May 23, 2024 • 20 mins
Ever dreamt of rubbing shoulders with elite athletes and being at the forefront of sports medicine? Dr. Monte Hessler, the chiropractic maestro for the Phoenix Suns, the San Francisco Giants and PGA Tour athletes, joins us to unravel the tape on a 24-year career marked by precision adjustments and courtside seats to athletic greatness. Monte walks us through the labyrinth of making it in the competitive world of sports chiropractic, where ambition meets humility. He emphasizes the iron-clad trifecta of networking, volunteering, and continuous education—highlighting the power of certifications like CCSP and CSCS. But it's not just about the credentials; it's about playing well with others in the sandbox of sports medicine, where collaboration and communication are king.
Strap on your athletic tape and ready your ice packs as we tackle the intricacies of managing sports injuries. Dr. Hessler recounts tales from the training room, featuring cameos from the likes of Shawn Marion, Jason Kidd, Grant Hill and unveils the biomechanical mysteries of rotational athletes and basketball sharpshooters. For the emerging talent in chiropractic, he lays down the game plan—build relationships, seize opportunities, and always be ready when the next big break comes knocking. As we navigate the dual demands of a bustling clinic and the unpredictable schedule of a pro team, Dr. Hessler doesn't just offer a playbook—he extends a hand, inviting listeners to reach out and join the huddle of professionals transforming the field of sports medicine.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, I'm Dr Arlen Foer, the founder and chairman
of Activator MethodsInternational, and welcome to
Activate your Practice Today.
We are honored to have acelebrity in our office here, dr
Monty Hessler, who is the teamchiropractor for the Phoenix
Suns, and I've known Monty for along time and I asked him one
(00:27):
day you know, you have been thechiropractor for the Phoenix
Suns, which is a big thing, butit doesn't seem like anybody
ever recognized you.
So I told him Monty, I want youto come in and tell us about
your 24 years.
Is that correct?
Correct?
24 years of being with a majorteam or teams?
Because I found out somethingthis morning that I didn't know.
Bonnie is also the teamchiropractor for the San
(00:51):
Francisco Giants, correct?
And that's spring training herein Phoenix, correct.
And I saw this on it.
Show them your finger there.
That's his Super Bowl, hisWorld Series ring, and I thought
, boy, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I remember the day I got this.
I was more than touched.
It was a pretty amazing day,Well not many people have World
Series rings.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
That's true.
Now I want to go back becauseyou know kids coming out of
school today.
They'd all love to be in yourposition with you know that kind
of a job.
What steps did you take tobecome, you know, involved with
the professional sports?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, for starters, something I want to say I was in
practice for 14 years before Iever made any major inroads into
the at least the professionalsports world.
But in that time frame you haveto do a lot of volunteering.
There were AAU events and trackand field events and obviously
marathons and 5Ks and all thosekinds of things to, over that
(01:53):
time frame, gain introductionsand met other young and upcoming
professionals in sportsmedicine.
So from making some of thosenetworking connections, one of
the orthopedic docs that I metalong the way met him in 91 and
come about 99, 2000,.
(02:13):
That his orthopedic group gotthe contract with the Suns and
then when the athletes wanted achiropractor and because of that
relationship he he asked me tojoin the sports medicine team
for the sons.
You know, there's something elseI wanted to mention.
I mean for someone that youcould be early in practice and
you can be in practice for awhile if you don't have a like a
(02:34):
sports medicine network.
In other words, if you don'thave a, what I like to see is an
orthopedic group, lma, practicegroup, imaging facility where
you have a good relationshipwith the radiologist and
potentially a PT group toprovide timely and quality care
for your athletes.
I mean sometimes it requiresyou have an athlete come in.
(02:55):
They might need some sort ofcleanup of a joint or different
injections.
It's nice to have access tothose services so you can make a
timely referral and take goodcare of your athletes.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
I also noticed that you've got a lot of credentials
after your name and I'm assumingthose are sports certifications
.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
The main one I have is a CCSP, which is I got it
through your alma mater, throughLogan, which is I got it
through your alma mater, throughLogan, which, honestly, I got
that in 95.
And I have a couple of thoughtson that.
It was great.
Education has served me well.
There's another certificationout there called CSCS Certified
(03:40):
Strength and ConditioningSpecialist.
