Hi all. This might sound like a strange question, especially coming from an ITEC and CIBTAC certified massage therapist. Please be gentle. :p I'v been certified in massage therapy for about 3 years now. My training and experience includes Swedish massage, Deep Tissue Massage, Balinese Massage, Aromatherapy Massage, and some accupressure and reflexology mixed in.
The school that I took my ITEC massage course at had started teaching sports massage after I graduated. In this region (Dubai and GCC), you see sports massage advertised and promoted quite a bit.
What I'm getting at is, what are the benefits of sports massage vs the other types of massage that I've mentioned? I've seen bits and pieces of it on YouTube, but I still don't feel like I really 'get it'.
I can't ask the school anymore, because they've closed down. So from a professional point of view, would I be wise to add Sports Massage to my list of qualifications or could I modify the other types of massage or incorporate moves from Sports Massage?
Thanks for any input.
Hi Natalie
Yes i think both for commerical and technical reasons its good to study sports massage. Sports massage has overall a good reputation with the general public. Especially those that preceive it as a deeper and more advanced treatment over a more standard Swedish style routine. Whether this is true of course is immaterial, it's what the public believe :rolleyes:
I think a better term for SM is Sports Specific Massage, as it is techniques to support sporty people. There are many crossovers between sports and remedial massage. I'll let the more sports specific Hp members answer that one more deeply. I like being a massage generalist (including sports injuries) than a specialist far too much to say anymore 😉
At the end of the day if you are passionate to work with sporty people then such study may be of help, but it's just a re-application of techniques you may already know. I often recommend to new massage graduates to study SM to improve their bodywork knowledge and skill.
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Best wishes
RP
well i believe SM has a deeper A&P knowledge over other therapies, ifyou have not done a SM diploma minimum then i would not classyourself as a SM therapist, for insurance reasons if nothing else. i'd also choose a good course provider as there are several course which are not that good and a little short to. If you have quals if other therapies the course provider might allow a bridging course if your knowledge and skills are to a good enough standard, but other will better answer this for you.
you could target sports people if you like and just tell them what you already offer, but i think SM offers a lot more, there's plenty of info on the web which will tell you the difference between all the therapies.
a good idea would be to have a SM (either paid or via a therapy swop) this would show you first hand what is involved
Thanks for your great and thorough replies. I'll be moving to Lonon in the new year, January or February, so I have quite a bit of time to check things out until then.
according to Mel Cash, sports and remedial massage are interchageable. I know SM people who don't have a deep a and p knowledge. I would check out a remedial course. Deep tissue also has a lot of misconceptions surrounding it. I find myofascial realse combined with triggerpoint most effective generally. And then there is QT...........................................................wow.
Hey Kevin, thanks for that. An Australian therapist that I used to work with did her training in remedial massage. It sounds a bit more 'scientific' and you can use the concepts in other types of massage.