Devon Smith: My mental reset in the USA

Devon Smith would love to be hitting the MCG today to face the Swans. Instead, he’s in a foreign land freshening up as he rehabs his injured knee. See his stunning photos and find out how his recovery is going.

Devon Smith can't wear Dons colours because of his knee injury, so instead he's taking in the sights and sounds of New York.

Life’s about making a positive out of any negative and that helps explain why I’m 16,500km from home during the footy season.

My partner, Simone, and I are in New York — a trip that’s a chance to refresh mentally while continuing my rehab from a knee operation.

Simone’s a schoolteacher, so a two-week journey fits in well with school holidays back in Melbourne, and visiting New York is something we’ve always wanted to do.

It’s my first time in New York, an amazingly cool city.

Devon Smith takes in the iconic Times Square, New York. Picture: Supplied

While walking around you picture all the movies and TV shows that are shot in the streets here and there’s no shortage of famous sights, many which we’ve visited — Central Park, Ground Zero, Statue of Liberty, etc.

The trip provides a mental break, but I couldn’t go away without planning the nitty gritty that I needed for my rehab.

Two weeks doesn’t seem like much, but it’s not like I could come here and do nothing in terms of rehab.

I won’t let myself fall behind in my rehab and short-term goals of quad growth, learning to walk normally again, getting my single-leg press back to roughly where I had it, etc.

So I needed a pool and gym and certain machines in the gym, all which I checked off before booking our hotel in Lower East Manhattan.

Devon Smith enjoys some New York pancakes. Picture: Supplied

Devon Smith works on his one-legged leg press. Picture: Supplied

Something that got me over the line was also knowing that I had an ice machine in the building and luckily enough it’s just outside my door in the hotel.

I’m not spending massive amounts of time in the pool as I can’t kick my legs yet. It’s more just walking and trying to get my gait back to normal as soon as possible, plus the pool is a great form of recovery to move and get fluid out of the knee.

Our sleep patterns are out of whack and we’re not getting up too early. So I’m usually in the pool just after 7am each day.

Every second day it’s a visit to the gym — main rehab and lower and upper body weights. It can take an hour to an hour and 45 minutes, depending on my pace.

Wouldn’t Dons fans love to see a sight like this on the MCG? Picture: Michael Klein

I’ve brought my rehab folder from Essendon which has my lower rehab program in which I do both legs — wall squats, leg press, single-leg calf raises, etc.

Then I’m also doing an upper-body circuit, which includes the normal things like pull ups, bench press, shoulder press, bench pull followed by some smaller activation things. And it’s ice after the exercise.

Everyone’s posterior cruciate ligament story is different, but I’m following a program and timeline mapped out by Essendon’s physio Dave Rundle. It’s very much like the plan used by Luke Hodge during his return from a similar injury.

Devon Smith and girlfriend Simone at Citi Field in New York, watching the MLB match between New York Mets and New York Yankees. Picture: Supplied

Richmond’s Tom Lynch was also good enough to phone me in regards to how he went after his surgery. It’s good to share the positives and negatives between players just to get my head around some rehab exercises or certain recovery that I can try in a bid to speed up the process.

I think they’re happy to get rid of me at the footy club rather than dealing with my 101 daily questions.

I’ve actually sent through a few pictures of my rehab in the pool with the nice New York sunshine shining on me (29C) so I think they’re a bit jealous that I’m doing rehab in such a nice place.

Poor Jake Stringer will be missing his partner in crime. Picture: Getty Images

I think big Jakey Stringer is missing me at the club. He must be driving a lot of people mad because he is or was in rehab while I’ve been away.

We’ve been texting. It’s mainly cheeky abuse that he is stuck in the cold and I’m here in the sun.

It’s been a fun trip and we plan to have a few days in Hawaii on the way home.

I had one guy on the plane on the way over that every time he walked passed would either say “Go Dons” or “Go Devo” (which no one calls me). I had to laugh.

Other than that I’m just another tourist exploring and having a good time.

Devon Smith takes in the sights from on high in New York. Picture: Supplied

A boat cruise on the Hudson River for American Indepedence Day. Picture: Supplied

Our first New York subway experience was pretty cool. We popped out at Central Park and we didn’t know it was LGBTQ pride march day in New York with more 200,000 people parading the streets, singing songs and chanting all sorts of stuff.

More than three million people lined the streets in support.

We saw the Yankees win against the Mets on Wednesday, then we had national Independence Day on Thursday and took a boat cruise on the Hudson River to see the fireworks which were unbelievable.

I planned to watch Essendon’s clash against Sydney on the AFL app. The match was due to be played at 11.45pm on Friday (local time) and we had to be up early to fly out.

Travelling anywhere overseas has always been a great mental reset for me. I don’t think about footy and everything else anywhere near as much as usual.

It’s a nice mental freshen up.

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