Biography
I am a performance coach with a background in sports science and specialise in neurology. My career started out 12 years ago devising fitness programmes with a biomechanical foundation in football before working as a fitness and conditioning coach at Brentford FC. From here I co-founded the health and fitness company, Motive8.
I have been fortunate in my career so far to continually work with an array of elite athletes and individuals across a variety of sports and environments including: cricket, football, golf, skiing, tennis, free-diving, expeditions as well as with business people who put similar pressures on their bodies. Here I use innovative approaches to provide both efficient and realistic solutions to improve performance without the individual having to drastically change their everyday lifestyle.
For the past 10 years, whilst continuously involved in these other areas, my focus has been towards equestrianism where I have worked with many of the world’s leading equestrian athletes across a range of disciplines in the development of the human and human-horse relationship. I have conducted my work as part of leading research so that my methods are not hearsay but based on "black and white fact" which has allowed me to help riders finally understand how to improve in a clear and concise way.
During this time I have led the development of the professional rider and jockey training and have designed concepts for both safety and performance which now play a major role within equestrian sports. I have also acted as an advisor to the PJA, BE, the BHA, and the BEF as part of the World Class Program in all Olympic disciplines.
More recently I have designed and created the new initiative ‘Fit to Ride’ which I am currently developing and is the first part of the Jon Pitts Human Performance Group to be released. This initiative is not only based on my experience and research in working with elite athletes and the above organisations, but also in conducting clinics across the world for riders of all abilities, which is set to innovate the traditional understanding of riding horses and teaching methods. Fit to Ride is set in 3 forms: Performance, Safety and Confidence and deals directly with the issues every rider faces.
I am currently launching Fit to Ride and bringing it to the wider equestrian public via a series of interactive presentation across the UK which for the first time will allow riders of all ages and abilities to discover what is happening to their bodies when they are on a horse. In addition to this, it will not only enable them to gain an insight into how to improve but to ensure that the improvements made are long lasting and permanent. I also continue to work with top riders in a variety of disciplines, such as Paul Tapner, Clayton Fredricks and Flora Harris in eventing, supporting them in their training at home and whilst competing at top events such as Badminton Horse Trials.
There is much more to do from here but the workshops and clinics which follow will allow many more people to improve their riding skills as well as boosting their safety and confidence in the saddle.