‘Performance Without Limits’
LAUREUS PERFORMANCE is a company founded by Luka Svilar, a coach who aspires to help athletes in maximizing their potential, and to assist other physical performance coaches in becoming more successful in their craft.
COACHING ATHLETES revolves around the well-known areas such as testing, training and periodization. In addition, we strongly believe that long-term athletic development and high-level performance comes not only from the aforementioned, but from individual load monitoring & management and sound rest & recovery. Our mission is to deliver cutting-edge methods, technology and experience to the athletes through positive communication, encouragement and leadership, while respectingindividual personality, needs and habits.
MENTORING other coaches and providing educational content is our long-term goal by providing workshops, seminars, online courses, books and video content.
Luka Svilar, PhD, MKin, CSCS *D
Founder of Laureus Performance
He is an enthusiastic physical performance specialist, S&C coach, international author and lecturer. He earned his Master of Kinesiology degree from the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Zagreb, having won multiple awards for exceptional study achievements. During his master studies Luka also studied as an exchange student at Jan Komensky University’s School of Physical Education and Sports in Slovakia as well as at the School of Medicine at Lund University in Sweden. He did his first full-season internship as a S&C coach in the basketball club Zagreb. After graduation, Luka was accepted for a lecturing position at the University of Zagreb.
As far as his practical experience goes, he has worked with athletes in different sports, mainly in tennis, soccer and volleyball. However, Luka’s primary focus has always been on basketball. After his internship, he worked with youth and senior teams in Croatia and won a gold medal with the U18 team at the Eurobasket Championship in 2012. Luka also spent one season in Turkey with the basketball club Türk Telekom. In 2016, he moved to Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain to work with Baskonia, one of the most recognized basketball teams in Europe. At the University of the Basque Country in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Luka took the next step in his academic education in 2018 by successfully defending his PhD project called Load monitoring and management in elite basketball. The journey with Baskonia ended in 2020 with a big trophy – Spanish Championship. The following season Luka moved to Russia to work with Unics Kazan, reaching finals in both the VTB League and EuroCup. In the summer of 2021 Luka decided to take a new step in his career by signing with the German powerhouse, FC Bayern Munich Basketball.
Besides coaching, field-related writing is another passion of Luka. He has published several papers related to sports training, physical performance, injury prevention and load monitoring and he has also authored two books, Essentials of Physical Performance in Elite Basketball and Functional movement preparation for basketball. In the academic year 2017/2018, Luka received the annual FIEP Vladimir Findak Award for young researchers for his notable achievements in science. Luka’s professional goal is to help players achieve and maintain their peak physical performance as well share his knowledge with other enthusiasts in the field.
Luka is happily married to Dora, a School of Kinesiology alumni and a big sports fan. Their common mission is nurturing a loving and supportive relationship with each other and their son Patrik. Traveling is a big part of their life as well as following various sports. Whenever possible, Dora and Luka look for places with great coffee, food and wine.
“
Luka is a very determined and dedicated S&C coach. He is one of my favorites that I have worked with in my career. He pushes you to be in your best condition but also keeps an open line of communication with his players so he understands how their bodies feel without demanding too much. He also was a big fan of sneakers, so we connected even more because of that! He definitely is a wonderful coach, but even a better person.
Apart from the very friendly relationship we developed on the personal side, working with Luka was always pleasurable on a daily basis, starting off with open communication to personalized training according to my own needs, even when working in a team structure. Obviously, all his knowledge got me ready for all the challenges we had during a long and exhausting season, at times with a big load of games, training and traveling.
Luka is one of the best I have ever had the pleasure to work with. I believe one of the greatest qualities a player can appreciate is his willingness to adapt and get the best out of any situation. With his knowledge and preparation, you can trust Luka to have you ready mentally and physically each day.
The period of four years that Luka and I worked together was exceptional. Every season was a challenging grind but staying committed not only got me in a great physical shape but also gave me the mental confidence to perform at my highest level, day in and day out.
Luka’s skills and dedication clearly make him one of the best I have ever met during my career. I believe that what allows him to surpass what I had known in the past is the enthusiasm and devotion he puts in every day and every moment he is with the team. His positive energy becomes contagious and allows each player to want to outdo themselves, especially in difficult times.
Luka is a coach who comes to work every day like it is his last. His availability is something that I liked the most, because he would come to work even when the team had a day off. His knowledge is great, but what really makes him brilliant is his passion and love for the work. I like that his training program was very individualized, based on personal needs and desires. The season we spent together I was in a very good shape and injury-free
Luka is an ambitious and dedicated coach, willing to listen and learn. In the season with two different competitions and plenty of games, he was able to recognize what is best for me and other individuals on the team so we could all achieve the highest performance on the game day.
Luka is a passionate, driven coach who can compete with the best of them. As a veteran player who feels all the aches and pains of the long season, Luka has definitely kept me feeling fresh and energized.
Luka is a coach who is always trying to learn new information, a person you pray for as a head coach. The thing that stood out to me about Luka was our breakfast clubs before early flights. My level of admiration and respect doubled after I saw he was as committed to himself as he was to me and my teammates.
