ABOUT TIM

Dr Tim Gabbett has 30 years experience working as an applied sport scientist with athletes and coaches from a wide range of sports.

From progressively overloading rehabilitation and training programs, ensuring athletes’ skills are maintained under pressure and fatigue, and preparing athletes for the most demanding passages of play, Tim’s research and training programs are practical, coach-friendly, and applicable to anyone with a desire to be the best. Tim’s common-sense approach to high performance, and his ability to communicate scientific principles simply to coaches and athletes, sets him apart from many other practitioners in the field. He continues to be in demand as a sport science consultant and advisor for several professional teams around the world.

PRACTICAL EXPERTISE

Tim has substantial practical experience accumulated over his 30 year career. Tim’s experience is multi-disciplinary but has one central theme: high performance.

Olympic Games

Tim has worked with elite international athletes over several Olympic Games cycles.

Basketball

Elite Sporting Teams

Tim has worked with elite teams in America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

Circus

Military, Corporate and Artistic Organizations

Tim's experience spans beyond sport - he has consulted to a wide range of organizations about the use of workload monitoring.

RESEARCH BACKGROUND

Dr Tim Gabbett holds a PhD in Human Physiology and has completed a second PhD in Applied Sport Science, with special reference to physical demands, injury prevention, and skill acquisition. 

Book

Publications

Tim has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and has presented at over 400 national and international conferences.

Impact

Research Impact

In a recent study of 8 million scientists published in PLoS Biology, Tim was named in the Top 25 most impactful sport scientists of all time.

Translation of Research to Practice

Tim’s research has impacted several high performance organizations including the military, dance, circus and sport.

PUBLICATIONS

Tim has published over 300 scientific articles that have direct application to high performance sport. His consultancy extends across a wide range of sports, including: American Football, Baseball, Ice Hockey, Soccer, Basketball, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Handball, Australian Football, and Cricket. His expertise includes using training information to predict ‘preventable’ injuries, skill acquisition, game-specific training, and analysing the physical demands of match-play. Some of his sport-specific publications are provided below:

👟 Athlete Monitoring, Workloads and Injury

Gabbett, T.J. (2020). The training-performance puzzle: How can the past inform future training directions? Journal of Athletic Training, 55:874-884.

Gabbett, T.J. (2020). Debunking the myths about training load, injury and performance: empirical evidence, hot topics and recommendations for practitioners. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54:58-66.

Debien, P., Miloski, B., Werneck, F., Timoteo, T., Ferezin, C., Bara Filho, M., and Gabbett, T.J. (2020). Training load and recovery during a pre-Olympic season in professional rhythmic gymnasts. Journal of Athletic Training, 55:977-983.

Gabbett, T.J. (2020). How much? How fast? How soon? Three simple concepts for progressing training loads to minimize injury risk and enhance performance. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy, 50:570-573.

Hulin, B.T., Gabbett, T.J., Pickworth, N.J., Johnston, R.D., and Jenkins, D.G. (2019). Relationships among PlayerLoadTM, high-intensity intermittent running ability and injury risk in professional rugby league players. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 14:1-7.

Gabbett, T.J., Hulin, B.T., Blanch, P., Chapman, P., and Bailey, D. (2019). To couple or not to couple? For acute:chronic workload ratios and injury risk, does it really matter? International Journal of Sports Medicine, 40:597-600.

Verhagen, E. and Gabbett, T. (2019). Load, capacity and health: critical pieces of the holistic performance puzzle. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53:5-6.

Gabbett, T.J., Nielsen, R.O., Bertelsen, M., Bittencourt, N.F., Fonseca, S., Malone, S., Moller, M., Oetter, E., Verhagen, E., and Windt, J. (2019). In pursuit of the “unbreakable” athlete. What role moderating factors and circular causation? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53:394-395.

Malone, S., Hughes, B., Doran, D.A., Collins, K., and Gabbett, T.J. (2019). Can the workload-injury relationship be moderated by improved strength, speed and repeated-sprint qualities? Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 22:29-34.

O’Sullivan, K., O’Sullivan, P., Gabbett, T.J., and O’Keeffe, M. (2019). Advice to athletes with back pain – get active! Seriously? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53:324-325.

Hartwig, T.B., Gabbett, T.J., Naughton, G., Duncan, C., Harries, S., and Perry, N (2019). Training and match volume and injury in adolescents playing multiple contact team sports: a prospective cohort study. Scandinavian Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 29:469-475.

Hulin, B.T. and Gabbett, T.J. (2019). Indeed association does not equal prediction: the never-ending search for the perfect acute:chronic workload ratio. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53:144-145.

Gabbett, T.J. and Blanch, P. (2019). Research, urban myths, and the never-ending story. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53:592-593.

Windt, J. and Gabbett, T.J. (2019). Is it all for naught? What does mathematical coupling mean for acute:chronic workload ratios? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53:988-990.

