Hello, and thank you so much for your interest in Convergent Gymnastics! I would like to take the time to introduce myself and my mission, and provide some background information on how Convergent Gymnastics came to be and how we can assist you in achieving your goals.
My name is Dr. Eugene Ketselman, but please feel free to call me Gene! I am a movement and performance specialist who is dedicated to:
Helping motivated gymnasts excel in their skills and routines by resolving pain and injury, mastering shapes, optimizing fitness, and maximizing overall gymnastics-specific physical performance.
This mission is extremely dear and personal to me.
My upbringing played an enormous role in me becoming involved with gymnastics. I was born in the Ukraine, which was still part of the former Soviet Union at the time, and gymnastics held a significant role in my culture. Although I personally was not a gymnast, my father was a former gymnast in the Ukraine, and my brother was a gymnast as well in the Ukraine followed by several years within the United States once we had immigrated.
As you can imagine, I was around the sport a lot growing up. And as I’m sure many of you can relate, every 4 years was an immensely exciting time when the Olympics came around. My family was always glued to the TV when both boy’s and girl’s gymnastics were featured.
Personally, I participated in soccer and wrestling during my youth. Although successful in both sports, soccer was my primary focus. During my high school years, I was recruited to a Division 1 University’s junior prep team, where we were coached by the University’s Division 1 coaches, and played and practiced within the university’s stadium and facilities. Athletes were recruited for the team only if we showed the potential to play Division 1 soccer, and the program was specifically designed to get us ready to play in college. In addition, I was part of a select team with which I traveled to Italy, Germany, and Austria twice for international invitational tournaments (during which I was awarded tournament MVP).
As I know you understand, reaching such high levels in sport requires an enormous amount of time, effort, sacrifice, and dedication. And unfortunately, it also takes a beating on the body when careful planning, training, rehabbing, and preventative measures aren’t taken outside of the normal practice and competition schedule.
Furthermore, I didn’t have anyone with advanced expertise and skills on these subjects to guide me through staying healthy. This lead to agonizing overuse injuries causing me to have to leave the sport I loved and dedicated my whole life to. And all just prior to my college acceptance and scholarship opportunity.
It honestly got to the point where I began to hate and resent the sport, and didn’t want anything to do with sports in general. After leaving soccer and having time to cool down and reflect, I realized that I can’t blame sports, coaches, or my choice to pursue a dream. Instead, I must use this anger to fuel my newfound mission of preventing others from losing out on their dreams because of pain, injury, or poor health.
This of course is what lead me to pursue strength, conditioning, and physical therapy as a career. I began to be obsessed with how the body works, becomes injured, recovers, and maximizes physical performance.
As fate had it, the 2012 Olympics came around during my peak of physical therapy school. Like every Olympics season before it, I was glued to the TV watching gymnastics. But this time, I had a completely different perspective on not only the sport, but also the physical abilities required to perform the skills and routines.
With my newfound professional knowledge, my mind was absolutely blown on how these amazing athletes were able to do the things they did. I had a brand new elevated respect and appreciation for gymnastics, and knew I wanted to be involved in the sport.
After graduating physical therapy school and beginning my career, I had the opportunity to work with numerous gymnasts. Although progress was made, I realized very quickly that there is an enormous gap between healthcare, “traditional” physical therapy, and gymnastics. Even when everything seemed to be going great within the clinic, things often worsened or even fell apart when returning into the gym.
As you can imagine, this absolutely broke my heart, and I knew I needed to find answers. And so, just as my athletes were dedicated to being better in their sport, I dedicated myself to being better for my athletes.
I researched all I could about gymnastics, sports-specific rehab and training, skill specific coaching, and even the compulsory routines, optional skills, and code of points to know exactly what is expected of each athlete. The more I learned, the more I realized why traditional physical therapy without a specific background in this sport tends to not be as successful as possible.
Gymnastics requires very specific abilities, and quite frankly the code of points and judging requires the athletes to perform movements that are specifically different than what is commonly taught in physical therapy school for the general population.
