From Rehab to Real Performance: Base Physio and Performance in Highett

On Highett Road, just a short hop from Southland and the heart of Bayside, sits a clinic that does not treat physiotherapy as a short course of stretches and a polite wave goodbye. Base Physio + Performance is built around a simpler, harder idea: get people out of pain, then keep going until they can actually do the thing they came for — whether that is walking the dog without wincing, returning to the garden, or running onto the field again.

The clinic at 362 Highett Road has become one of Bayside’s most trusted addresses for sports physiotherapy, exercise rehabilitation and performance work. Clients give it a near-perfect 5-star rating across hundreds of Google reviews, and the same names keep appearing in those reviews: Pat, Lauren, Sarah, Jack, Jazz, Con, Keegan and Chris. That consistency is not an accident. Base is set up as one team, under one roof, with a purpose-built gym attached.

A clinic that refuses to stop at “feeling better”

Most people arrive at Base the same way they arrive at any physio: something hurts. A knee that will not settle after footy. A shoulder that has been grumbling for months. An ACL reconstruction that still feels a long way from sport. What they find is a clinic that treats the injury and then measures whether the body can actually tolerate the load of real life.

The team talks openly about bridging the gap between rehab and performance. Light movement in a treatment room tells one story. Numbers on a force plate, a strength test or a return-to-run plan tell another. That is the Base difference. Treatment is hands-on and evidence-based when it needs to be; it is also gym-based, progressive and unapologetically specific.

Services sit in a clear line:

• Physiotherapy and sports physiotherapy for acute injuries, persistent pain, post-operative care and everyday niggles
• Exercise physiology for people managing health conditions, rebuilding after injury, or wanting a smarter training plan
• Exercise and sports rehabilitation that takes clients from the treatment table into the gym
• Youth performance work for growing athletes navigating growth spurts, load and sport
• A dedicated BASE ACL programme that supports the long, unglamorous grind back to sport

Whether the goal is getting back in the garden or lifting team performance on the weekend, the clinic’s line is the same: start-to-finish care.

Base Gym: the bit most clinics do not have

Attached to the clinic is Base Gym, a small, purpose-built strength and conditioning space that is never meant to feel like a commercial box gym. It is fitted for rehab and performance rather than rows of unused machines: force plates, blood-flow restriction equipment, trap bars, safety squat bars and the kind of kit that lets a clinician test whether a muscle can actually handle sport again.

Sessions are individualised. Some clients are still early in rehab. Others are rebuilding strength. A few are chasing peak performance. The environment is deliberately small and coached, so people are not left guessing what the next set is for. Clients regularly describe the gym as the highlight of their week — not because it is flashy, but because it is focused, supportive and never overcrowded.

The people behind the results

The clinic’s reputation sits on its clinicians as much as its rooms.

Lauren, a sports physiotherapist, is frequently praised for accurate diagnosis and treatment that produces results quickly. People travel across Bayside and beyond to see her. Pat LHuillier is the name that appears again and again in reviews: patient, technical, practical, and unusually good at turning someone who has never lifted a dumbbell into a confident gym-goer. He has helped clients through total knee replacements, long-term shoulder and knee problems, and teenagers coming back from serious sport injuries.

Jack brings a sports-physio background that includes time with Melbourne City and work as head physiotherapist at St Mary’s Salesian in the VAFA. He still plays senior football himself, which shows in the way he talks about hamstrings, load and getting back to the game. Sarah is regularly thanked for the way she notices small improvements and keeps people motivated through the hard middle of rehab. Jazz works as an exercise physiologist and has supported clients through pregnancy and return to training. Keegan, also an exercise physiologist, focuses on athletic development, gym and field-based rehab, and performance.

Chris holds a Doctor of Physiotherapy and a Bachelor of Exercise Science. He specialises in athletic development and high-performance rehabilitation and serves as Rehabilitation Coordinator for St Kilda FC’s VFL side, bringing AFL Talent League experience into the clinic. Con Economou, an exercise scientist and strength and conditioning coach, works with people who have finished formal rehab and now need a clear plan for strength, performance or staying injury-free. He has coached in schools, NPL soccer and local AFL settings, and offers both in-person sessions at Base Gym and online programming.

Reception and administration — names such as Bella, Jenna and Eliza come up often — matter here too. First-time clients mention how quickly the place feels like home.

Who walks through the door

Base is not only for elite athletes, even though it treats plenty of them. The same rooms see:

• Weekend footballers and netballers trying to get through a season
• Parents who have put their own bodies last for years
• Teenagers in the middle of a growth spurt who keep picking up the same niggle
• People returning from surgery who need more than a print-out of exercises
• Desk workers with backs and necks that have had enough of sitting
• Anyone who has been told to “just rest” and discovered that rest is not a plan

Youth work is a particular strength. The clinic understands that an adolescent body in a growth spurt is not a smaller adult. Load, coordination, confidence and the calendar of school sport all have to be managed together. Parents often say the difference is that the physio builds a rapport with the teenager, not just a programme.

The ACL pathway is another standout. Families talk about motivation lasting through a very long rehab, because the facility, the testing and the coaching make progress visible.

What clients actually say

The reviews are unusually consistent.

One parent wrote that their daughter’s ACL recovery was supported with expert advice and facilities that kept her motivated for the grind back to elite sport. Another said Pat and Con turned someone who had never lifted a dumbbell into a motivated gym-goer. A father whose two teenage boys arrived with serious sport injuries said Pat mentored them to a point where they could look forward to the year with more health, strength and hope.

People travelling a fair distance say the trip is worth it. Others call the clinic “home”. The common thread is not marketing language. It is that someone measured the problem, explained it plainly, and then stayed with the person until the body could do the job again.

Highett, Bayside and the everyday practicalities

Highett sits in a useful pocket of the south-east: close to Moorabbin, Cheltenham, Bentleigh, Hampton and the wider Bayside network of clubs and schools. The clinic is at 362 Highett Road, Highett VIC 3190. Street parking and the usual Bayside mix of shops and services sit around it.

Typical opening hours (always worth confirming when you book) are weekday mornings through to early evening, with Saturday mornings available and Sunday closed. Appointments can be made online or by phone.

Base Physio + Performance — contact details

Address: 362 Highett Road, Highett VIC 3190
Phone: (03) 8692 7506
Email: info@basepp.com
Website: https://basepp.com/
Book online: https://basepp.bookings.pracsuite.com
Facebook: Base Physio & Performance

If you are in Bayside and you are tired of starting rehab that never quite finishes, this is the clinic that treats the last kilometre as seriously as the first appointment.