Sports Massage V Sports Therapy

[ledgauhhaUg]

Hi there,

I've been reading these pages with great interest! I am currently looking to start a course which would lead to my working in Sports Therapy or Massage and just recently (partially due to reading this thread) realised the difference between them. I have a degree in Psychology, but have danced all my life and been a professional dancer for the last 10 years. I would have loved to do an MSc in Sports Therapy, but have been told under no uncertain terms that my degree is completely irrelevant and I would not cope with the anatomy etc - I'm sure they're right! So, now I have been looking at LSSM, NLSSM, Premier Training and Active Health Group. The latter seems really good as it's a diploma in Sports THERAPY (I think this is more what I'd like to do). So here is my dilemma... Do I travel all the way to Manchester to do this or is there and equivilant in London?? (please God), do I study intensively for 5 weeks? I really want a qualification which is respected by Organisations and don't want to rush into this if it's better to study over a year. Also there are certain financial implications here!

What do people think of work prospects if I were to train with LSSM etc? This is far more convenient for me, but I'm worried that Therapy is going to be far more useful than massage alone and don't want to spend time on a course which won't completely fulfil my requirements. Also, could I do the Sports Massage Course with LSSM for eg, and then do CPD to gain qualifications in Sports Therapy?

Someone help me please!!! I'm sure between all of you, there will be an answer out there.
Thanks so much

 

[chellithangam]

Hello there, work prospects in both disciplines are entirely down to the amount of energy an individual wants to put into it. There is not a mature job market with defined career paths-most of us are self employed, although a few may be employees (of Gyms for example). Many of our members (Sports Massage Association) work in elite sport with, amongst others, premier league football clubs, track and field athletes, professional rugby etc. where the demand for Sports Massage is significant and long established. However, and this is important, Sports Massage as a career is extraordinarily tiring. The more successful you get the more masage you do! I do it because I enjoy the physical element of it, but 13 or 14 massages a day during the weeks before the London Marathon takes it out of you (I wouldn't recommend it).

I'm sure SportsTherapy/BigGaz will give you another perspective.

Good luck!

 

[ZOOLOGY]

hi there, I agree with Paul, there are exceptionally few sports massage practioners and sports therapists who work exclusively for a club, off the top of my head, I know about 15 STs that do, the rest are self employed, some full time in clinics, and others splitting their time between clinic and club. A few people I know are fortunate enough to work as full time therapists for elite sports people too. I have to say, the people I know who work exclusively for a club, dont earn as much as our self employed ST's, not sure what others think about this?

Regarding the physical aspect of the job, yes sports massage can be tiring, and if you are doing it full time, you have to be very fit, although with time, you become uber fit!

Prospects....now that is something that I would be biased about, so I cant comment, and I dont know how successful graduates of other schools are.

Regarding CPD most providers will allow what they call Accreditation of Prior Learning, and in most cases, is a more expensive way of gaining a qualification, so you would have to find out costs.

Unfortunately there arent that many STs, SMPs or SRMPs on here, so you may be limited with replies, but hopefully you will get a broad range of advice.

Good luck

 

[Tana Rose]

Hi,

Thanks very much for those comments. Could you tell me anything about the courses which I mentioned? Also what do you think of the Advanced Clinical Sports Therapy and Remedial Massage course from Raworth International in Surrey? I'm seriously considering this one as it covers 'massage' and 'therapy' but it's very expensive so I want a good recognised qualification from it!

Thanks so much for all your help, I have to make some quick decisions, so this advice is invaluable.
Liz

 

[Monsieur Rick]

hi, if you want to compare courses:

Active Health Group offer Level 5 Advanced Diploma in Sports Therapy for £2450.00; the qualifications gained are: NCFE Level 5 Advanced Diploma in Sports Therapy, recognised by the Society of Sports Therapists, GCMT and CNHC; BTEC Level 5 Professional Diploma in Sport & Remedial Massage recognised by ISRM, GCMT and CNHC; and an ActiveIQ (no relation) Level 2 Certificate in Fitness Instruction, recognised by REPs, all externally awarded.

