Raptors Look To Improve Conditioning (Alex McKechnie)

[mcHAPPY]

The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday the hiring of Alex McKechnie as their director of sports science. He will oversee all athletic training, rehabilitation and strength and conditioning. McKechnie worked for eight seasons as the athletic performance coordinator of the Los Angeles Lakers. He is regarded as a leader in core training and movement integration.

"I am delighted to be a part of such a quality organization and look forward to working with the Raptors, as well as living in a great city like Toronto," said McKechnie.

McKechnie, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, came to Canada in 1974 to be the head physiotherapist to the Varsity Athletic Program at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. During his time at Simon Fraser, McKechnie also served as the team physiotherapist for the Vancouver Whitecaps of the North American Soccer League (1974-82) and team physiotherapist for the 1976 Canadian Olympic Soccer Team.

McKechnie left Simon Fraser in 1977 to open his own private practice specializing in Orthopedics and Sports Medicine. Three years later, he began working on a consultant basis with the Vancouver Canucks (1980-2000).

In 2001, after two years of work and research, McKechnie was issued a United States patent on the Torsion Board which he subsequently licensed with Reebok to produce the Reebok Core Board, a device widely used in the NBA, NFL, NHL and gyms in North America. He also developed the Core X system which has been widely adopted in the NBA, NFL, NHL, Premier League and European soccer.

A member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists and Canadian Physiotherapy Association, McKechnie continues his individual consulting work spending his off-seasons in Vancouver developing functional movement screening and training for players in the NBA, NHL and NFL.



Read more NBA news and insight: http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?...#ixzz1SmKPRTQG

That is impressive.

[NoPropsneeded]

our coaching staff is getting better and better. I think our players will play a lot better and stay a lot more healthy next season because of these changes. Good to see all these great coaches and trainers come in to help further develop our players.

[ceez]

Shaq thinks the world of him, too. Great move.

[LBF]

Shaq thinks the world of him, too. Great move.

shaq's retired.

[Ambidextrious]

Hip-Hip Hooray

Hey yall I just want to point out, I have become absolutely bored without much Raptors news When will this stupid lockout be done?

Back on topic I am extremely ecstatic with this new acquisition. BC is doing a great job with these head office changes. Alex McKechnie was credited with doing wonders with Shaq and Gasol in LA. How many other teams can say they have a director of sports science?

[JYFelony]

Nice pickup indeed.

[Soft Euro]

And it's another Euro. Can't go wrong here.

[mcHAPPY]

Toronto Sun write up on same topic:

TORONTO - The NBA lockout has not prevented the Raptors from making another strong off-season move.

As expected, Alex McKechnie has come aboard as Toronto's director of sports science, overseeing all athletic training, rehabilitation and strength and conditioning.

McKechnie spent eight full-time seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and 12 in total. The team won five titles in that span and he is credited with extending the prime years of Shaquille O'Neal's career.

He is an innovator in core training and movement integration and is extremely highly-regarded.

“I am delighted to be a part of such a quality organization and look forward to working with the Raptors, as well as living in a great city like Toronto,” McKechnie said in a release.

The Glasgow native arrived in British Columbia in 1974, as a physiotherapist at Simon Fraser University.

He later opened a private practice and worked with the Canadian Olympic soccer team, the Vancouver Whitecaps, the Vancouver Canucks (for 20 years) and the Lakers.

Strength and conditioning coach Francesco Cuzzolin, who joined the Raptors in July of 2009 has left the team to return to Italy.

Cuzzolin spent over a decade with Benneton Treviso where he first worked with Andrea Bargnani and Raptors executive Maurizio Gherardini.

Before the lockout started, the Raptors were lauded for hiring Dwane Casey as head coach and for drafting Jonas Valanciunas fifth overall at the NBA draft.

[ezz_bee]

nothing wrong with this signing, but I would love to hear some more juicy news...

[heinz57]

nothing wrong with this signing, but I would love to hear some more juicy news...

at this point, "ACC mop girl decides to wear black uniform to work, instead of the usual white golf shirt" would be juicy news...

[Joey]

at this point, "ACC mop girl decides to wear black uniform to work, instead of the usual white golf shirt" would be juicy news...

Well of course it would be!

Why did she decide to change up the status quo?
Is change good?
What are her measurements?

All, are very legimate questions.

[Employee]

Awwwwww man not another Euro!

[hateslosing]

Well that's just fantastic! I've often wondered why we don't here more about the training staff in Toronto. So is his role going to be as mainly a trainer or is he more of an injury recovery guy? Or does he oversee both aspects? Either way, he sounds like a great pick up. Good work BC, making your paper even in the lock out.

[Delonte_West]

good maybe AB will come into the season in nba shape

[mcHAPPY]

This might be a very under-hyped move by Toronto.

The architect of Hargreaves's revival is Alex McKechnie. With his white hair, confident gait and Johnny Cash fashion sense, the Glasgow native comes across as a guy who spends his time restoring expensive automobiles, which isn't that far off. In fact, McKechnie has carved a niche restoring high-priced athletes. The all-star physiotherapist and director of sports science for the Toronto Raptors is a resurrector of careers: Shaq, Steve Nash and Jimmy Connors all swear by him.

In fact, it was this grapevine of injured athletes -- in this case, former NHLer Paul Kariya -- who referred Hargreaves to McKechnie. At that point, chronic tendonitis in his knees had all but scuttled the career of the best Canadian-born soccer player ever. "The problem was his sustainability," McKechnie says, "his skill was never in question."

When Hargreaves met McKechnie, he wasn't anywhere near match fitness. "When I first saw Owen, he had already gone through fairly extensive rehab," McKechnie says. "What was missing was the closing component. The marriage of rehab and performance training."

So McKechnie -- who, with his stocky frame and an energy that belies his age, looks more like a Las Vegas pit boss than a physiotherapist -- introduced Hargreaves to his Core X system, an elastic device that links an athlete's wrists and thighs together. It sounds awkward, but helps stabilize and hold one's posture during specially tailored workouts.

Hargreaves relearned how to move, building core strength, balance and a new "neutral posture" for his body. It took months. "It is easy to walk away," McKechnie says. "For Owen, retirement was never really an option."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/magazine/201...wn_hargreaves/