Life Stories... With Angela Jackson

Angela Jackson is a Chartered Physiotherapist who has spent the last 34 years seeking to understand why some young athletes get injured, yet others don’t. As a youngster, Angela played every sport going and excelled in tennis and hockey before developing a series of knee injuries that halted her sporting dreams. Did she play more sport than her peers? Maybe, but she recognised that could not have been the only factor. Her determination to prevent young athletes developing preventable injuries has fueled a career that has taken her from Canada, to working with national teams, clubs and schools across many sports. She has become an expert in understanding all aspects of youth athlete development and in particular, the prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation of lumbar stress fractures. She has helped hundreds of children fulfil their sporting potential, including enjoying watching her “recipe for success” help her own two children to represent their country at their chosen sports. After developing a highly successful physiotherapy clinic, Physiofit Limited, she now mentors a small number of athletes, helping them develop the self belief and skills to succeed not only in their sporting endeavours, but across all areas of their lives. For 15 years, she has been the Physiotherapist and Strength and Conditioning Consultant for Cheshire Cricket Board supporting the Emerging Player Programme, their coach education programme and creating resources for parents and athletes on injury prevention and performance. She has also created coaching resources for the England & Wales Cricket Board coaching association “Wings to Fly” programme. Her passion for sharing her knowledge is evident whether she is presenting on athlete development or the prevention of lumbar stress fractures through talks and workshops in schools, clubs and sporting organisations. She has created the highly acclaimed course “Developing the Younger Athlete” for fellow professionals and is dedicated to eliminating lumbar stress fractures in children through coach, parent and athlete education. Angela has been a keen golfer since the aged of 10. She is one of only a few Titleist Performance Institute Medical Level 3 practitioners in the UK. She has a deep understanding of the body swing connection and the physical demands of golf, which has enabled her to develop a screening programme that can identify the root cause of pain associated with the golf swing. Better still it helps you to reduce your handicap and play more consistent, pain free golf. She regularly shares her knowledge through workshops at golf clubs and online and does workshops for county and regional England Golf squads.