What It Really Takes: A Candid Reflection on High Performance, Injury, and Why I Built SpeedSig
Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Luis Resa and record a podcast episode for How did you get into sport. It was meant to be a relaxed conversation, but it ended up being one of the most honest and enjoyable chats I’ve had in a long time.
We covered everything from my early days in elite sport to why I built SpeedSig, and some of the decisions that shaped my path. More than that, it became a reflection on what it really takes to last — and grow — in high performance.
This article is a follow-up to that episode. Not because I love talking about myself, but because I think sharing our stories is how the industry moves forward. There are a lot of coaches, physios, and performance staff out there trying to navigate the same challenges I faced 10, 20, 30 years ago. If my experiences can give them a bit of clarity, or even just a sense that they’re not alone in the chaos, then it’s worth it.
Here’s what we spoke about, and what I hope others take away from it.
From Curiosity to Clarity
My career started the way a lot of people’s do… I was curious. I was lucky to learn early from people like Ian King, who challenged the traditional ways of thinking and encouraged us to ask deeper questions. That led me to study one of the first sports science degrees available in New South Wales, at a time when “sports science” didn’t really exist as a defined path.
I never set out to build a product or write a PhD. I just kept noticing problems that weren’t being solved.
One of the biggest ones? The way we monitor athletes.
For years, I’d watch players return from injury and something wouldn’t look right. They hit their sprint targets. The GPS said they were fine. The physio cleared them. But as a coach, I could see it. Their movement wasn’t the same.
No one else could see it, or at least, no one was talking about it. And there was no data to back it up.
That frustration is what eventually led me to create SpeedSig. I didn’t want to replace anyone’s expertise. I just wanted to give performance and medical staff a way to see what was hiding in plain sight.
Starting Over (When You’re Supposed to Know Everything)
Let’s be honest, doing a PhD in your 40s is not the typical career move. By then, I’d been working in elite sport for years. I’d held roles at the QLD Reds, the Fremantle Dockers, and spent time in Rugby and AFL. People assumed I had all the answers.
But I didn’t.
I kept getting pushback on what I was observing in athletes post-injury. I’d see patterns and raise concerns, only to be told the data didn’t support it. Or that I was overthinking it. Or worse, that I just didn’t understand the numbers.
That kind of feedback either breaks you or fuels you. For me, it lit a fire.
I didn’t want to argue anymore. I wanted to learn how to back up what I was seeing with evidence. That’s when I made the decision to go back and study.
The PhD wasn’t about prestige. It was about developing the skills to validate what I instinctively knew. It gave me the foundation I needed to build SpeedSig into something that wasn’t just another data tool but, a useful bridge between the art and science of performance.
The Evolution of Athlete Monitoring
One of the things I’ve seen shift over the past few decades is the industry’s focus.
Early on, we were obsessed with what the athlete was doing. Volume. Distance. Top speed. We tracked the outputs, the things that were easy to measure.
But that only tells half the story.
What matters just as much and often more when it comes to injury and recovery… is how they’re doing it. Are they compensating on one side? Are they decelerating differently post-rehab? Are their movement signatures aligned with their baseline?
That’s the stuff that gets overlooked. And ironically, it’s the stuff that usually causes the next injury.
SpeedSig was built to fill that gap. Using existing GPS units worn at the lumbar spine, we can now look at symmetry, movement quality, and real-time biomechanical changes… all without needing a lab or motion capture setup.
It’s not about replacing your current system. It’s about completing the picture.
Starting a Business in Elite Sport? Here’s What You’re Really Signing Up For
Building SpeedSig was the biggest risk I’ve taken professionally.
Leaving full-time roles. Funding the early development. Backing myself when there was no guarantee it would work. Those are the parts most people don’t see when they ask about the product or the research.
But it also forced me to grow. It sharpened my decision-making. It made me hyper-aware of what performance teams really need not what looks good in a paper or on a slide deck, but what’s actually usable on the ground.
I built SpeedSig because I was sick of seeing athletes re-injure when they could’ve been protected. I was tired of conversations where the medical team and the performance staff weren’t speaking the same language. I wanted to give teams a tool that helped them connect the dots, not just collect them.
Navigating the Grey Areas of Return to Play
Every high performance professional knows this situation.
A player wants to return. The coach wants them back. The physio says they’re not ready. The S&C says their numbers look okay. The player says they feel fine. And you… the high performance manager, have to make the final call.
That’s a brutal position to be in. I’ve been there.
You’re trying to balance risk, readiness, and pressure from all sides. And the truth is, most of our current objective measures are too blunt. A force plate or hop test in a controlled setting might say they’re back to normal, but their movement in open space still tells a different story.
SpeedSig gives us the missing piece. It shows you how they’re moving during actual training drills. Not just whether they can complete a drill, but whether they’re doing it the way they did pre-injury. That difference matters.
To the Next Generation: Here’s My Advice
If you’re an up-and-coming coach or sports scientist reading this, I’ve got one message.
Don’t chase titles. Chase questions.
It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that working at a big club means you’ve made it. But the real reward comes from building something that solves a problem, even if it’s a small one at first.
Also, don’t let anyone undervalue you. There’s a fine line between gaining experience and being taken advantage of. It’s okay to work your way up, but know your worth. And don’t be afraid to say no to things that don’t align with your values.
What got me here wasn’t a perfect plan. It was persistence. It was being okay with people telling me I was wrong and using that as fuel to get better.
This article exists because of the recent podcast episode I recorded. I didn’t go into it planning to tell my whole career story, but once we got talking, it felt important to share the real side of this industry.
Not the polished version… the real version.
The truth is, this field is full of incredible people doing hard work with limited tools and big expectations. If my story can help just one coach or practitioner ask better questions, or feel more confident in the way they see movement, then it’s worth telling.
SpeedSig isn’t about me. It’s about giving high performance teams the tools they need to keep athletes on the field…stronger, smarter, and more resilient.
— Jason Weber
