Delaney Kluth
Photo Editor
Just Do It!
Costa father, Robbie Davis, has brought his professional training experience to the Mira Costa Girls Soccer program, trains professional athletes through his self-owned company, Gameshape Incorporated, and co-owns Hyperice.
“My motivation is to help others and to see athletes get better and improve,” Davis said. “I love to be hands on and works closely with the athletes.”
Davis grew up outside of Seattle, Washington, playing basketball. He attended college at the University of Southern California, but did not continue playing basketball. Instead, Davis pursued his love of the human body and majored in Physiology.
“After playing as a child, I realized I couldn’t continue playing basketball due to my height,” Davis said. “Growing up, I knew I wanted to help people, and when I studied pre-med at USC I was hoping to become a doctor.”
As a student at USC, Davis interned for video production of the Los Angeles Clippers, due to a lack of openings in the athletic training and medical staff departments. Later, he received the medical internship with the Clippers and realized he didn’t want to be a doctor anymore. After interning for two years with the Los Angeles Clippers and graduating from USC, the Clippers hired Davis as an assistant on the medical staff.
“I loved the hands on, one-on-one experience with the players,” Davis said. “I enjoyed being in the gym and decided training was the path I wanted to take.”
In 2002, Davis left the Clippers to start his own personal training company, Gameshape Inc. Gameshape focuses on integrated performance training and prevent injuries. Its first client was Lamar Odom, who played on the Clippers while Davis was an intern.
“I have trained many athletes in my career, but I feel a special connection to Lamar Odom,” Davis said. “He was my first client and I trained him for 12 years, which required me to travel a lot.”
Currently, Davis trains professional athletes at his private gym in El Segundo or at their homes. Davis travels with the NBA teams during the season, requiring him to travel for long periods of time. He receives about 12 clients every summer and has trained over 100 athletes in total. Most of Davis’s clients are basketball players, but he has trained other athletes, including professional snowboarder, Shawn White, and professional beach volleyball player, Kerri Walsh Jennings.
“The body moves and works in similar ways, so there is some crossover with the exercises I do,” Davis said. “I create trainings based on the specifics of the athlete’s body and their sport.”
In 2011, Davis became a co-owner in a company called Hyperice. According to Davis, Hyperice creates rehabilitation products that help prevent injuries. Hyperice products are found in common sporting goods stores, and are sold to a wide audience, including Mira Costa’s athletic trainer, Tim Cooper.
“I use the Hyperice ice packs with my athletes,” Cooper said. “They are beneficial because they are reusable, great for compression, and easy to travel with.”
Davis enjoys training his daughter, Costa junior, Whitney Davis, and her club soccer team, Beach Futbol Club. Davis has worked on strength, running form and fitness with the team on and off for several years. When Whitney joined the Mira Costa Girls Soccer program in 2013, Davis began training the varsity team during preseason and doing stabilizing and injury prevention exercises.
“Davis uses a lot of agility and plyometric training with the girls, which helps with explosive movements and interval training,” varsity girls soccer coach Patty Perkinson said. “The girls and I really enjoy his trainings and I’ve learned many new ideas from Davis.”
Davis is a Nike endorsed trainer who plans to continue his work with professional athletes in the future. Nike sponsors Davis’s training and he receives all Nike products for free, and uses their products on a regular basis.
“I’d like to continue training pros as long as my body will allow me to,” Davis said.
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