To further elevate my skills and expertise, I began developing strong relationships with highly respected Optionals and Elite coaches. I have learned an immense amount of advanced knowledge and skills on high level coaching and sport-specific conditioning, and in the process, I have shared my knowledge of injury mechanisms, body mechanics, rehab and prevention, as well as overall healthcare and wellbeing.
Furthermore, during this process I even became certified as an instructor through USA Gymnastics, and took multiple gymnastics coaching courses including those that involved actively spotting and teaching skills.
Overall treatment outcomes really began to skyrocket as soon as I developed these skills to truly understand each gymnast. My experience and background now allow me to:
Since 2015 I have been present inside the gym on an ongoing basis to join both 1:1 and team gymnastics training and coaching sessions on-site. In addition to treating patients full-time as a licensed physical therapist, I now serve the role as a health and performance consultant for competitive teams where I watch exactly how skills, drills, and routines are being performed on-site at the location of where it matters most, communicate closely with the coaches, and provide on-site treatment and training when necessary.
I believe strongly in maintaining clear and open communication with everyone involved in the gymnast’s training and healthcare (pending consent of course). This includes parents/guardians, other healthcare providers and physicians, coaches, and trainers.
The overall goal is to create that ultimate support team dedicated to taking all steps necessary in creating a safe, healthy, positive, fun, and enjoyable training environment while also promoting maximal performance and allowing each gymnast to reach their full potential.
As a Doctor of Physical Therapy and Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists (FAAOMPT), Dr. Gene Ketselman is recognized by the American Physical Therapy Association as being among the most highly trained and specialized physical therapists within the profession.
In fact, Dr. Ketselman’s Fellowship status places him in the top 2.5% of the most highly trained and specialized Orthopedic and Manual physical therapists in the United States.
Furthermore, Dr. Ketselman converges specialized physical therapy with his extensive background in gymnastics-specific rehab and training as well as advanced knowledge in wellness, yoga, breathwork, meditation, and fitness/strength/conditioning.
The approaches utilized within this program are truly personalized and individualized, with a deep focus on progressing from pain and injury all the way to the highest levels of gymnastics performance.
Dr. Eugene Ketselman, PT, DPT, Cert. MDT, CSCS, FAAOMPT
Wellness
Physical Therapy
Fitness/Sport
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If my practice and approach sound like a good fit for you and your goals, I’d love to find a convenient time for us to meet. We can do an initial assessment, determine what’s going on, and discuss what the best next steps would be moving forward. Please click below to schedule a convenient time for your initial assessment session, and get ready to conquer your pain and become healthy, active, and fit!
If you still have questions, or would like to meet before getting started, I completely understand! Please don’t hesitate to click below and schedule a free consultation session where we can get to know one another and discuss what’s been going on. I will be happy to honestly explain whether and how I can help. Together, we will determine whether we’re a good fit.
If you have any other questions, or would like to discuss something prior to scheduling an initial assessment or free consult, please click below to send me a direct message. If you prefer to speak by phone, please click below to send me a direct message providing your name, phone number, and best time/s for me to return your call.
Contact
Convergent Movement and Performance serves out of Northern – Central New Jersey, conveniently located to those that live, work, and travel in the nearby towns of Bridgewater, Raritan, Branchburg, Somerville, Hillsborough, Warren, Martinsville, Watchung Hills, Bedminster, Basking Ridge, Bernardsville, Chatham, Westfield, and Piscataway within Somerset, Morris, Union, and Middlesex counties, NJ.
Mailing Address (for postage/packages only)
726 Route 202 South, Suite 320, Unit 200, Bridgewater, NJ 08807
Medical Disclaimer: The content and information within convergentmp.com are strictly based on opinions and thoughts, and therefore all content is educational only. Convergentmp.com and all related content should not be relied upon for the purpose of replacing formal medical care including but not limited to screening for pathology, movement evaluation, diagnostics, and treatment. It is also the sole responsibility of each and every individual reader, content consumer, and website visitor to consult with a licensed healthcare provider prior to carrying out any provided information. Dr. Ketselman and Convergent Movement and Performance LLC are in no way, shape, or form responsible or liable for any kind of adverse event, loss, risk, or other problem, which is sustained as a result of consulting convergentmp.com or information obtained in any other forms of communication.