I think that we talked a littlebit earlier about doctors that
that cross borders, so to speak.
In other words, this, this, inmy opinion anyway, this
certification kind of crossesborders.
You have physical therapists,athletic trainers, other docs
that have this CSCS that is, Ithink, more recognizable than
just a specific chiropracticcertification Not to say that
(04:02):
that wasn't good and I'mdefinitely in support of our
profession, but just kind ofcross the boundaries of that one
.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
So, in other words, what you're saying is don't
limit yourself to thechiropractic one.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Basically.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, basically, and you know another thought that
comes up whenever I have a well,it's usually a younger chiro
that wants to get into thesports medicine world.
You know, sometimes I mentionedthat sports network to them.
They go wow, how do I developthat?
And I give them a couplepointers, a couple clues.
(04:35):
I mean one thing you can do isyou know practice you're
interested in Go and introduceyourself, try to get maybe five
minutes with one of the decisionmakers in the practice and
offer some services, offer to doa talk to their patients on a
topic of their choice.
Maybe they see a lot of youngerathletes and they don't do
(04:56):
baseline concussion testing.
I'll offer to go in and dobaseline concussion testing for
some of their young athletes.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So it's almost a volunteering your services, to
start with.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
At the beginning.
You have to, I don't.
Well, in my opinion, I don'tsee another way of doing it
without volunteering initially,but then it ends up with
networking Big time.
Yeah, big time.
If you're not just likedeveloping your practice, you're
not going to develop yourpractice when you first open it,
sitting behind your desk, right, you're going to get involved
(05:28):
with other professionals.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Describe an interaction with these other
people the PTs, the ATCs and soforth.
What kind of reaction?
How does it work when you'retreating an athlete?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
That's a great question.
You know, the biggest things asports medicine team is like,
almost like any athletic teamthere's got to be harmony and
communication and trust and torecognize your strengths and
stay in your lane, so to speak.
(06:00):
Different sports medicine teams, that you have a particular
provider that wants to doeverything, that wants to be the
hero.
They jump in there and theywant to take care of everything.
It just kind of messes up thewhole chemistry of the team and
it just doesn't work.
And I've seen I've seen chirosget a a great opportunity with
some pro teams and they jump,jump in there and get over
(06:21):
zealous and they try to do toomuch and they kind of mess up
their relationship.
As a matter of fact, I was headtrainer with the San Francisco
Giants a few years ago.
He said hey, when you talk toyour colleagues, would you tell
them that when we bring a Cairoout here, all we want you guys
to do is to adjust to manipulate.
(06:41):
Whatever term we're going touse is to adjust to manipulate
whatever term we're using.
You know, as you go higher inthat sports medicine world, all
of us I don't orthopedic doctor,family practice doctor, whoever
, pt, chiro our role becomesmuch more specific the higher we
go up and once again it's kindof that recognizing your role
and staying in your lane andeverything seems to work a lot
(07:03):
better.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
You know, I've often wondered, when you go to a game
in the evening, what are some ofthe steps that you do?
I'm sure you don't just walk inand you know, I'm sure you have
a protocol.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Well, these days there's a ton of security for
starters.
But you know, each sport that Iwork with is a little different
.
For example, phoenix Suns,primarily game day stuff.
I get there about two hoursbefore the game and it's just
athletes that want to be treatedbefore they play.
Baseball is a little different.
(07:38):
Spring training is threemornings a week.
That's just routine treatmentsfor all the players.
Then when I do a cover a gamethat one's kind of similar I go
in um for baseball it's a littlemore about three hours early um
see most of the playersbeforehand.
Interesting twist with baseballis, you know, about fourth,
(07:58):
fifth inning, some of thepitchers that are relievers they
might not want to get ittreated till you know further
into the game before they beforethey go in and the um.
I cover some stuff on a PGAtour as well and that one's a
little bit a little bit moredemanding because we are out
there all day during the week ofthat tournament.
So that one's, you know,involves travel.
(08:21):
Um it's a little more.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
For example.
I guess I'd like to know someof the memorable experiences
that you've had.
Who are some of the namedpeople that really got
beneficial, In the Suns, forexample?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Oh gosh, sean Marion had a great relationship with
Jason Kidd, grant Hill.
