Taking the Field
Keerthana and Harini’s clinic, Performance Doctor in Velachery, offers athletes and performers a host of services to help rehabilitate from injuries and trauma. The duos dream project, though inaugurated recently in 2024, has been over 10 years in the making! Performance Doctor offers prehab services, which they consider the most important part of an athlete’s training process.
A walk through the establishment in Velachery shows a busy place with multiple rooms, each occupied by a specialist. The clinic offers both onsite and offsite services: they consult with individuals at their clinic, and also offer group therapy programs in schools and sports academies. Keerthana reels off a comprehensive list of services. “We offer injury assessment, rehabilitation, sports-specific conditioning, and preventive care. Basically, we are a healthcare center focused on the diagnosis and rehabilitation of sports injuries, recreational activities etc. We do not profess to be everything to everybody, we don’t want to dilute our services, so we don’t take on general patients or their rehab. It’s strictly sports and performance related.” This comprises athletes, dancers, recreational runners and anyone who is reasonably active.
A High-Performance Team
Staffed by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, including sports medicine physicians, physical therapists, sports psychologists, performance nutritionists and athletic trainers, the facility aims to enhance athletic performance, promote injury recovery, and optimize overall health for athletes of all levels – recreational or elite.
A very enthusiastic Keerthana, one of the two founders, talks of her journey. “I had been dreaming of starting a performance lab of sorts since 2019. I wanted a place where we could offer various approaches that would focus on performance, not only injury rehabilitation,” she remembers.
It seemed a pipedream at the time when she was struggling to find clients and establish her practice. She certainly didn’t dream that it would come true. “I wanted it to be a performance lab, where we use a ‘three-hab’ approach: simulating training, working with neurons, from the physiological and psychological perspective.”
That was in 2019, when Covid turned the world on its head. But that only made her resolve stronger. “In 2020 I met Dr. Harini, a sports medical doctor. We’ve been good friends and kept in touch professionally and on a social level. It was in January of 2024, I sent her a cryptic message: ‘I know this sounds ridiculous, but can we start a center, where we have all aspects of sports rehab under one roof.’ Turned out she had had similar thoughts, she simply said, ‘Yes, right away!’ She even came up with the name: Performance Doctor. I loved it and 3 months later, we were in business!”
By then both Dr. Harini and Keerthana had been successfully practicing for almost a decade. Together now for nine months into the journey, there’s no looking back.
A Unique Pitch
The clinic in Velachery is built like a gym, where the rooms are fitted with what looks like gym equipment. Keerthana clarifies: “This is not gym space, even though most of our equipment is similar. Our approach is unique and multi-disciplinary. While most of our clients come in for rehab or for physio, we give them various perspectives: prehab, psychology, nutrition and so forth. We offer plans based on individual requirements.” Just a few months into existence, Performance Doctor is already seeing a good response and building a loyal clientele.
Prehab to Rehab
Performance Doctor clinic caters to various age groups and backgrounds. “In fact, we have seasoned Bharathanatyam dancers who come, wanting to get ready before a performance. Especially during and after the Madras music and dance festival in December, we see different kinds of performers. Middle aged and older, they may have joints, knee, or back issues. But by providing them with quality prehab in preparation for the events, or timely rehab to help with post-performance, we help them get back to their normal routine.
Explaining the concept of prehab, Keerthana says, “I’m a dancer, and from my perspective, the times that I condition my body before I start practice or dance, my body responds better and is less susceptible to injury, than when I start off without. But I must admit, the concept of prehab is still premature, kind of new. But for those that come to us and learn about it, injuries are lesser.”
Clients approach the clinic at different stages of their injury or trauma. The experts here assess and diagnose the extent of the injury, provide rehabilitation plans and treatment, that of course includes sports-specific conditioning, and preventive care from recurring situations. That’s the physical and physiological part of performance. So, what about the psychological aspect?
While the importance of the psychological well-being cannot be underestimated, Keerthana feels that it still lacks the recognition it deserves. But the needle has certainly moved since the first skeptical door that opened to her ten years ago.
