 30 seconds; What habits have you taken from visiting various clubs from different sports, and can you compare it to your time in Leinster Rugby?

24 mins; What would be the best way in your experience to try and build a good club culture?

28 mins 10 seconds; Dealing with injuries and set-backs. Did the culture around Leinster help you psychologically overcome the injuries and help you come back stronger?

30 mins; Is there anything you would have changed or do now, that you didn’t have access or knowledge of previously, that you would apply to your rehab to get back quicker?

31 mins 17 seconds; Any advice to younger/recreational athletes to stay injury free when competing in sport?

38 minutes; Quiz. 50 burpees for time is the forfeit.