Adult Physiotherapy Five Dock: NDIS and Sport Goals
Searching for adult physiotherapy in Five Dock usually surfaces clinics built around post-operative knees, sore necks and six-session treatment blocks. That model works for a lot of people. It fits less well if you are an NDIS participant whose goal is playing club touch football again, walking 5km without your gait breaking down, or getting strong enough to keep up at training.
SportsFit Health & Rehab runs adult physiotherapy in Five Dock and Gladesville for participants with a sport or training goal attached to it. The Five Dock site sits in the Inner West, within a short drive of Drummoyne, Haberfield, Concord, Leichhardt and Ashfield.
Who this suits
Adults on an NDIS plan with a physical, neurological or developmental disability who want sport or structured training in the picture. That includes participants with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, amputation, and adults with autism or intellectual disability who want to join a club team or a gym without being left to figure it out alone.
It also suits participants who have plateaued. If you have had years of maintenance physiotherapy focused on range of movement and transfers, and you now want a goal with a scoreboard attached, that is a different type of programming.
What the assessment covers
The first appointment is longer than a follow-up and is mostly information gathering. Expect us to work through:
- Your history: diagnosis, surgeries, injections, previous physiotherapy, current medications relevant to movement, and what has and has not worked for you before.
- Your actual goal, stated in plain terms. "Complete a full club training session" is something we can plan around. "Get fitter" is not.
- Movement screening: gait if you walk, wheelchair propulsion mechanics if you push, joint range, muscle length, and tone or spasticity where relevant.
- Strength testing, usually with a handheld dynamometer or through loaded movements on the gym floor, so there are numbers to compare against later.
- Balance and coordination tasks relevant to your sport, plus a sense of how quickly you fatigue and what fatigue does to your movement quality.
- Equipment review: orthoses, footwear, prosthesis, chair setup, walking aids.
You will leave with a plan and a starting point, not a diagnosis speech. If we think another provider needs to be involved, an exercise physiologist, a podiatrist, your GP or your rehabilitation specialist, we will say so.
What a session involves
Sessions run partly on the treatment table and mostly on the floor. Hands-on work has a place for joint stiffness, muscle tightness and pain that is limiting how you move, and it is used to make the exercise part go better rather than as the session itself.
The bulk of the time goes into loaded, progressive work: squats, hinges, presses, pulls, single-leg or single-arm variations, sprint or push mechanics, change of direction, and sport-specific drills. Loads and reps get written down so the next session starts where the last one finished.
Programming looks different depending on the sport. A wheelchair basketball player needs shoulder capacity and chair skills. A frame runner needs hip extension and trunk control. A cricketer coming back after a hamstring strain needs eccentric strength and exposure to running speed. The assessment tells us which of those you actually are.
Equipment on site
The Five Dock clinic has a gym floor with barbells, dumbbells, cable machines and sled space, so strength work is progressed in the same place it is assessed. There is also a reduced-bodyweight (anti-gravity) treadmill, which lets running be prescribed at a set percentage of bodyweight and increased from there. That is useful when full-weight running is not available to you yet, or when you are managing a lower limb load problem while keeping running mechanics ticking over.
How NDIS funding fits
Physiotherapy is generally funded under Improved Daily Living in the Capacity Building budget. How you access it depends on how your plan is managed.
Self-managed and plan-managed participants can choose registered or unregistered providers. Agency-managed (NDIA-managed) plans require an NDIS registered provider, so that is worth checking before you book anything.
Funding also depends on your goals as written in your plan. Physiotherapy aimed at building capacity, improving strength, mobility and independence, is a reasonable and necessary support the NDIA regularly funds. Club membership fees, general gym memberships and sporting equipment usually sit outside that and are assessed differently. If your plan does not currently mention movement, activity or community participation goals, mention it at your next plan reassessment.
We can provide progress reports and assessment summaries for plan reassessments, and work alongside your support coordinator, plan manager or allied health team.
What to bring to your first appointment
Your NDIS plan or plan number, your plan manager's details if you have one, training gear you can move in, your usual footwear and orthoses, and any recent scans or specialist letters. If you use a wheelchair for sport, bring your sports chair if transport allows, because setup affects how you push.
When to get assessed
Book when something is limiting you rather than waiting for it to settle. Common triggers include pain that has hung around for more than two or three weeks, a noticeable change in walking distance or gait quality, a new sport you want to start, a return-to-play decision after injury, or a plan reassessment coming up and no current clinical picture to attach to it.
If you are an adult in Five Dock or nearby and want physiotherapy that treats your sport goal as the point of the plan, you are welcome to book an initial assessment with us.