The Sports Physical Therapy Podcast · Mike Reinold

Return to Sport with Pete Draovitch - Episode 45

·45 min·3 clips

Pete says under-loading rehab can become overloading in performance, and that mistake gets blamed on the wrong room.

Mike opens by welcoming Pete and setting up a conversation about his framework for return to sport. Pete is a performance specialist, physical therapist, and athletic trainer for the Jacksonville Jaguars. His background spans baseball, hockey, golf, and HSS, which gives the discussion a wide clinical and performance view. The episode stays with how athletes move from one phase to the next. Pete keeps coming back to the framework because it gives the process shape from start to finish. The ingredients can change a little depending on the athlete, but the recipe should still hold. That idea runs through the whole conversation. Mike notes that Pete's way of organizing the process makes a complicated topic easier to follow. Pete agrees, and says that after doing this long enough, parts of it can start to feel like common sense. He adds that experience can also make clinicians too comfortable, and that is where mistakes slip in. The conversation turns to the need to keep checking details carefully, even when the broad pattern looks familiar. Pete gives examples of not missing specific findings, like prior procedures or movement features when evaluating a case. He also uses a baseball analogy to show how different roles in a progression need to work together. The starter, the middle reliever, and the closer all matter. That analogy supports his larger point that return to sport is a sequence, not a single test. Mike then asks why reinjury and poor return to performance rates can be so high, and the episode treats that as part of the larger problem of getting the progression right. The episode closes with mention of Pete's article and his return to sport continuum. The tone stays warm, practical, and grounded in what clinicians actually do.

As heard by us

A practical return to sport discussion built around progression, context, and a flexible clinical framework.

Pete Drejevich's conversation lands as a practical look at return to sport, shaped by his work as a performance specialist, physical therapist, and athletic trainer for the Jacksonville Jaguars, along with earlier time in baseball, hockey, golf, and HSS.

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Why you'd press play

Want a clearer way to think about returning athletes to sport without losing the progression?

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