Bob Donatelli, Ph.D, PT

Bob Donatelli grew up in New York and graduated from the Long Island University with a BS in Physical Education (1970), the Adelphi University with a Masters in Health Education (1973) and the New York University School of Physical Therapy with a degree in physical therapy (1975). After he completed the first phase of his education he moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he worked with his mentor, and good friend, Scot Irwin, to build a business and quickly establish seven physical therapy locations. During this time he assisted athletes who played all varieties of sports; tennis, hockey, baseball, football, soccer and rugby to name a few. Donatelli learned to understand the needs of an athlete and he incorporated those learnings into the designs of his clinics. He completed his PhD from Walden University with an emphasis in orthopaedic rehabilitation in 1993.

In the late 1990’s Donatelli met Marquis Grissom. At that time, Grissom was the “fourth starter” outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers and he suffered from shoulder, back, and hip pain. Donatelli worked to isolate Grissom’s weaknesses and to improve his balance and strength. The two continued to train and, after Grissom’s first season with the Dodgers as fourth starter, he won the starting position as center outfielder the next year. Grissom’s on field success lead him to be traded to the San Francisco Giants as starting center fielder…a promotion that Grissom initially couldn’t believe. Grissom credited Donatelli with strengthening his game and rejuvenating his career. Donatelli knew this was the beginning of something good.

Donatelli joined forces with the Physiotherapy Associates team and in 2001 he began training with tennis player Andy Roddick. In the next few years Donatelli also met golf player, and 2004 Players Champion, Fred Funk, through Physiotherapy Associates’ involvement with the PGA as the official provider of fitness training and physical rehabilitation for the PGA TOUR.

In January, 2005 Donatelli moved to Las Vegas to establish a new clinic and continued to work with professional and amateur athletes. During this time his sports specific rehabilitation program morphed into a national program for Physiotherapy Associates. Today this program is known as Strengthen Your Game™. So far Donatelli has trained more than 100 of physical therapists on the merits of this new program. Strengthen Your Game™ is now available to assist the everyday athlete in clinics across the USA.

Fred Funk was training again with Donatelli during the 2006 PGA TOUR stop in Las Vegas this October. After Donatelli’s initial evaluation, the two decided to concentrate on strengthening Funk’s weak muscles; those in his hip, trunk and shoulder. They also incorporated balance work and explosive training into their program. After only one week training together, Funk’s club head speed improved from 106 miles per hour to a high of 121 miles per hour. Funk said to Donatelli “I’m more motivated to get my head and body ready for next year. My goal was to pick up three miles per hour in my club head speed. That would be huge with the length and set-up of the PGA TOUR courses today.”

Bob Donatelli finds his work to be very interesting. “What we do really excites me. We are combining sports and science – so there is no guess work involved,” said Donatelli.

In addition to his responsibilities as National Director of Sports Specific Rehabilitation and Performance Enhancement Programs for Physiotherapy Associates in Las Vegas, Donatelli continues to conduct research studies on exercise, write books (his fourth is now being published) and lecture. Bob Donatelli, PhD, PT, and Orthopedic Certified Specialist: a man who likes to combine sports with science.

Billy O'Donnell, PT, ATC

Billy O’Donnell and Bob Donatelli have many things in common. They both have worked for Physiotherapy Associates for many years and they have both worked with athletes to help them play their game better and longer. They both also believe in the merits of clinical research and peer reviewed evidence-based performance training programs. It is the combination of these interests that lead them to create the Strengthen Your Game performance enhancement program for Stryker Physiotherapy Associates.

Billy O’Donnell began his studies at the University of New England in Maine where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Therapy. He then went on to serve in the Navy, where he continued his education and earned an Athletic Training Certification, or ATC. He joined Stryker after finishing his military duty in 1994 as Clinic Director and soon after becoming a Group Director working with Bob Donatelli on the Jimmy Connors Senior Tennis Tour until 1997. It was during this time that he began to embrace the Donatelli method of evaluating and developing rehabilitation programs for athletes. Learning this philosophy and approach would later help him while working with a variety of athletes at Louisiana State University.

In 1997 O’Donnell took a break from Physiotherapy Associates to open and operate his own private physical therapy practice. After selling his practice in 2003, he returned to as a Senior Group Director in southern, Nevada. He later became the Regional Manager of the Pacific Northwest, next, the National Accounts Manager. He now serves as the Director of Consumer Programs and Products to Physiotherapy Associates. In this role he is responsible for creating greater awareness for the Strengthen Your Game brand across the United States while creating new programs and products that will help consumers have greater health and well being. O’Donnell seeks the truth in science and evidence-based studies in order to develop quality programs. Both O’Donnell and Donatelli agree that consumer programs that deal with physical health and well being should be founded in peer-reviewed research and not on trends. That’s what makes them, and Strengthen Your Game, unique.