Yoga meets Sport Science to train elite athletes in Olympic 2012 build-up

A Norfolk-based yoga and sport science expert is set to make a major impact on athletics training programmes in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Hayley Winter has combined the ancient tradition of yoga with the latest sport science techniques to create a new training science which has won the support of leading sports figures including Graham Gooch, Sir Clive Woodward and Tim Newenham the Performance Sport Advisor to UK Sport.

Now Hayley, who has also trained professional footballers, including working at Norwich City and Ipswich Town, has called in a brand advisor to help raise awareness of her revolutionary training techniques for elite athletes.

Hayley, who has been practicing yoga for 25 years and teaching it for 12, calls her unique approach ‘Yoga Sport Science’. Using expert knowledge of both disciplines Hayley trains yoga teachers, sports coaches, physiotherapists and fitness trainers, as well as individual elite athletes and sports teams.

To help establish the new business, Hayley has engaged Norwich-based brand advisor Simon Middleton, known as The Brand Strategy Guru.

Ms. Winter explained: “Simon immediately recognised that my approach and my brand Yoga Sport Science were very distinctive and strong, and I am very excited that together we can ensure that the benefits of Yoga Sport Science are explained to athletes of all kinds as we approach the Olympics”.

Mr Middleton commented: “Hayley is hugely experienced and deeply knowledgeable. She has successfully trained major football teams and athletes, and her credentials are impeccable. But the really exciting thing is that a Norfolk expert has created a unique approach which really could have a dramatic impact on the performance of British athletes in 2012.”

Hayley is currently training a number of yoga teachers, physiotherapists and sports coaches through her unique training course.

Hayley Winter biography:

Hayley works closely with Tim Newenham, (National Strength & Conditioning Coach for the English Institute of Sport and advisor to the Olympic Legacy Committee for 2012).

In 2003 Hayley was invited by Ipswich Town FC to work with their first team and academy squad, and worked closely with the physiotherapists, sport scientists and management for three seasons. The statistics at Ipswich Town FC showed a significant reduction in soft tissue injury amongst the players who had consistently practiced yoga.

In 2005 the Football Association became interested in the results at Ipswich and Hayley was invited by the Football Association to present her techniques to all their coaches. Hayley also presented to the Medical and Exercise Science Department at the FA and received their full support and approval for her training course designed to support coaches within their association.

In 2006 Hayley was invited by Graham Gooch to provide the players at Essex cricket team with their own individual programmes. In the same summer Sir Clive Woodward engaged Hayley to join the medical team at Southampton FC, creating successful results in pre-season training.

In 2007 Hayley was invited by Sports Coach UK to deliver workshops in the eastern region, to their coaches and with individual athletes.

In April this year Hayley launched her training course at the National Badminton Centre at Milton Keynes. Tim Newenham also delivers training on the course, and is now a member of the Yoga Sport Science team.

Hayley is a former editor of the British Wheel of Yoga national Magazine and has an MSc in Sport & Exercise Biomechanics from Roehampton University.

Date posted: Wednesday 22nd July 2009Back to news home page >