LSSM offer a BTEC Level 5 Professional Diploma in Sport & Remedial Massage, recognised by ISRM, GCMT and CNHC, at a cost of £2650.00 (externally awarded qualification)

Raworth offer the Clinical Sports Therapy (Advanced Diploma) their qualifications are: Raworth Diplomas in Advanced Clinical Sports Therapy and Sports Massage and Remedial Bodywork, Raworth Certificate in Sports Nutrition, Raworth Diploma in Anatomy, Physiology & Massage (all internally awarded certificates), ITEC Level 3 Diploma in Holistic Massage (externally awarded), for £6337.00. The Sport Massage part of their course is being re-validated by SMA.

I know many graduates of Active & LSSM, and I have been told by a Raworth lecturer that they train around 7 per year, although that was 2 years ago so that figure may have increased?

In my opinion, I dont think training that few people can give you a very good reputation, as not many people will have been treated by their graduates. I know Active and LSSM graduates are very well regarded.

On the subject of CPD, if you were to do the LSSM course, you could do a bridging course at Active which would cost £800 plus any additional days training that you would need at £65 per day, plus a £50 assessment fee.

As far as courses go, if you want a decent quality Sport & Remedial Massage course then you should stick with ISRM, and if you want a well recognised and decent sports therapy course, then you the Active one is the one to go for.....in my opinion

 

[M.V.P]

Hi Liz,
I will relay the research I carried out some time ago,

Raworth courses were not reaching National occupational standards and my view at the time was that it was a case of "buying " a qualification, I accept this may now not be the case,
Iknow that LSSM course is level 5 BTEC and gives you opportunity of membership of ISRM, I believe the course is sports massage and 2 remedial techniques.
I cannot comment on NLSSM sports massage courses as I have no experience or contact with them other than what is on the website and previously meeting with Susan findlay.

AHG course is either intensive, or run over weekends or full week blocks over a year, includes home study, case studies and also has "piggy back" options ranging from gym or fitness instructor, personal trainier, or BTEC.

I am sure if you carry out a basic search there are other opinions on this forum on the various courses.
I would recommend you speak to GCMT who would tell you the massage training schools whos courses meet the new standards in education.
I agree with sportsmassage post in general but think the statement about many SMA members working in elite sports is slightly misleading and would read better if it said that a percentage of their members are working in elite sports rather than suggesting the majority do.
I was suprised today to hear that SMA have decided not to join the GCMT and are instead working towards reinforcing certain relationships they hold.

I persoanlly spoke to all the major training providers and asked lots of questions and made an informed choice, after deciding which one met my own objectives and aims
regards
BGFL

 

[*mumultuhin kita*]

hi again Liz,
i forgot to mention, i have put some info on the sports therapy training links, which is at the top of the sports therapies forum.

 

[ohgftmmi]

I have experience of both LSSM and NLSSM. Excellent courses and well led by Mel Cash and Susan Findlay respectively. I think you need to factor into your thinking the type of client you see yourself treating, and the type of services they might demand. Writing a business plan-no matter how simplistic can help to focus the mind in terms of the target market(s) you may have (professional dancers?) and the services you see yourself providing---and it may help you decide on the appropriate course for you.

Good Luck

 

[BOE]

I can't tell you how much all this advice is helping me!! I'm thinking of going for the Active course and getting it done in just 5 weeks.

IS STUDYING THIS TYPE OF COURSE INTENSIVELY SEEN AS A BAD THING???

Also, if I did want to work with prof dancers (yes Sportsmassage), would it be better to do LSSM or Active??

Thank you thank you thank you!

 

[Ebo]

I would put in a call to LSSM and Active, also Susan Findlay. Mel as I recall did work extensively with dancers and Susan has a background in top level gymnastics (and possibly dancing). Just to declare my hand NLSSM is an SMA accredited school, but I certainly wouldn't discourage you from looking at the other two.

