Introduction
Yuichi Sasaki is a strength and conditioning coach with the Hong Kong Institute of Sport, and a graduate of the Setanta College MSc in Performance Coaching. Below, Yuichi provides insight into the transition from his role as a certified athletic trainer in the USA to his current role, along with his experiences to date.
Early Career
“My career started as a certified athletic trainer in the United States, which is almost equivalent to a sports physiotherapist in Europe and other parts of the world,” he outlines. “Being a healthcare provider was my beginning. I always thought there had to be a better way than being reactive to injuries. I wanted to be more proactive to reduce the injury rate in a team. During an internship at college, one of the S&C coaches showed how to bridge the gap between sports medicine and physical performance, which sparked my interest in S&C.”
Yuichi feels these beginnings significantly impacted and supported his approach in S&C.
“It is certainly a unique side of my career. I understand the languages of both sides, meaning sports medicine and S&C. I found it valuable to bridge the gap between the two. This was very true in my tenure with Japan Men’s Lacrosse Team from 2021 all the way up to 2023 when we had a World Championship. We (coaches, athletic trainers, and S&C) achieved close to 100% availability during the World Championship, where players needed to compete almost every single day.”
Coaching Philosophy
With varied coaching experience across rugby, lacrosse, surfing, baseball, and basketball, Yuichi has learned some essential lessons throughout his career. “Active listening and a servant mindset are key. As soon as my ego shows up, problems arise sooner or later to bite me back. It’s difficult and almost impossible for us as human beings to keep our ego in check all the time, but now more than ever, I am more conscious about my ego.”
“Listening is a key part of my coaching philosophy. Others listen to me because I listen to them actively. I try my best to balance the scientific aspects and human aspects. It’s impossible to stay just scientific as long as we are working with other human beings. We need to understand the ideal part is where science and art merge. But it doesn’t mean I always can do that though. It is very hard.”
Role at the Hong Kong Institute of Sport
At the Hong Kong Institute of Sport, Yuichi’s role is multifaceted. “My sport assignment is squash, providing S&C programs, and working with our physiologists, who are way smarter than me. Mainly working with the senior squad but some of the full-time scholarship youth athletes are included as well.”
As part of Yuichi’s role, he is designing and executing the periodisation of the Olympic Cycle for LA 2028. Offering us an insight into this process Yuichi tells us “I feel like I am way ahead of myself since it is not even the LA 2028 cycle yet as of this writing (it is still the Paris 2024 cycle). But I tried to be more proactive as soon as squash was included for 2028 in November 2023. It is a living document and again I try not to get ahead of myself too much since we do not even know what is waiting for us in the next 10 minutes. But now I have spent one season with our squash team and know the big picture, as in ‘what to expect in what month’ and the timeline to the key competitions such as world championships, other platinum level competitions governed by PSA, and the Asian Games in 2026 (in Japan!). So, I am making a big picture and making a more concise but clear plan for players with coaches and physiologists little by little.”
Studying with Setanta
During his time studying the MSc in Performance Coaching with Setanta, Yuichi outlined a number of key lessons that proved valuable in his career. “The key lesson I learned is that there is no clear answer for many things. So, I need to stay curious. We need to be scientific but there will always be something we can’t measure but is still valuable.”
Looking to the Future
Looking ahead, Yuichi hopes to include the areas of youth development and ageing population in his career journey whilst also hoping to complete a whole Olympic cycle. “I would love to experience a whole Olympic cycle. I did some of Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, but never a whole cycle. That would be awesome if I can experience a whole cycle. In the future, youth development and the aging population are two of my interests, so I might consider those as part of my career path. I enjoy coaching youth athletes, and I find it very satisfying and rewarding to work with the general population too.”
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