Keeping players in peak condition

Feature Physiotherapy: John O'Sullivan visits the European Tour Physio Unit, a state-of-the-art fitness and golf treatment centre.

Lee Westwood is stripped to the waist, face down on the treatment table. It's Friday lunch-time and the Englishman is due out soon to start his second round in the European Open. The practice range and the putting green are two essential stop-off points in the pre-amble to a round, but these days, for the majority of golfers on the European Tour, there is a third: the Red Bull physiotherapy unit.

Patrick Smith is working on Westwood, with the Cork lilt easily discernible and sporadic laughter a testament to his chipper demeanour. One suspects the 35-year-old Corkman is living the dream, and has done so for three years now since the day he popped into Fota Island during an Irish Open.

A chance encounter with an Irish professional provided Smith with an unexpected career opportunity.

"I was walking along by the driving range and I saluted Des Smyth. We started small-talking, chatting on his way in from the range. I explained to him my background in physiotherapy and he took me to meet Guy Delacave, the director of the physio unit on the European Tour.

"I went in and had a chat. Guy told me that one of his colleagues was taking a few days off and would I like to spend that time with them. I was delighted with myself and I didn't even expect to be paid for the work. They invited me up to the K Club, and after that (tournament) they asked me to stay on for the remainder of the year, which I did.

"I worked on the Challenge Tour as well as the main tour for that first year."

Smith concedes that he was star-truck repeatedly, but perhaps not to the degree of his first client that day in Fota Island.

"Seve Ballesteros was the first golfer I treated. It was unbelievable, fantastic. He's always been my idol."

Smith's introduction might have been slightly fortuitous but not his dedication or determination. That discipline undoubtedly stems from his schooldays at Cobh Vocational and Technical College. One of his classmates was Sonia O'Sullivan, and the two were offered athletic scholarships in the same year, Smith to the Alan Hancock Junior College in Central Coast, California, O'Sullivan to Villanova.

"We did a lot of hard training together when we were younger and still keep in touch."

Smith's forte was cross country running, having won South Munster and Munster Colleges cross country titles and also represented Ireland. When he went to the States his focus switched to middle and long distance running and road racing.

He spent four years in California, completing his physiotherapy studies but became largely disenchanted with his experiences in athletics.

On returning to Ireland, Smith was determined to pursue his interest in working with sportspeople and treating their injuries. "When I came home, over the last seven years I did different qualifications with IETC, the International Examination Therapies Council of Europe. It was basically to keep updated on the different techniques, getting diplomas in physical therapy, sports massage, sports nutrition, sports exercise and several other certificates. I'm going to take up a course during the winter on 'active release'. There's a lot out there and I want to keep learning. When people tell me about a new technique that they have come across, I go and research it to see if I can use it or adapt it."

Smith set up the Sports Injury and Well Being Clinic in Bishopstown and took a little time out to do the physical training with the Cobh Intermediate hurling team, two of whom, Derek Barrett and Mick Daly, won All-Ireland senior medals with the Cork team in 1999.

He has treated O'Sullivan occasionally, and Ireland rugby second row Donncha O'Callaghan, but these days the European Tour golfers command his full attention. Smith is one of four physiotherapists and masseurs under Belgian Guy Delacave. The latter started this venture 14 years ago along with his countryman, Chris Huizenga, out of a locker-room.

Home today is a state-of-the-art, 50-foot Red Bull embossed articulated truck. It is littered with the latest technology and various boys' toys, manifest in the television screens, DVD players, Internet access facilities and a decent sound system.

Kitted out with a state-of-the-art mobile gymnasium and golf-specific treatment centre, it was launched on the European Tour at the 61st Italian Open at Castello di Tolcinasco Golf & Country Club in Milan earlier this year.

On board the unit, the players receive treatment for injuries, work out on the fitness machines and obtain professional advice on keeping their bodies in shape in order to compete on the Tour. This juggernaut will be present at the remaining tournaments, following the tour as it traverses Continental Europe.

Delacave smiles: "Having treated the players of the European Tour for the last 13 years I have seen just about every injury or strain it is possible for a golfer to get."

His team includes Huizenga, Smith, Rob Hillman and an osteopath, Scott Johnson, who Smith describes "as a staunch Rangers fan, married to an Irish woman".

With no family commitments, single and with a yen for travel, Smith is keen to see out another four or five years. He doesn't mind the six or seven weeks of travelling in succession, nor racing back to Cork on a Sunday night so that he can work at his clinic for a full day Monday and Tuesday morning before heading back to the next tour stop.

Work starts at a tournament on a Tuesday at 2.30 p.m.; the door closes at 6.30 p.m., but those inside at that point will be treated. Treatments usually take anywhere from 20-40 minutes. On the Wednesday, the pro-am day, the physio unit opens 30 minutes before the first tee time.

On the four tournament days, the doors open one hour before play and close about 6.30. On average there would be 230 contracts (clients) per tournament.

The rapport between the players and the physiotherapists is illustrated by the fact that many of the professionals view the unit as a haven, a place to come and chat while doing some light stretching. There are also the occasional tennis matches between Smith, Hillman, - the Englishman was once ranked in the top 15 juniors in Britain - and the French trio of Raphael Jacquelin, Thomas Levet and Jean Louis Guepy. It won't come as a shock to hear that the Wilson corporation have been benefactors.

They also find time to play golf, usually of the twilight variety when the unit closes and the long summer evenings kick in.

Smith, who enjoys the banter with the players, relates a couple of favourite stories.

"We have had most players through the truck, including Tiger Woods, Davis Love and other Americans as well as the top Europeans. At least year's (British) Open, Tom Watson came in and asked if he could have a massage. We were in the back of the truck, but Chris got up and introduced himself saying, 'Hi, I'm Chris, and your name is?'

"The players have a great sense of humour and none more so than Mark Roe. He's a real practical joker. We were in Portugal for a tournament and I was having dinner. At the next table Mark sat with a few other pros, Jamie Spence and Roger Chapman, amongst others.

"I noticed that he got up and left a couple of times during dinner but was back pretty quickly. When I went up to my room later on, everything was gone, bag, clothes, washing gear - the works, there was nothing left.

"I went to the hotel manager and he had an electronic device that could tell when my door had been opened. Mine was opened at 9.25 and we went to Mark's room and it had been opened at 9.30. The next morning I went down for breakfast in the same clothes, knowing Roe's tee time and that he would be having breakfast.

"I let him see me, went to the manager, grabbed a key for Roe's room and went up. All my stuff was there so I took it back, changed and went back down to the breakfast room. When he saw that I had changed he left like a scalded cat to check his room."

Smith loves the lifestyle andwhile that prevails is delighted to reap the rewards of a chance encounter at Fota Island.