There have been people alongthe way that have just been
wonderful, wonderfulrelationships.
Some of the things that reallymeant a lot to me were, whatever
the sport was, you're dealingwith an athlete and they say,
(09:02):
hey, after I get adjusted I movebetter, I can focus better,
I've had a baseball player, Ican see the pitch better coming,
all kinds of stuff that in myworld is really really
remarkable stuff.
Through PGA there's been someremarkable travel.
I've worked in South Korea,japan, morocco, plus multiple
(09:26):
places in the United States.
There have been someuncomfortable memories too.
I've had some I'm not going tosay a name on this one, but
everybody would recognize thename some very high-end athletes
.
When you first meet them theydon't well, they kind of don't
trust you so much until you dosome work on them.
And I had one athlete say heseemed pleasant enough, but when
(09:49):
we walk into my treatment areaI'd never met the guy before.
He's a high-end person, I know,everybody knows his name.
He said if you don't get myback to move, you're fired.
It was my first interactionwith him so of course, needless
to say, I got his back to move.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yes, yes.
How about Charles Barkley?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You know he was before my time.
I've met him here and there.
He you know I started with theSons in 99, 2000.
Charles was gone and or went toHouston in 93, 94, somewhere in
there, so I missed out on the.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
The reason I ask that question is Charles lived about
three houses down Really, me InPhoenix when I first came here,
and what a character he is acharacter, yeah, he was, and he
was totally different in aneighborhood than he was out in
public.
He was just a different type ofguy.
Out of all the sports, then,what's the favorite to take care
(10:44):
of?
Oh goodness.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
That's tough to answer.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
I know they're different.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
They are different, they're all fun.
Baseball players, I just seemto relate to them a little bit
more.
But then again out on PGA Tour,the golfers, since you're there
all week and with them you'llsee them morning, evening lots
of times.
They'll take you out to dinner.
That there all week and withthem you'll see them morning,
evening lots of times.
They'll take you out to dinner,that kind of thing and I get to
.
There's just been some reallygreat guys out on tour.
So you know each one has itsown interesting qualities that
(11:20):
make them they're all kind offun.
How about injury-wise?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
which is the worst?
As far as most, oh probably themost difficult to treat, is
football.
Worse than basketball, forexample.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I've never had any.
I've seen, obviously, highschool college football players.
I wish I worked with an NFLteam.
That one I've heard is that's awhole other animal.
In other words, chiropractors,nfl.
As far as I know, they're outthere five, six hours early.
It's like a workout.
They're just working on allthese huge players.
(11:57):
It's quite an endeavor.
Plus, I think they havetypically two weeks, I mean
during the season, a couple daysa week with teams.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
How about baseball versus basketball?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
You know, that's kind of a toss-up.
What's interesting about thatone is I call of a toss-up.
What's interesting about thatone is since, because I call
myself a tune-up guy, most of mywork is pre-game work.
With baseball players,particularly pitchers, there's a
lot of specific biomechanicalchanges you'll see due to the
rotational forces on the lowerback and the pelvis and how that
(12:30):
energy has to translate upthrough the upper body and into
the shoulders so they candeliver that pitch.
So you see some specificpatterns that show up with
baseball players, same withgolfers, all the rotational guys
.
You see these patterns thatwill develop With basketball
since they're all over the placemoving, getting hit, getting
hit, inflection and extension.
(12:51):
Whatever the case might be, Ihaven't seen super common
patterns with the basketballplayers.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
That's interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, I was wondering if there were patterns, the
only thing there's reallyinteresting patterns in all the
biomechanical research done ongolf and baseball.
If you ever want to go intothat one, it's really
interesting.
The only thing I've ever seenin uh basketball players is
repetitive on their on theirshooting side.
They'll have that ct junction,uh trigger points in the upper
(13:20):
trap, just from the and elevatorscapula, just from the
elevation of that shore fromfrom taking their shot.
That's the only pattern I'veever picked up in the basketball
players.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
So if you're a young student today, learning to get
relationships seems to be one ofthe biggest things that they
need to do, and they couldprobably start that in college.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
They could and, as I said, developing your sports
medicine network.
That's a huge one.
The other thing that getsoverlooked sometimes is
sometimes there's some untappedpotentials.