Gabbett, T.J., Kearney, S., Bisson, L.J., Collins, J., Sikka, R., Winder, N., Sedgwick, C., Hollis, E., and Bettle, J.M. (2018). Seven tips for developing and maintaining a high performance sports medicine team. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 52:626-627.

McGahan, J., Collins, K., Burns, C., Mangan, S., Gabbett, T.J., and O’Neill, C. (2018). Match-play running demands and technical performance among elite Gaelic footballers: Does divisional status count? Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002450. Online ahead of print.

Windt, J., Ardern, C.L., Gabbett, T.J., Kham, K.M., Cook, C., Sporer, B., and Zumbo, B.D. (2018). Getting the most out of intensive longitudinal data: A methodological review of workload—injury studies. BMJ Open, 8: e022626. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022626.

Tibana, RA., de Sousa, N.M.F., Cunha, G.V., Prestes, J., Fett, C., Gabbett, T.J., and Azevedo, F. (2018). Validity of session rating of perceived exertion method for quantifying internal training load during extreme conditioning program sessions. Sports, 23:68.

Gustavo Claudino, J., Gabbett, T.J., de Sá Souza, H., Simim, M., Nassis, G.P., Fowler, P., Borba, D.A., Melo, M., Bottino, A., Loturco, I., Amadio, A.C., and Serrao, J.C. (2018). Monitoring athlete recovery: which parameters to measure for sleep quality monitor in team sport athletes? A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, (in press).

Casamichana, D., Morencos, E., Romero-Moraleda, B., and Gabbett, T.J. (2018). The use of generic and individual speed thresholds for assessing the competitive demands of field hockey. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 17:366-371.

Gustavo Claudino, J., Gabbett, T.J., Bourgeois, F., de Sá Souza, H., Miranda, R., Mezêncio, B., Soncin, R., Alberto Cardoso Filho, C., Bottaro, M., Jose Hernandez, A., Carlos Amadio, A., and Cerca Serrão, J. (2018). CrossFit overview: systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine Open, 4: 11. doi: 10.1186/s40798-018-0124-5.

⚽ Football (Soccer)

Tabben, M., Chebbi, S., Chamari, K., Van Dyk, N., and Gabbett, T.J. (2020). Hamstring injury prevention for elite soccer players - A real world prevention program showing the effect of players' compliance on the outcome. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, in press.

Nassis, G.P., Brito, J., Figueiredo, P., and Gabbett, T.J. (2019). Injury prevention training in football: let’s bring it to the real world. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 53:1328-1329.

Martin, A., Casamichana, D., Gomez, A., Cos, F., and Gabbett, T.J. (2018). Positional differences in the most demanding passage of play in football competition. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, 20:563-570.

Casamichana, D., Gabbett, T.J., Castellano, J., Gomez Diaz, A., and Martin-Garcia, A. (2019). The most demanding passage of play in football competition: A comparison between halves. Biology of Sport, 36:233-240.

🏉 Rugby League & Rugby Union

Chambers, R.M., Gabbett, T.J., Josman, C., Bown, R., Stridgeon, P., Gupta, R., and Cole, M.H. (2019). Automatic detection of one-on-one tackles and ruck events using microtechnology in rugby union. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 22:827-832.

Chambers, R.M., Gabbett, T.J., and Cole, M.H. (2019). Validity of a microsensors-based algorithm to detect scrum events in rugby union International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 14:176-182.

Couderc, A., Gabbett, T.J., Piscione, J., Robineau, J., Peeters, A., Igarza, G., Thomas, C., Hanon, C., and Lacome, M. (2019). Repeated high-intensity effort activity in international male Rugby Sevens. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000002986. Online ahead of print.

Hulin, B.T., Gabbett, T.J., Johnston R., and Jenkins, D.G. (2018). Player load variables: sensitive to changes in direction and not related to collision workloads in rugby league match play. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13:1136-1142.

Gabbett, T.J. and Hulin, B.T. (2018). Activity and recovery cycles and skill involvements of successful and unsuccessful elite rugby league teams: A longitudinal analysis of evolutionary changes in National Rugby League match-play. Journal of Sports Sciences, 36:180-190.

Hulin, B.T., Gabbett, T.J., and Jenkins, D.G. (2018). Sub-maximal heart rate is associated with changes in high-intensity intermittent running ability in professional rugby league players. Science and Medicine in Football, 3:50-56.

Speranza, M., Gabbett, T.J., Greene, D.A., Johnston, R.D., and Townshend, A.D. (2018) Relationship between two standardized tackling proficiency tests and rugby league match-play tackle performance. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13:770-776.

🏏 Cricket

Ahmun, R., McCaig, S., Tallent, J., Williams, S., and Gabbett, T.J. (2019). Association of daily workload, wellness, injury and illness during tours in international cricketers. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 14:369-377.

🏀 Game-based Training

Hammami, A., Gabbett, T.J., Slimani, M., and Bouhlel, E. (2018) Does small-sided games training improve physical-fitness and specific skills for team sports? A systematic review with meta-analysis. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 58:1446-1455.