Coaches and care givers are beginning to see that mental preparedness is crucial to performance. For an athlete to deliver optimal results, physiological health alone is not enough. Self-assurance and a strong belief in oneself, despite the dynamics of the situation, staying calm under duress, bouncing back post injury are not always innate. Athletes and performers often times require all the help they can get from a sports psychologist.
The team at Performance Doctor has clients at all levels including grassroot level athletes, who come to them through parents or academies. “To us they’re still 14-15 year olds. From a sports psych and medical perspective, we look at the athlete reaching their own developmental milestone before we focus on their performance. If we look only at performance, we may miss the basic issue. We look at sustained performance, not a shooting star.”
The experts at Performance Doctor conduct sessions for small groups and individuals. The underlying emphasis is that fitness and health can be fun. They learn that while sports and awards are vital, being disciplined about their well-being in critical. To these young boys and girls, discipline doesn’t seem as relevant as motivation. Keerthana smiles, “So we first ask them, ‘Do you want to play only now or for a long time?’ We impress upon them the importance of wellness versus performance. And show them that it’s all about balancing the two.”
A New Kind of Race
Keerthana thinks back to when it all began. “I was an obese child in school, and it was not a good experience. It made me think why people lack compassion. My hurt turned to curiosity, and I wanted to pursue psychology. Also, I felt I was losing a lot of opportunities because of my appearance and wanted to lose weight.” The turning point came when Keerthana’s parents introduced her to long distance running. They took up the sport as a family, and as it grew on her, so did her self-confidence. She began to see how playing a sport could impact the mental wellbeing of a person, and vice versa. In college the light bulb went off, and she decided to pursue sport psychology, at a time when no one even knew about this field.
Keerthana went on to do her Master’s from the UK and came back to Chennai to start her career as a sports psychologist. “I saw that there were not many job opportunities, so had to create my own. I was extremely fortunate in that I had great people to supervise me.” She speaks about her mentors with respect, some of whom were pioneers in the field in Chennai and India.
“Dr. Chaitanya Sridhar, my thesis supervisor; Varadhayani, my senior from college who motivated me. Many such people gave me the confidence to talk to athletes and begin my own private practice after that”, she remembers with respect.
Initial Challenges
Keerthana recalls the challenges she faced as she went knocking on doors of sports academies and schools. The initial years were tough, but that only strengthened her resolve. She did free sessions for groups and individuals. She spent hours trying to convince skeptics who saw this as dispensing redundant advice rather than counselling. “That was then. Out of ten people I talked to, for the eight who said no, there were two who said yes let’s try it out. That gave me the opportunity to focus on them.”
Keerthana and Dr. Harini have both come a long way. With due respect to client confidentiality, Keerthana says, “We can’t talk about who we work with, but when they share their experiences, it helps us. Most important being word of mouth. Once they see how we can help them in their journey, our athletes start talking about us. And that helps in two ways: they bring awareness to their friends and of course it brings us new clients too.
Relay of Experts
Keerthana’s face lights up when she talks about the team she works with. “Harini and I take care of partnerships, getting new clients, contracts, and our team of experts handles the services.”
Dr. Harini Muralidharan is the founder, sports physician at the center. She’s ably supported by sports physiotherapists Karthik Thamizhdasan, Shristi Bharti and Daranidaran. The center offers the services of a performance nutritionist, Jayaveena AV, and Karen Kirubal, who’s the S&C Coach. Keerthana who is herself a performance psychologist, works with Bala Ramaswamy, another sports psychologist.
When asked about plans ahead for the new year, Keerthana is very excited, “Harini and I are in the process of bringing out a book on the multi-disciplinary approach to sports psychology. We are now ready to open our satellite branch too, with tele-intervention in the pipeline. This is the year!”
The team is also working on collaboration with various faculties of sports medicine. Keerthana has no qualms about working in tandem with her peers in the field, as she sees that combined knowledge can impact a greater number of performers.
Keerthana is a woman on a mission. “To be part of a performer’s journey is beautiful. As a catalyst and as an aide it’s fulfilling to help them achieve their goals. I’m grateful for everything that has pushed me into this journey with Harini.”
