Drew Hanlen's Training Methods?

[JimmyPlopper]

I'd like to test a potentially sensitive hypothesis. I have noticed that many of Drew Hanlen's clients have faced major Achilles and ACL injuries over the past 3 years or so.

Tyrese Haliburton - Achilles (likely tear) - June 2025
Jayson Tatum - Achilles rupture - May 2025
Kelly Oubre - ACL Tear - November 2023
Bradley Beal - ACL/MCL - November 2023
Jordan Clarkson - ACL Tear - April 2023
Zach LaVine - ACL Tear - January 2022

Hmmm that seems odd, but maybe he has a ton of clients. He only has seven full time NBA clients. All of them, but the Sixers are on the above list:

Tyrese Haliburton
Bradley Beal
Jayson Tatum
Zach LaVine
Jordan Clarkson
Joel Embiid
Tyrese Maxey

Embiid has torn his meniscus, but has been so impacted by other injuries earlier in his career before meeting Hanlen that he is probably not a great example.

I am not going to make any claims at this point, but am interested in understanding more about this phenomenon. Is anyone aware of what his training routine is like? And whether it aligns with the injury outcomes we have observed?

[sikma42]

Very interesting.


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[boomershadow]

Worth looking into. I think Oladipo's injury in 2019 happened because he was training too hard in the offseason, also.

[bisme37]

Thing is... I don't know how a summer workout is making dudes tear their achilles the following postseason. And of course there is a long list of other players who've gotten injured in recent years and have no link to Hanlen.

[dockingsched]

Kinda looks like these guys should stop playing international tournaments during the off season

[JimmyPlopper]

Thing is... I don't know how a summer workout is making dudes tear their achilles the following postseason. And of course there is a long list of other players who've gotten injured in recent years and have no link to Hanlen.

I am not a scientist or doctor either. It could be a complete coincidence. But it has happened to all of his full time clients - for which he does mostly off-season physical work and in-season video/feedback/virtual stuff with occasional in-season workouts for his full time clients.

But it's enough to ask the question. I actually think intuitively, that what you do with your time off could be a major factor in how your body holds up during the year.

[zero rings]

This guy is the only NBA trainer I’ve ever heard of, so I’m assuming he has the most clients in the NBA, by a lot.

Something to consider before you crucify him.

[The Master]

Great catch, but I don't think there's anything to look at:

1) growth of NBA injuries is an overall trend
2) Hanlen is probably a single coach in terms of the highest number of star-level clients

[basketballRob]

I'd like to test a potentially sensitive hypothesis. I have noticed that many of Drew Hanlen's clients have faced major Achilles and ACL injuries over the past 3 years or so.

Tyrese Haliburton - Achilles (likely tear) - June 2025
Jayson Tatum - Achilles rupture - May 2025
Joel Embiid - Achilles rupture - February 2024
RJ Barrett - ACL Tear - January 2024
Kelly Oubre - ACL Tear - November 2023
Bradley Beal - ACL/MCL - November 2023
Jordan Clarkson - ACL Tear - April 2023
Zach LaVine - ACL Tear - January 2022

Hmmm that seems odd, but maybe he has a ton of clients. He only has six full time NBA clients. All of them are on the above list:

Joel Embiid
Bradley Beal
Jayson Tatum
Zach LaVine
Jordan Clarkson
RJ Barrett

I am not going to make any claims at this point, but am interested in understanding more about this phenomenon. Is anyone aware of what his training routine is like? And whether it aligns with the injury outcomes we have observed?

Did Embiid rupture his Achilles?

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[JimmyPlopper]

This guy is the only NBA trainer I’ve ever heard of, so I’m assuming he has the most clients in the NBA, by a lot.

Something to consider before you crucify him.

I'm not looking to crucify anyone as you could probably tell by the extremely balanced tone of my post. Volume of clients would only mean that if he was doing something wrong it would be doing an injustice to a greater number of people.

[dockingsched]

Thing is... I don't know how a summer workout is making dudes tear their achilles the following postseason. And of course there is a long list of other players who've gotten injured in recent years and have no link to Hanlen.

I am not a scientist or doctor either. It could be a complete coincidence. But it has happened to all of his full time clients - for which he does mostly off-season physical work and in-season video/feedback/virtual stuff with occasional in-season workouts for his full time clients.

But it's enough to ask the question. I actually think intuitively, that what you do with your time off could be a major factor in how your body holds up during the year.

I don’t think your list is complete or current. Don’t see maxey, holmgren, Giannis, and a few other guys.

Not sure what you mean by “full time client” but I don’t think some you listed are recent or full time.

[bisme37]

Thing is... I don't know how a summer workout is making dudes tear their achilles the following postseason. And of course there is a long list of other players who've gotten injured in recent years and have no link to Hanlen.

I am not a scientist or doctor either. It could be a complete coincidence. But it has happened to all of his full time clients - for which he does mostly off-season physical work and in-season video/feedback/virtual stuff with occasional in-season workouts for his full time clients.

