Sports Massage

Materials

• Video - 150 minutes
• Text - 106 pages
• Multiple-choice test
• Certificate upon completion

Description

Develop Practical Skills

In this home study sports massage course, you’ll learn how to help clients move better, recover faster, and feel stronger. Sports massage is more than techniques — it’s about understanding your clients’ bodies and supporting their goals. By the end of the course, you’ll have practical skills and know how to use them effectively in your sessions, giving you confidence in serving active clients and addressing their specific needs.

Techniques That Work

You’ll practice methods for pre-event preparation, post-event recovery, and ongoing maintenance that support mobility, reduce pain, and prevent injury. Many clients are active — from weekend warriors to professional athletes — and learning these techniques helps you meet their needs so they leave your table stronger, more flexible, and ready for daily life. Adding these services also positions you to attract new clients and expand your practice in the growing wellness and fitness market.

Understand the Reason Behind Each Technique

Instructor, Dr. James Mally, will guide you through:

• PNF stretches
• Reciprocal inhibition
• Trigger point and strain/counterstrain techniques
• Injury evaluation and treatment
• Cross fiber friction
• Common sports injuries
• Pre- and post-event massage techniques

You’ll not only learn how to perform each technique but also understand why it matters — so you can confidently explain the benefits to your clients, adjust treatments to their goals and lifestyles, and build trust and credibility as a skilled practitioner.

Practice at Your Own Pace

After watching the videos and reviewing the course manual, you can go through the program a second time, practicing the techniques as you follow along. The manual is designed to stand next to your massage table, making it easy to reference while working with a volunteer subject. This structured approach reinforces what you’ve learned, builds confidence in your skills, and prepares you to deliver real results in your sessions — helping clients feel, move, and recover at their best.

Benefits for You and Your Clients

Offering sports massage helps you:

• Serve more clients and retain them longer
• Provide sessions that make a real difference in how clients feel, move, and recover
• Position yourself as a knowledgeable, trusted therapist in the fitness and wellness community
• Expand the range of services you can confidently offer

A Complete Approach

Whether you’re adding a few new tools to your practice or learning a full set of sports massage techniques, this course gives you the knowledge, confidence, and insight to provide effective, results-driven sessions for active clients — helping them perform, recover, and feel their best.

Course Objectives

• Understand principles for Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) Stretching.
• Observe effective PNF stretches and guidelines for PNF stretching.
• Identify two types of trigger points, understand and perform counterstrain techniques to treat trigger points.
• Express importance of taking a complete client history and know what important questions to ask.
• Discover the level of involvement in a Grade 1, 2, or 3 sprain/strain.
• Identify the symptoms of Capsular Pattern Arthritis.
• Learn the 12 tests on the shoulder and interpret results of the testing.
• Determine the meaning of the acronym RICE.
• List the effects of heat and ice as well as the four stages of ice and cautions for using ice.
• Determine when and how to apply cross fiber friction.
• Review the performance of soft tissue release.

Course Reviews

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Instructors

James R. Mally, ND

Dr. James R. Mally graduated from massage school in 1976 with over 1,000 hours of training, later attending Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine earning a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine degree in 1984. As the founder of the Healing Arts Institute, a massage therapy school in California, Dr. Mally is an administrator and teacher of anatomy and physiology, massage, business, ethics, deep tissue massage, sports massage and other courses. Dr. Mally has had over 30 years of teaching experience in the massage and healthcare field.

Dr. Mally is author and instructor for the Institute's Deep Tissue Massage, Sports Massage, Swedish Massage for Professionals and Side Lying Massage courses.