In other words, in their areathey might have a high school,
college, country club, tenniscenter, crossfit gym, just areas
(14:05):
where they can.
I mean, if we're interested inworking with athletes, it's
rewarding at whatever levelyou're working.
So there's some untappedpotentials they could be looking
for in their area?
Speaker 1 (14:15):
What percentage is your practice not sports
injuries today?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know, over the years it's become that's most of
what I do now.
I do some other things.
I do some insurance techconsulting work which I can do
remotely, which takes upactually the bulk of my time
these days.
But I see more athletes than Ido regular patients.
My time in the office is kindof limited these days.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
That's what I was asking.
You grew and grew and grew.
Your time constraints must havealso grown.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Good call, it did change.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yes.
So in a nutshell, if I'm astudent at one of the colleges
today and I'm really interestedin sports, get certified.
Is that what you would sayfirst?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Very helpful that one opens some doors and, as I said
, I don't, I don't.
I always want to be supportiveof our profession, but there's
the, the cscs, the certifiedstrength and conditioning
specialists.
It kind of crosses crossesborders, so to speak.
So it's more recognizable, Ithink, in the sports world so
that's a general one to haveyeah, a general one, and then
(15:28):
just hard work, doing yournetworking, developing that
sports network that I mentioned,looking for untapped potentials
or untapped opportunities inyour particular location.
Once again, for me, anorthopedic doc that I met in 90
or 91, you know, eight, nineyears later turned into a major
(15:51):
and you know the other, thebenefit to your practice.
The eight, nine years laterturned into a major.
And you know the other, thebenefit to your practice, the,
the, the inter-referrals betweenthe, the offices, that that one
can be very helpful.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Obviously You're talking about the other doctors,
yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I mean a referral source between, let's say, you
make you, you have arelationship with a primary care
group, an orthopedic group.
I mean the referrals that goback and forth.
Yes, that brings up aninteresting point the mechanical
back pain for a lot oforthopedic people.
They don't even want to dealwith it, so I mean for them to
(16:24):
be able to ship that off tosomeone.
That that's our special or oneof our specialties.
That can become a greatrelationship.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yes.
So what I'm hearing you say isit's possible to have a sports
injury practice because you haveone.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I mean that's, and I think that's something that
students today, you know, areasking Can.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I major in sports and have a sports injury practice,
or am I going to have that as asideline?
Well, yeah, but on average Iwould say it's going to be more
of a sideline because I've it'sjust the last see I've been.
May will be 38 years for me, inpractice it's just, or 34 of it
anyway.
I in the office to pay billstoo.
I mean the sports things do payyou, but it's not like it if
(17:21):
you're in your office everysingle day seeing multiple
patients, that's going to bemore lucrative.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
That was what I was asking, because sometimes young
students think all I got to dois nail one team and I can live
off that.
I'm not sure I'm hearing yousay that that's possible.
That's definitely not the norm.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know I heard there was one.
God, that's super rare.
You know there was achiropractor for the Utah Jazz
but back when Stockton and CarlMalone were there, stockton and
Carl Malone liked this chiro somuch he did have a full-time job
with the jazz, but that's the.
(18:01):
That's the only instance I'maware of where a chiropractor
that's all he or she did wastake care of a professional
sports team well you know thishas been very helpful because
that was one of the reasons.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Besides, I told you when I called you the other day
I didn't thank people thatrecognized what you have done as
far as the sports injury world,because you were one of the
first ones out there that gotinto quote, unquote the big time
, and I wanted kids to know thatyou know coming up, you can
have a future in it and it canbe helpful to build your other
practice too, and very importantto build your other practice, I
(18:36):
would say.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
But I mean, it can be , it can work side by side, I
guess.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, that's why I would think that's probably the,
the Kairos that are involvedwith some professional teams.
I'm these ones that I knowpersonally.
I know that's their existence,they, they have their personal
practice, and that brings upanother good point.
They have their personalpractice, and that brings up
another good point.
It depends on how involved youwant to get with sports, because
it takes time out of the office, takes time away from family.
(19:01):
So there's a lot of things tojuggle and balance.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yes, especially if they're on the road and things
like that.
Yeah, it's really difficult,yeah, that's a hard one to
manage.
