Blair Gavin Rehab Article

[Johnny Utah]

During his rookie season last year, midfielder Blair Gavin quickly became a fan favorite, showing a creative spark and lots of potential. But a hamstring problem cut that season short, and he’s been battling reoccurrences of the injury and working to get healthy ever since. After another reoccurrence early this season, he knew it was time to try something different.

So he traveled to Europe earlier this month and spent a week in Konstanz, a small city in southern Germany, near the border with Switzerland.

“It’s a nice town,” said Gavin. “It’s small, but the area itself is very nice and there’s a little lake. It was very relaxing. I walked around the city a lot meeting people- and surprisingly a lot of people knew English. It was a good time, I got to see the culture of Germany.”

It was Gavin’s first time in Germany, and he was even able to take in a Bundesliga game. But while the relaxation did him well, he obviously didn’t travel all the way to Konstanz for a vacation. Gavin spent most of the week working with Dr. Kurt Mosetter, a groundbreaking mind in the field of sports rehabilitation.

“He’s just a phenomenal doctor,” said Gavin. “He’s traveled the world to come up with own type of therapy. He’s worked with the best players in the world, and [Chivas USA assistant coach Nick] Theslof knew him. So I’m very lucky that Chivas was able to work out this opportunity for me and I’m very grateful.”

Theslof was as a member of Jürgen Klinsmann’s staff at Bayern Munich and the German National team, and has connections throughout Europe. Fortunately for Chivas USA, one of those connections was with Dr. Mosetter, whose unique treatment seems to be working for Gavin.

“It’s called Myo-Reflex therapy,” said Gavin. “They don’t call them ‘pressure points’, but they push spots in your body that are very tight to release tension. We were even working on my neck and it went all the way down to my calves. It wasn’t just ‘hamstring, hamstring, hamstring’, it was a full body thing… My hips were terrible, my pelvis was over rotated, I had some back issues, and stuff like that. His philosophy is that your muscles are a chain through your body. If one link is weak, it leads to another. So it’s basically about strengthening everything and making your whole body better.”

Now continuing his rehab with Chivas USA, Gavin maintains an open line of communication with Dr. Mosetter. The Red-and-White’s training staff is continuing Mosetter’s work, and trying to get Gavin back on the field as soon as possible. He’s back at training now, but working on the sidelines, running and trying to increase his base level cardio.

“It feels better, I’m definitely getting back,” said Gavin. “It’s just a longer process than I would like. Obviously I want to come back as quickly as I can, but I can’t rush it. I’ve rushed it a lot [in the past]. We’re hoping I’m only about two weeks away.”

[zip37]

Hope Blair calls Michael nanchoff about this doctor. Seems like Michael is still nagged with his groin.

[Zip_ME87]

Thanks Johnny. I hope Blair makes it back soon and stays healthy for the rest of the season. I want to see him on May 28th along with Ben Zemanski and Zarek Valentin when Chivas visits the Columbus Crew.

[Z.I.P.]

  Zip_ME87 said:

Thanks Johnny. I hope Blair makes it back soon and stays healthy for the rest of the season. I want to see him on May 28th along with Ben Zemanski and Zarek Valentin when Chivas visits the Columbus Crew.

Last Saturday, Chivas USA crossed the border to face the new Vancouver Whitecaps franchise. It was a nil-nil draw, but was honestly one of the best played MLS games I can recall seeing. Both teams played aggressively on both ends, and it made for very exciting soccer for the fans. And let me tell you, having seen Chivas in all but one game this year, Ben Zemanski is becoming one of the team's stars. Most times that they produce a threating push with multiple forward passes, the ball comes through Ben in the midfield, and he is becoming more and more of an offensive threat from the center mid. Chivas is unable to finish yet at this point, but as time goes by, they are going to become a much better team. They possess the ball very well, and when they play with motivation, as at Vancouver, the Goats are a very tough team to beat. I think they have what three draws and two losses in five. They play at San Jose on Sunday. Zarek was subbed on late in the game, but didn't see the ball much.