The great thing about technical sport PhDs is that you don’t only gather expertise in the respective sport, but you become an expert for the equipment and measurement techniques being used. This knowledge combined with the ability to think and work scientifically can open up several paths for the future. In five years, I might still be in academia doing sports-related research, or I might go into industry work in R&D for a golf equipment manufacturer or a motion capture system provider. Either way, I’m excited for what the future will bring.
My advice to anyone considering a PhD would be to make friends and a strong network: some of the best ideas you come up with are from informal conversations with fellow researchers (this is how I heard of the PhD advert in the first place). My other key piece of advice would be to make sure you maintain your work-life balance: mental health is crucial to succeed in such a long journey, where ups and downs are unavoidable.