So well, dr Monty Hessler, thechiropractor for the Phoenix
Suns and the San FranciscoGiants, we really appreciate
your time today because I knowyou're busy and I just wanted to
give a perspective to the youngstudents coming out of school
about you know it can be doneand here's how you start and
(19:27):
this is what you want to getregistered in, and so thank you
again.
You bet, you bet Arlen.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
I appreciate it.
Yep, thank you.
If there's ever any questionsalong the way, if you feel a
question from someone you wantto reach out to me, feel free.
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
You're welcome, and that's to everybody out there
too.
You know you've got our addressand Thank you.
You bet, Thank you.
Hello, I'm Dr Arlen Foer, the founder and chairman
of Activator MethodsInternational, and welcome to
Activate your Practice Today.
We are honored to have acelebrity in our office here, dr
Monty Hessler, who is the teamchiropractor for the Phoenix
Suns, and I've known Monty for along time and I asked him one
(00:27):
day you know, you have been thechiropractor for the Phoenix
Suns, which is a big thing, butit doesn't seem like anybody
ever recognized you.
So I told him Monty, I want youto come in and tell us about
your 24 years.
Is that correct?
Correct?
24 years of being with a majorteam or teams?
Because I found out somethingthis morning that I didn't know.
Bonnie is also the teamchiropractor for the San
(00:51):
Francisco Giants, correct?
And that's spring training herein Phoenix, correct.
And I saw this on it.
Show them your finger there.
That's his Super Bowl, hisWorld Series ring, and I thought
, boy, that's cool.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I remember the day I got this.
I was more than touched.
It was a pretty amazing day,Well not many people have World
Series rings.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
That's true.
Now I want to go back becauseyou know kids coming out of
school today.
They'd all love to be in yourposition with you know that kind
of a job.
What steps did you take tobecome, you know, involved with
the professional sports?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Well, for starters, something I want to say I was in
practice for 14 years before Iever made any major inroads into
the at least the professionalsports world.
But in that time frame you haveto do a lot of volunteering.
There were AAU events and trackand field events and obviously
marathons and 5Ks and all thosekinds of things to, over that
(01:53):
time frame, gain introductionsand met other young and upcoming
professionals in sportsmedicine.
So from making some of thosenetworking connections, one of
the orthopedic docs that I metalong the way met him in 91 and
come about 99, 2000,.
(02:13):
That his orthopedic group gotthe contract with the Suns and
then when the athletes wanted achiropractor and because of that
relationship he he asked me tojoin the sports medicine team
for the sons.
You know, there's something elseI wanted to mention.
I mean for someone that youcould be early in practice and
you can be in practice for awhile if you don't have a like a
(02:34):
sports medicine network.
In other words, if you don'thave a, what I like to see is an
orthopedic group, lma, practicegroup, imaging facility where
you have a good relationshipwith the radiologist and
potentially a PT group toprovide timely and quality care
for your athletes.
I mean sometimes it requiresyou have an athlete come in.
(02:55):
They might need some sort ofcleanup of a joint or different
injections.
It's nice to have access tothose services so you can make a
timely referral and take goodcare of your athletes.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
I also noticed that you've got a lot of credentials
after your name and I'm assumingthose are sports certifications
.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
The main one I have is a CCSP, which is I got it
through your alma mater, throughLogan, which is I got it
through your alma mater, throughLogan, which, honestly, I got
that in 95.
And I have a couple of thoughtson that.
It was great.
Education has served me well.
There's another certificationout there called CSCS Certified
(03:40):
Strength and ConditioningSpecialist.
I think that we talked a littlebit earlier about doctors that
that cross borders, so to speak.
In other words, this, this, inmy opinion anyway, this
certification kind of crossesborders.
You have physical therapists,athletic trainers, other docs
that have this CSCS that is, Ithink, more recognizable than
just a specific chiropracticcertification Not to say that
(04:02):
that wasn't good and I'mdefinitely in support of our
profession, but just kind ofcross the boundaries of that one
.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
So, in other words, what you're saying is don't
limit yourself to thechiropractic one.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Basically.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, basically, and you know another thought that
comes up whenever I have a well,it's usually a younger chiro
that wants to get into thesports medicine world.
You know, sometimes I mentionedthat sports network to them.
