Physical therapist Stuart Fife is accustomed to asking many questions when treating patients, and he has invested a lot in his Savannah clinic for getting answers.
Fife’s latest investment is expansion of the facility’s artificial turf field to about one-quarter acre – three times its previous size – all the better to record, test and analyze biomechanics for physical rehabilitation and/or improved performance for patients playing sports.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The newly expanded artificial turf field outside Fife Therapy’s performance gym provides athletes with enhanced space for speed, agility, and strength training as part of the clinic’s commitment to cutting-edge rehabilitation and sports performance. (Photo courtesy of Prep Sports Report)
“If you return an athlete to sport, how do you tell if the athlete’s ready? In other clinics, do you make them run in the parking lot? How do you do it?” Fife asked.
“If you don’t have technology and the ability to see athletes in their real environment whether they’re running, cutting, jumping,” he continued questioning, “how can you release somebody back to play and (be) confident that they’re not going to be reinjured?”
The field renovation, which was completed in August with improvements in padding and drainage, cost $60,000, Fife said. It’s comparatively low-tech to the advanced technology inside the unassuming Fife Therapy building in the cul-de-sac of Mall Terrace.
A physical therapist for 31 years, owner/operator Fife estimates his company has about $350,000 worth of technology equipment in the pursuit of hard evidence, gathering data which can be tracked over time. That’s money well spent, he said, to raise their standard and as a commitment to the community.
“You have to have equipment,” Fife said. “You have to be able to see with data whether or not they can return to sport, especially things like ACL (injuries). In the old days, we’d have a tape measure and see somebody jump. We watch them jump and say that looks pretty good, the distance on the jump looks pretty good. Now we have technology.
“Compared to the rest of the medical system, that’s got more and more technology, a lot of the (physical therapy) places are stuck,” he added.
He gave as an example diagnosing someone with recurring hamstring pulls by using high tech to analyze comparative strength in muscle groups.
“… you’ve got a chronically overworked hamstring trying to pick up for this muscle,” Fife said. “That’s why technology is critical in sports medicine. You just can’t do it with ankle weights and rubber bands anymore.”
A recent addition is a computerized neck-strengthening machine which Fife said is the only one in this region.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Physical therapist Dr. Stuart Fife demonstrates the clinic’s state-of-the-art computerized neck-strengthening machine, the only one of its kind in the region, designed to analyze and improve neck stability and performance. (Photo courtesy of Prep Sports Report)
“Imagine testing somebody’s neck like a clockface. We test every direction – 12, 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way around,” Fife said of the $30,000 machine. “Then we see a deficit and a strength, and we fix the deficit.
“There are a ton of people with chronic neck pain who are getting massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, laser, injections from the doctors, on and on and on. What’s not done well is specific neck strengthening. We’ve had the machine since January, and it has been unbelievable.”
Fife Therapy opened in January 2016 and has been at its current location since January 2021. There are five full-time physical therapists including the boss, a native of Newcastle, England. Fife moved to Savannah when he became a physical therapist (preferring the sunny weather) and brought an enthusiasm for his profession that might be matched by his passion for soccer – which the almost 62-year-old (birthday in November) still plays in an adult recreation league.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Athletes train on the new turf field at Fife Therapy with JA Academy, sharpening footwork and agility during off-season conditioning. (Photo courtesy of Prep Sports Report)
Fife Therapy sponsors youth soccer through Savannah United and has a soccer sports medicine program listed among many offerings. The artificial turf field is for all athletes, and the self-described small, patient-focused physical therapy and performance clinic treats athletes and non-athletes alike, with Fife saying the patients range from ages 7 to 94.
“We still feel like we have a superior product just from what we do,” Fife said. “We understand that we’re smaller and we’re not trying to rule the universe. We just want to take a few more patients.”
Fife has slogans, like “one patient – one therapist” to emphasize the one-on-one care – meaning you won’t see six or more patients at a session nor therapists double- and triple-booking them.
He even turned his last name into an acronym: Fully Integrated Functional Exercise (F-I-F-E).
“Thank God I wasn’t called Thompson,” he quipped.
Fife is not a proponent of “no pain, no gain.” However, he puts the physical in physical therapy by putting patients (after diagnosing the problem) through exercises specific and intense enough to change a failure in their body system that led to the issue.
“We definitely said, ‘No effort, no gain,’ but it doesn’t rhyme,” Fife said.
He’s a believer in “treating athletes like athletes,” so the facility has an outdoor gym stocked with heavy weights, a resistance sled and other torture devices (er, training equipment) to make them “sweat like an athlete.”
The clinic -- which offers fitness, wellness/personal training, sports performance and sports visual performance training among its programs -- is going to add an agility and speed coach to the staff with the expansion of the turf field.
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Dr. Stuart Fife demonstrates advanced lower-body motion analysis technology at Fife Therapy, used to evaluate biomechanics and track athletic performance for injury prevention and recovery. (Photo courtesy of Prep Sports Report)
The new program will incorporate technology for testing and gathering data.
“We’re trying to really make a difference in the athlete,” Fife said, “which takes time -- six to eight months if you’re trying to get somebody faster. You can’t make somebody faster in six weeks. You may do a bunch of exercises in six weeks. That doesn’t mean you’re going to have meaningful gains.”
For more information about Fife Therapy, visit the website at www.fifetherapy.com or call during business hours at 912-239-6140.
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NOTE: The Prep Sports Report proudly recognizes Fife Therapy as one of our long-standing community partners. For more than five years, Fife Therapy has supported our mission to highlight and celebrate Savannah’s local athletes, teams, and coaches.
Their commitment to athletes health and performance extends far beyond the clinic — it’s seen every day in their dedication to helping young competitors recover, grow, and get back in the game stronger than before.
Thank you, Dr. Stuart Fife, for continuing to believe in what we do and for championing the next generation of athletes across the Coastal Empire.
PHOTO CREDIT: Prep Sports Report Staff
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