In terms of intensive courses-I think it probably depends on your ability to rapidly absorb and then retain information. Is it seen as a bad thing? I couldn't comment-but I'm sure others will.

Paul
SMA

 

[AAchieceswep]

Hi Liz,
good advice from Paul,
The Active course is run over a year, its just the practical phase that changes,
the home study part and the case study part still take the full year on average
the 5 weeks can also be taken as a split of either 1 week at a time, two weeks/two weeks and final week or a mixture.

Regars
BGFL

 

[Teddy Hart & Jack Evans]

Hi Liz,
without this sounding like a sales pitch, which I hope it doesnt, I trained with Active, and I teach for them 2 days on every course. My main job is a full time therapist, and I limit myself to 30 clients per week, as anymore can be a bit tiring, I also employ 4 therapists. I have worked with a very large dance school, with their dance degree students, where I learned so much about dancers, in fact I think they are my most challenging 'patients'. I work with one of the most famous dancers in the UK, and have worked on dancers from some very high profile dance TV shows.

Active have recently had a professional dancer over from Norway to train with them, and her testimonial is on their website.

Aside from dance, I have worked at very high levels in sport, and again, this presents you with an even greater range of problems to treat, which can be very stimulating.

As far as intensive courses go, I have read that they dont work....well my answer to that is, I dont seem to have done too badly from it! Of course its harder work, it can be draining, but its worked for Active for 9 years....

It works at Active because the centre has a busy clinic, where students can go and get real work experience, aside from the tutors theres always therapists around, so its not like a normal 'school' setting.

I also hear 'how can you learn sports therapy in 25 days?', well again, as Gaz says, the course actually lasts around a year, if you can commit more time to study then you can do it quicker.

One other thing about intensive courses, if they are so bad, why have all the major associations approached Active to validate/accredit their courses??

At the end of the day Liz, you have to make your own decisions, and it is a shame that there isnt more independent advice on here, relating to 'sports', but what I can say is if you choose Active, LSSM or NLSSM, you wont go far wrong.

 

[b_brownell]

Hi Liz, thats great! If you come on Wednesday or Thursday next week you will be able to see me in action teaching!!....on second thoughts...lol

Its good when potential students check out their potential schools, its good for us as teachers, as we know that someone is serious about training, but also as a potential student, you can find so much out, especiall if you can speak to students that are there..

Hope to meet you soon!

 

[swimmergirl247]

Hi there,

Your last message convinced me and I just heard from the Society of Sports Therapists that the course at Raworth is not recognised by them!

So... I've booked on the course @ Active to start in Oct! It's 'do or die' right!

See you then! Anything you can tell me to get me started would be great! PM me if you want.

So looking forward to meeting you and getting started - it's been 7 years of umming and erring to get to this point.

Thanks to everyone for helping make the decision!

 

[*magic*]

Hi Liz go for it !
get your head into as much A+P as possible prior to your course start date.Its this key area that can hold back or excellorate your ability to do well on the short courses.
Best of luck + enjoy steve

 

[Laaaauren *]

Hi Liz,

Sorry I'm a bit late coming to this thread but can only congratulate you on your decision. I trained with Active Health on the intensive course in 2006 and have done a few other courses with them since.

The course has changed a bit since I completed it but the training is, I'm sure, as thorough as ever. I would not pretend that it is easy, there is a lot to take in and I know everyone on my course had at least one "I can't cope!" moment, but we all ( with the exception of one who had to drop out due to family problems) completed the course successfully.

The best advice I can offer is to get your nose into your anatomy books, the more you learn about muscle origins, insertions and actions the better off you will be - both on the course and in your new career.

Since qualifying I have got more and more interested in postural and remedial work and love it!

I think you have made the right decision, good luck on the course and in the future. If you would like to ask any further questions, please feel free to PM me.

Best wishes

Dave