They go wow, how do I developthat?
And I give them a couplepointers, a couple clues.
(04:35):
I mean one thing you can do isyou know practice you're
interested in Go and introduceyourself, try to get maybe five
minutes with one of the decisionmakers in the practice and
offer some services, offer to doa talk to their patients on a
topic of their choice.
Maybe they see a lot of youngerathletes and they don't do
(04:56):
baseline concussion testing.
I'll offer to go in and dobaseline concussion testing for
some of their young athletes.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
So it's almost a volunteering your services, to
start with.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
At the beginning.
You have to, I don't.
Well, in my opinion, I don'tsee another way of doing it
without volunteering initially,but then it ends up with
networking Big time.
Yeah, big time.
If you're not just likedeveloping your practice, you're
not going to develop yourpractice when you first open it,
sitting behind your desk, right, you're going to get involved
(05:28):
with other professionals.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Describe an interaction with these other
people the PTs, the ATCs and soforth.
What kind of reaction?
How does it work when you'retreating an athlete?
Speaker 2 (05:40):
That's a great question.
You know, the biggest things asports medicine team is like,
almost like any athletic teamthere's got to be harmony and
communication and trust and torecognize your strengths and
stay in your lane, so to speak.
(06:00):
Different sports medicine teams, that you have a particular
provider that wants to doeverything, that wants to be the
hero.
They jump in there and theywant to take care of everything.
It just kind of messes up thewhole chemistry of the team and
it just doesn't work.
And I've seen I've seen chirosget a a great opportunity with
some pro teams and they jump,jump in there and get over
(06:21):
zealous and they try to do toomuch and they kind of mess up
their relationship.
As a matter of fact, I was headtrainer with the San Francisco
Giants a few years ago.
He said hey, when you talk toyour colleagues, would you tell
them that when we bring a Cairoout here, all we want you guys
to do is to adjust to manipulate.
(06:41):
Whatever term we're going touse is to adjust to manipulate
whatever term we're using.
You know, as you go higher inthat sports medicine world, all
of us I don't orthopedic doctor,family practice doctor, whoever
, pt, chiro our role becomesmuch more specific the higher we
go up and once again it's kindof that recognizing your role
and staying in your lane andeverything seems to work a lot
(07:03):
better.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
You know, I've often wondered, when you go to a game
in the evening, what are some ofthe steps that you do?
I'm sure you don't just walk inand you know, I'm sure you have
a protocol.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
Well, these days there's a ton of security for
starters.
But you know, each sport that Iwork with is a little different
.
For example, phoenix Suns,primarily game day stuff.
I get there about two hoursbefore the game and it's just
athletes that want to be treatedbefore they play.
Baseball is a little different.
(07:38):
Spring training is threemornings a week.
That's just routine treatmentsfor all the players.
Then when I do a cover a gamethat one's kind of similar I go
in um for baseball it's a littlemore about three hours early um
see most of the playersbeforehand.
Interesting twist with baseballis, you know, about fourth,
(07:58):
fifth inning, some of thepitchers that are relievers they
might not want to get ittreated till you know further
into the game before they beforethey go in and the um.
I cover some stuff on a PGAtour as well and that one's a
little bit a little bit moredemanding because we are out
there all day during the week ofthat tournament.
So that one's, you know,involves travel.
(08:21):
Um it's a little more.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
For example.
I guess I'd like to know someof the memorable experiences
that you've had.
Who are some of the namedpeople that really got
beneficial, In the Suns, forexample?
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Oh gosh, sean Marion had a great relationship with
Jason Kidd, grant Hill.
There have been people alongthe way that have just been
wonderful, wonderfulrelationships.
Some of the things that reallymeant a lot to me were, whatever
the sport was, you're dealingwith an athlete and they say,
(09:02):
hey, after I get adjusted I movebetter, I can focus better,
I've had a baseball player, Ican see the pitch better coming,
all kinds of stuff that in myworld is really really
remarkable stuff.
Through PGA there's been someremarkable travel.
I've worked in South Korea,japan, morocco, plus multiple
(09:26):
places in the United States.
There have been someuncomfortable memories too.
I've had some I'm not going tosay a name on this one, but
everybody would recognize thename some very high-end athletes
.
