By Subhashish Majumdar

Copyright sportskeeda

Spending time injured in the gym as a budding athlete created in UFC’s Gavin Pratt a thirst to delve into the principles of strength and conditioning. Now a Senior Director at the UFC Performance Institute located in Shanghai, Pratt has worked in several different disciplines over the years but specialises in the field of combat sports.In partnership with Dean Ritchie, also a Strength and Conditioning expert, Pratt is aiming to impart some of his knowledge and expertise to Indian coaches, physios, and nutritionists.Over the course of an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, Gavin Pratt and Dean Ritchie spelt out the objectives of their 5-day high-performance workshop conducted at the Inspire Institute of Sports (IIS) in Bellary, while also delving into their intriguing personal journeys.”We’re looking at helping shape and underpin the ideas behind S&C principles. And hopefully that directs to all factions of what’s involved in high performance. But we’re using different ways to do that. So lectures, practical hands-on experience and certainly tasks where the attendees have to put in some work as well, so they know what it feels like,” Gavin Pratt observed.Pratt quipped that he was making the attendee coaches “go through hell” in an effort to underline the importance of not prescribing anything not done by oneself.”I think one of the most important things in S&C is that you shouldn’t prescribe it unless you’ve done it yourself. And so we’re getting the attendees to go through a bit of hell at the moment, and it’s wonderful to see them get involved all hands on,” he affirmed.Interestingly, the duo from UFC disclosed that although a large number of workshop attendees were associated with combat sports, coaches from other disciplines such as swimming, soccer and athletics were also present to absorb and assimilate their ideas.”The workshop is predominantly for combat sports practitioners and coaches, because obviously that’s our field right now with the UFC Performance Institute. However, we’re fortunate enough to have some swimming and some athletic- based coaches involved as well, and also from football or soccer. So it’s a really nice mix, but the main focus has been on the combat sports,” the UFC coach stated.So, do the ideas and principles that relate to UFC and combat sports apply to other sporting disciplines as well?The S&C master coach explained at length that while some frameworks were universal to all elite performance sports, specific ideas around rehabilitation and conditioning were aimed solely at combat sport personnel.”In the first few days, we presented what our frameworks are at the UFCPI, and so how we set up and we organise what we do from a non-technical and technical standpoint. So those frameworks are really universal to all elite performance sports,” Dean Ritchie divulged.”It’s about being robust in your procedures, and then also having great communication with coaches. So those sorts of things are universal. And then we have some particular things we’ve gone into detail about for those combat disciplines, some more specific cases around rehabilitation and conditioning, and also talking about the relationship between the fighter, the martial artist and the athlete,” he expounded.”Have played both cricket and field hockey” – UFC’s Gavin Pratt sheds light on personal journey, shares India connectGavin Pratt and Dean Ritchie of the UFC PI at the IIS workshop – Source: IIS MediaWhile Gavin Pratt and Dean Ritchie are currently based in Shanghai, the two strength and conditioning coaches are both Australian. Dean Ritchie describes the IIS campus as being surrounded by “bushland,” a so-very Aussie expression.Pratt, who hails from Perth, Western Australia, regrets not being able to watch his favourite sport of Test cricket while in India, but declared that he played both field hockey and cricket in the past.”I actually played both cricket and field hockey at a junior state level. So cricket was one of the sports I was hoping to be professional at, but it didn’t work out for me. Probably quite lucky, though, because if I played, it would have been around that Shane Warne, Matt Hayden era. I never would have seen the Australian team ever,” he stated breaking into a laugh.”Field hockey was also one of the sports that I loved playing as a junior. And we got to play at the wonderful facility in Western Australia quite often. It’s a great facility. Cricket is still a big part of my life,” Pratt added.Gavin Pratt, who also worked as a television presenter in Australia, narrated at length his journey in the field of S&C.”Like many of us in our role, my interest in S&C came from being a failed athlete. So I spent a lot of time injured in the gym when I was away from sport, and that actually created a thirst for my role to learn more about strength and conditioning. I’ve been an S&C coach for around 25 years now, and have worked in a number of different sports.” Pratt stated.”It’s taken us around the globe and seeing many parts of the world and many different cultures. So I’m really fortunate in that sense,” he stated in a tone that mirrored the passion.Dean Ritchie from Melbourne began to develop an interest in applying sports science principles in his late teens. India’s UFC star Puja Tomar is among Ritchie’s favourite athletes.”Selfishly, Puja Tomar is one of my favourite athletes. We had her come and train at the UFC PI for a time”Pratt chimes in, adding that Rishabh Pant is his favourite cricketer for “his banter and cheeky nature on the field,” a quintessentially Australian trait, even as the duo hope that their collaboration with Indian sport extends well beyond the Karnataka sojourn.