Dr. James Bateman

Dr. James Bateman

PT, DPT
Owner, Physical Therapist

Grew up in a town just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Moved to the United States in 2010 to start my life with my high school sweetheart and wife Amanda and attend University of the Pacific. Graduated 2012. Started practicing in an outpatient ortho/sports med clinic in Pleasanton for the next 2.5 years before switching to home health in 2015 so we could afford to have Amanda stay home to take care of our two daughters. The home health environment was declining rapidly and we knew we needed to get out. When the pandemic hit in 2020 it created the opportunity we needed to begin pursuing building our own outpatient practice. It has been a bumpy road filled with many lessons but we are finally starting to gain traction having recently moved into our own clinic space in San Ramon.

Collegiate baseball pitcher in Canada, suffered a labral tear and underwent surgical repair with a successful full return to play. My sports background coupled with my PT degree allows me to effectively serve athletes at a level that is simply not obtainable in a standard outpatient practice. My decade of experience working in geriatrics also allows me to understand and serve older adults more effectively as well.

I am the treating physical therapist and owner of Bateman Physical Therapy. I specialize in working with athletes of all ages looking to get back to the sports and/or activities that they love.

Something patients have to deal with that I would like to fix is Increasing injury rates for athletes due to overtraining.

Injuries I enjoy treating are Tommy John ACL reconstruction, Little League Elbow, Concussion, Muscle Sprain/Strains, and “Return to sport”.

What I love about working at Bateman Therapy is I am able to focus 100% on what my patients want and need without having to worry about insurance companies dictating care.

What is Dr. James Watching, Reading, or Listening to?

• Anything Marvel (Movie/TV Shows)
• Rookie Of The Year (Movie)
• Baseball (Sports)
• Basketball (Sports)
• Football (Sports)

When I’m not at home, I’m Spending time with my two daughters, Charlotte, Riley, and my wife Amanda. I also enjoy strength training, running, playing softball, Go Kart racing, laser tag, and hiking.

Patient Testimonials

I highly recommend James as a sports physical therapist! I came to him shortly after my ACL/meniscus reconstruction surgery. He helped me reach my goal to get back on the field and play ball the following season. I was a collegiate athlete at the time, with no time to waste in terms of recovery, and his process and care was beyond measure. His attentiveness and support during my recovery was incredible. I will never forget, during a critical time when I finally had more range of motion, he lifted my spirits up by playing catch with me! You will rarely find a physical therapist that will play catch with you during your session. James and his team gave me such a positive recovery experience! Thank you so much!

Our experience with James was excellent. He did a wonderful job getting across to a 10 year old the importance of proper arm care for a baseball player. He listened to our concerns, evaluated my son, and came up with an appropriate course of action. He was available for questions and continues to check in on my son’s progress.

I have worked with Dr. James Bateman for the past several months to rehab a patellar (kneecap) fracture. James was highly recommended to me by one of my Hope Hospice co-workers who knew him through his previous work with Hope’s home health agency. Personally, I hadn’t had much experience with physical therapy despite my “advanced” age, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect; I was very pleasantly surprised. My course of treatment was a long one, as my entire leg was immobilized for nearly three months. James began seeing me right after my surgery and, while I couldn’t walk without assistance, James began by guiding me through exercises that would strengthen my quadriceps and hip flexors – muscles that I would need once I began to walk on my own again. When the bone healed and I was able to begin gradually bending my knee, we continued to work on muscle strength, range of motion, and balance. But just as importantly, James focused on the psychological aspect of my recovery—helping me to overcome my fear of having another freak accident and providing me with the encouragement and motivation to keep working diligently to get back to the active life I led prior to the accident. We continued that extremely effective combination of both physical and mental rehabilitation throughout the course of my treatment. In addition to being a highly knowledgeable and skilled practitioner, James is just an all-around nice guy. Sessions always began with him actively listening as I explained how my knee was feeling and how I’d been functioning; that was followed by his evaluation of my progress and sharing strategies and next steps. It was clear that James believed that his patient’s attitude and understanding played as much of a role in recovery as did his skills as a physical therapist. His approach to physical therapy was that of a partnership. While I’ve now been officially released from PT, I know that I can always contact James should I need anything. I can honestly say that I can do everything I did before the fracture, which was our shared rehab goal. I’m not 100% pain-free and my knee still gets stiff on occasion, but I know I have the tools I need to remedy those issues, and I am confident that they will be resolved with time and with my commitment to continue the exercises prescribed by James.