When you first meet them theydon't well, they kind of don't
trust you so much until you dosome work on them.
And I had one athlete say heseemed pleasant enough, but when
(09:49):
we walk into my treatment areaI'd never met the guy before.
He's a high-end person, I know,everybody knows his name.
He said if you don't get myback to move, you're fired.
It was my first interactionwith him so of course, needless
to say, I got his back to move.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Yes, yes.
How about Charles Barkley?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You know he was before my time.
I've met him here and there.
He you know I started with theSons in 99, 2000.
Charles was gone and or went toHouston in 93, 94, somewhere in
there, so I missed out on the.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
The reason I ask that question is Charles lived about
three houses down Really, me InPhoenix when I first came here,
and what a character he is acharacter, yeah, he was, and he
was totally different in aneighborhood than he was out in
public.
He was just a different type ofguy.
Out of all the sports, then,what's the favorite to take care
(10:44):
of?
Oh goodness.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
That's tough to answer.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
I know they're different.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
They are different, they're all fun.
Baseball players, I just seemto relate to them a little bit
more.
But then again out on PGA Tour,the golfers, since you're there
all week and with them you'llsee them morning, evening lots
of times.
They'll take you out to dinner.
That there all week and withthem you'll see them morning,
evening lots of times.
They'll take you out to dinner,that kind of thing and I get to
.
There's just been some reallygreat guys out on tour.
So you know each one has itsown interesting qualities that
(11:20):
make them they're all kind offun.
How about injury-wise?
Speaker 1 (11:23):
which is the worst?
As far as most, oh probably themost difficult to treat, is
football.
Worse than basketball, forexample.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I've never had any.
I've seen, obviously, highschool college football players.
I wish I worked with an NFLteam.
That one I've heard is that's awhole other animal.
In other words, chiropractors,nfl.
As far as I know, they're outthere five, six hours early.
It's like a workout.
They're just working on allthese huge players.
(11:57):
It's quite an endeavor.
Plus, I think they havetypically two weeks, I mean
during the season, a couple daysa week with teams.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
How about baseball versus basketball?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
You know, that's kind of a toss-up.
What's interesting about thatone is I call of a toss-up.
What's interesting about thatone is since, because I call
myself a tune-up guy, most of mywork is pre-game work.
With baseball players,particularly pitchers, there's a
lot of specific biomechanicalchanges you'll see due to the
rotational forces on the lowerback and the pelvis and how that
(12:30):
energy has to translate upthrough the upper body and into
the shoulders so they candeliver that pitch.
So you see some specificpatterns that show up with
baseball players, same withgolfers, all the rotational guys
.
You see these patterns thatwill develop With basketball
since they're all over the placemoving, getting hit, getting
hit, inflection and extension.
(12:51):
Whatever the case might be, Ihaven't seen super common
patterns with the basketballplayers.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
That's interesting.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
Yeah, I was wondering if there were patterns, the
only thing there's reallyinteresting patterns in all the
biomechanical research done ongolf and baseball.
If you ever want to go intothat one, it's really
interesting.
The only thing I've ever seenin uh basketball players is
repetitive on their on theirshooting side.
They'll have that ct junction,uh trigger points in the upper
(13:20):
trap, just from the and elevatorscapula, just from the
elevation of that shore fromfrom taking their shot.
That's the only pattern I'veever picked up in the basketball
players.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
So if you're a young student today, learning to get
relationships seems to be one ofthe biggest things that they
need to do, and they couldprobably start that in college.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
They could and, as I said, developing your sports
medicine network.
That's a huge one.
The other thing that getsoverlooked sometimes is
sometimes there's some untappedpotentials.
In other words, in their areathey might have a high school,
college, country club, tenniscenter, crossfit gym, just areas
(14:05):
where they can.
I mean, if we're interested inworking with athletes, it's
rewarding at whatever levelyou're working.
So there's some untappedpotentials they could be looking
for in their area?
Speaker 1 (14:15):
What percentage is your practice not sports
injuries today?
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know, over the years it's become that's most of
what I do now.
I do some other things.
I do some insurance techconsulting work which I can do
remotely, which takes upactually the bulk of my time
these days.
But I see more athletes than Ido regular patients.
My time in the office is kindof limited these days.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
That's what I was asking.