But it's enough to ask the question. I actually think intuitively, that what you do with your time off could be a major factor in how your body holds up during the year.

Hali and Tatum both played into May or June last year, then went to Olympics. So they had a lot of mileage on them. JT in particular has played the most games/minutes in the NBA since he came into the league. And I'm pretty sure he and Hanlen primarily do shot mechanics stuff more so than hard workouts. But you might be onto something, I dunno.

[zero rings]

This guy is the only NBA trainer I’ve ever heard of, so I’m assuming he has the most clients in the NBA, by a lot.

Something to consider before you crucify him.

I'm not looking to crucify anyone as you could probably tell by the extremely balanced tone of my post. Volume of clients would only mean that if he was doing something wrong it would be doing an injustice to a greater number of people.

NBA players get injured more than ever before. If a a trainer has the most clients, he’s likely to have the most injured clients, too.

Do you have any actual evidence that he’s doing something wrong relative to other trainers?

[JimmyPlopper]

This guy is the only NBA trainer I’ve ever heard of, so I’m assuming he has the most clients in the NBA, by a lot.

Something to consider before you crucify him.

I'm not looking to crucify anyone as you could probably tell by the extremely balanced tone of my post. Volume of clients would only mean that if he was doing something wrong it would be doing an injustice to a greater number of people.

NBA players get injured more than ever before. If a a trainer has the most clients, he’s likely to have the most injured clients, too.

Do you have any actual evidence that he’s doing something wrong relative to other trainers?

Re-read the OP to answer all of your questions.

[JimmyPlopper]

Thing is... I don't know how a summer workout is making dudes tear their achilles the following postseason. And of course there is a long list of other players who've gotten injured in recent years and have no link to Hanlen.

I am not a scientist or doctor either. It could be a complete coincidence. But it has happened to all of his full time clients - for which he does mostly off-season physical work and in-season video/feedback/virtual stuff with occasional in-season workouts for his full time clients.

But it's enough to ask the question. I actually think intuitively, that what you do with your time off could be a major factor in how your body holds up during the year.

I don’t think your list is complete or current. Don’t see maxey, holmgren, Giannis, and a few other guys.

Not sure what you mean by “full time client” but I don’t think some you listed are recent or full time.

The full-time client list is accurate. Only one missed was the recent addition in Tyrese Maxey (within the last year). I pray he does not suffer the fate of his fellow Hanlen trainees.

[zimpy27]

Yeah those odds are too high to ignore.

I wonder what he does, is it skills or are we talking strength and conditioning?

[dockingsched]

I am not a scientist or doctor either. It could be a complete coincidence. But it has happened to all of his full time clients - for which he does mostly off-season physical work and in-season video/feedback/virtual stuff with occasional in-season workouts for his full time clients.

But it's enough to ask the question. I actually think intuitively, that what you do with your time off could be a major factor in how your body holds up during the year.

I don’t think your list is complete or current. Don’t see maxey, holmgren, Giannis, and a few other guys.

Not sure what you mean by “full time client” but I don’t think some you listed are recent or full time.

The full-time client list is accurate. Only one missed was the recent addition in Tyrese Maxey (within the last year). I pray he does not suffer the fate of his fellow Hanlen trainees.

Rj Barret is still a client? How do you know I can’t find anything. Also can’t find anything about an acl tear.

[JimmyPlopper]

I don’t think your list is complete or current. Don’t see maxey, holmgren, Giannis, and a few other guys.

Not sure what you mean by “full time client” but I don’t think some you listed are recent or full time.

The full-time client list is accurate. Only one missed was the recent addition in Tyrese Maxey (within the last year). I pray he does not suffer the fate of his fellow Hanlen trainees.

Rj Barret is still a client? How do you know I can’t find anything. Also can’t find anything about an acl tear.

Checking back into this: RJ did not have an ACL tear - it was a false positive on a question I asked to ChatGPT. But as you said, he stopped working with Hanlen in 2023.

Regarding the list, it looks like Haliburton is a recent full-time client as well.

So it's 6/7 with Achillies/ACL injuries in three years with one of those being a recent add.

[basketballRob]

The full-time client list is accurate. Only one missed was the recent addition in Tyrese Maxey (within the last year). I pray he does not suffer the fate of his fellow Hanlen trainees.

Rj Barret is still a client? How do you know I can’t find anything. Also can’t find anything about an acl tear.

Checking back into this: RJ did not have an ACL tear - it was a false positive on a question I asked to ChatGPT. But as you said, he stopped working with Hanlen in 2023.

Regarding the list, it looks like Haliburton is a recent full-time client as well.

So it's 6/7 with Achillies/ACL injuries in three years with one of those being a recent add.

Embiid didn't have an Achilles either

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[JimmyPlopper]

Yeah those odds are too high to ignore.

I wonder what he does, is it skills or are we talking strength and conditioning?

No clue- but maybe it was was alluded to earlier. Maybe people that have a tougher workout regiment face endurance issues because the body just needs a break. We all laughed when Andre Miller would eat through the summer and gradually play back into game weight, but I dont remember him getting injured much,