Have you ever worked hard to get something but didn’t get the results you wanted? Maybe you studied for weeks for an important test but didn’t get the desired grade. Or you trained to beat your PR in your next race and didn’t quite get there. We all experience this disappointment in some form, especially if you have played sports. Athletes know that even if they work hard in practice, they still might not excel in the game. Even though this disappointment hurts, we all learn over time that you can place your confidence in your hard work.
One of our physical therapists knows this experience firsthand: Ben Bullard. He is now our Meadowbrook clinic director, a husband, a father, and an excellent physical therapist, but before that, he was a baseball player with big dreams. Through his career as a baseball player, he learned lessons that extend into his physical therapy career even today. I got to sit down with Ben and discuss how his experiences with baseball and physical therapy intersect to make him a better practitioner and what we can learn from his life and career.
Ben Bullard, D1 collegiate pitcher
Ben has loved baseball since he was a little boy. His parents always told him that he came out with a ball and bat in his hand, and he even started playing t-ball a year early because he was so eager to hit the field. As he grew, so did his love for the sport, and he started playing travel ball during his junior year of high school. He got in front of scouts during this time, which is how he was recruited for the baseball team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which plays in Conference USA. With his academic scholarship in hand, he went to play for the Blazers, earning a baseball scholarship after two years.
During his first three years at UAB, Ben was seeing success. He pitched 82 innings and set a record of 15 strikeouts in one game against Michigan. The team also won the conference tournament that year against their rival Memphis as a 7th seed out of 8 teams, the second win like that in the program’s history. Ben was excelling on the field and riding high until disaster struck. He had been having problems with his knee starting in the fall, and due to natural overcompensation, he tore the labrum in his shoulder. He could pitch again, but it was not the same after surgery. Naturally, Ben was devastated, but he had some experience with things being out of his control as a pitcher.
“There’s only so much you can control as a pitcher, and it took me a while to understand that. I used to get very frustrated, but that helped me learn my emotions and handle stress very well, control what I can control, and it helped me get to where I am today.”
What Ben could control after his injury was his next step. He knew he would work hard and figure it out wherever he ended up.
“If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it to the best of my ability, even if it’s a mundane task. If I’m working for something, I’m going to do it really well.”
Ben Bullard, doctor of physical therapy
After his injury, Ben lost his identity for a while, but he realized he needed a plan B. He hadn’t declared a major before his injury, but he finally settled on exercise science with a minor in health education. During his undergraduate degree program, he interned with local rehabilitation specialist Kevin Wilk, PT, who had helped Ben with his shoulder rehab. That experience let him get up close and personal with excellent physical therapists and high-level rehab. This experience led him to decide to apply for physical therapy school.
Unfortunately, Ben was not accepted that first year, so he went to work for his uncle, who just so happened to know two local physical therapists, Ethan White and Jon Delk. Ben started working at the Homewood clinic as a tech and soon became head tech - his work ethic and consistent drive to improve paid off, as it would for the rest of his career.
“Work is not always easy, it’s not always fun, but you have to work to live, and you have to have a purpose. If you don’t have a purpose day in and day out, your life becomes flat, and you can fall off the cliff a little bit. If you have a purpose, you can wake up every day even though it’s hard and just keep putting hay in the barn, as my coaches would say.”
Through his hard work, Mike Eskridge, one of EW’s co-founders, introduced him to people spearheading the new physical therapy program at Samford University. After working as a tech for a year and a half, he was finally accepted to PT school and earned his doctorate at Samford. Once he got his degree, he returned as a PT at EW Motion Therapy, and after three years at the Trussville location, Ben was selected as the director of EW Motion Therapy Meadowbrook/280. He did in three years what others may never get to accomplish, never losing sight of his purpose.
“I lost myself after playing baseball, I had to find something else that fulfilled me. If you have something you’re passionate about where you learn to be fulfilled by it, then you can always have a good purpose in life and lead your life in a good direction.”
Physical therapy and baseball: how do they mix?
Looking back, Ben wishes he had the knowledge of orthopedics during his baseball career that he has now - he could have maybe prevented some of his injuries and at least one of his five surgeries. Ultimately, however, his experience being an injured athlete has always informed the injured athletes he treats.
“I can empathize with patients, their decision-making, what they’re going through, and the injuries they’ve had. I’ve had five orthopedic surgeries myself: my wrist, my right knee twice, and both shoulders, so I’ve been through it. I know when you’re coming in, you’re in your most vulnerable state, you’re with a strange person, so making that first initial eval as comfortable and as welcoming and positive as it can be is huge, and I think that’s where I really thrive and why I keep the people I keep.”
Additionally, his time playing baseball taught Ben the value of teamwork, learning from those around him, and seeking out excellent leadership, all of which a physical therapist must understand to succeed. The relationship between a baseball coach and a player is similar to that of a physical therapist and a patient - they are working together toward getting better, even when progress is not linear, and going through the hard times to get to the other side.
“Having the wherewithal to coach people and the positivity to get them back up from their downs is very beneficial, and I think that’s what my patients really like from me because I’m very positive, and we’re always going to find a way to figure out how to help you feel better.”
Through his baseball career, Ben learned how to work hard and keep moving forward, even when progress felt like walking in quicksand. This knowledge allows him to maintain a steady client base and a reputation as one of the best physical therapists in his field.
“I just really like helping people in general meet their goals - that’s my why. I couldn’t quite fulfill my full dream as a little boy, but this has been a great plan B.”
Ben’s key takeaways
So, what can we learn from Ben’s playing days and PT career? Along with the value of hard work, life is much more meaningful when you find your passion and run toward it.
“Find something you’re passionate about and hone in on that. It takes longer than we would like to think, it’s the hard hours that you put in that nobody sees that you start to learn and become yourself.”
Also, working hard is only one piece of the puzzle - you must be consistent in the mundane, which is a primary predictor of success. Ben learned that lesson quickly as a college athlete and has always remembered it, as he shows up for his patients daily and encourages his Meadowbrook team to work together and help each other.
“Playing a college sport at a D1 level and doing all your homework and being a really good student is hard - you’re doing something nonstop for four years. You have no other time to do anything, and you’re all invested in what you’re doing. A lot of people don’t necessarily have that experience, but that experience really shows how to work with people and work as a team.”
No matter your results, if you are confident that you have put in the work, you can lay your head down at night knowing that you have done all you can do. Learning this lesson is vital for athletes and anyone with any goal they want to reach. Consistency and hard work are the keys to success for baseball players, physical therapists, students, and everyone in between. We always encourage our patients at EW Motion Therapy to keep going and never give up, even if their results don’t always show what they want. If you’re curious about how physical therapy can help you reach your goals, click the button below to download our answers to 20 frequently asked questions.