You grew and grew and grew.
Your time constraints must havealso grown.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Good call, it did change.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Yes.
So in a nutshell, if I'm astudent at one of the colleges
today and I'm really interestedin sports, get certified.
Is that what you would sayfirst?
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Very helpful that one opens some doors and, as I said
, I don't, I don't.
I always want to be supportiveof our profession, but there's
the, the cscs, the certifiedstrength and conditioning
specialists.
It kind of crosses crossesborders, so to speak.
So it's more recognizable, Ithink, in the sports world so
that's a general one to haveyeah, a general one, and then
(15:28):
just hard work, doing yournetworking, developing that
sports network that I mentioned,looking for untapped potentials
or untapped opportunities inyour particular location.
Once again, for me, anorthopedic doc that I met in 90
or 91, you know, eight, nineyears later turned into a major
(15:51):
and you know the other, thebenefit to your practice.
The eight, nine years laterturned into a major.
And you know the other, thebenefit to your practice, the,
the, the inter-referrals betweenthe, the offices, that that one
can be very helpful.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
Obviously You're talking about the other doctors,
yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
I mean a referral source between, let's say, you
make you, you have arelationship with a primary care
group, an orthopedic group.
I mean the referrals that goback and forth.
Yes, that brings up aninteresting point the mechanical
back pain for a lot oforthopedic people.
They don't even want to dealwith it, so I mean for them to
(16:24):
be able to ship that off tosomeone.
That that's our special or oneof our specialties.
That can become a greatrelationship.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Yes.
So what I'm hearing you say isit's possible to have a sports
injury practice because you haveone.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
I mean that's, and I think that's something that
students today, you know, areasking Can.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I major in sports and have a sports injury practice,
or am I going to have that as asideline?
Well, yeah, but on average Iwould say it's going to be more
of a sideline because I've it'sjust the last see I've been.
May will be 38 years for me, inpractice it's just, or 34 of it
anyway.
I in the office to pay billstoo.
I mean the sports things do payyou, but it's not like it if
(17:21):
you're in your office everysingle day seeing multiple
patients, that's going to bemore lucrative.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
That was what I was asking, because sometimes young
students think all I got to dois nail one team and I can live
off that.
I'm not sure I'm hearing yousay that that's possible.
That's definitely not the norm.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
You know I heard there was one.
God, that's super rare.
You know there was achiropractor for the Utah Jazz
but back when Stockton and CarlMalone were there, stockton and
Carl Malone liked this chiro somuch he did have a full-time job
with the jazz, but that's the.
(18:01):
That's the only instance I'maware of where a chiropractor
that's all he or she did wastake care of a professional
sports team well you know thishas been very helpful because
that was one of the reasons.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Besides, I told you when I called you the other day
I didn't thank people thatrecognized what you have done as
far as the sports injury world,because you were one of the
first ones out there that gotinto quote, unquote the big time
, and I wanted kids to know thatyou know coming up, you can
have a future in it and it canbe helpful to build your other
practice too, and very importantto build your other practice, I
(18:36):
would say.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
But I mean, it can be , it can work side by side, I
guess.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Yeah, that's why I would think that's probably the,
the Kairos that are involvedwith some professional teams.
I'm these ones that I knowpersonally.
I know that's their existence,they, they have their personal
practice, and that brings upanother good point.
They have their personalpractice, and that brings up
another good point.
It depends on how involved youwant to get with sports, because
it takes time out of the office, takes time away from family.
(19:01):
So there's a lot of things tojuggle and balance.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yes, especially if they're on the road and things
like that.
Yeah, it's really difficult,yeah, that's a hard one to
manage.
So well, dr Monty Hessler, thechiropractor for the Phoenix
Suns and the San FranciscoGiants, we really appreciate
your time today because I knowyou're busy and I just wanted to
give a perspective to the youngstudents coming out of school
about you know it can be doneand here's how you start and
(19:27):
this is what you want to getregistered in, and so thank you
again.
You bet, you bet Arlen.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
I appreciate it.
Yep, thank you.
If there's ever any questionsalong the way, if you feel a
question from someone you wantto reach out to me, feel free.
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
You're welcome, and that's to everybody out there
too.
You know you've got our addressand Thank you.
You bet, Thank you.
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