In aces

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Wayne Howell
Howell works with USTA and ATP Tennis Tours, as well as IU Health North.

 

Wayne Howell helps tennis greats stay at the top of their game

By Dan Domsic

Wayne Howell patches athletes up.

They come to him with typical problems – sprained ankles, shoulder issues and more.

What’s different about the physical therapist with IU Health North Hospital is that some of the athletes that come to him with aches and pains play at the top level of their sports – in Howell’s case, that’s tennis.

His career spans more than three decades, and in that time he gained perspective on the world of professional tennis, starting out as a volunteer with the RCA Tennis Tournament in the late 1980s.

From there, he began working with the US Tennis Association and later American Tennis Players Tennis Tours.

“I’ve been in PT for 33 years,” Howell said. “It’s been a very rewarding career for me.”

Among the rewards he enjoys include experiences with tennis legends Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick and more, as well as lasting relationships with some of the people he meets along the way.

Working together

Howell treats all kinds of injuries, be it recreational or athletic.

“I like working with tennis players,” he said. “They’re pretty articulate and can communicate pretty well and make you feel at ease most of the time so that you can get the information out of them to make them better.”

He does work with tennis players that are at very young stages in their careers and there are differences in how they act and respond to help.

Kirk Webber, 30, varsity girls’ and boys’ tennis coach at Hamilton Southeastern High School, is witness to what athletes’ bodies endure in the sport – especially during singles’ matches.

“They’re (tennis players) putting a lot of energy into every single point,” he said, “and they’re having long points. Matches can last up to three hours sometimes.”

Webber said younger kids that are playing will feel pains but won’t know for what reason or how it should be treated, while upperclassmen with experience “have a better idea of their body.”

From Howell’s experience, professional players get right to the point quickly.

He said professional athletes know their bodies and can list what exactly is wrong immediately in a list of bullet points, while younger players are still becoming acquainted with the phenomenon.

Fraternity of players

In helping tennis players become the best product on the court, Howell built relationships with some of the stars and got a close look at how they operated.

He knows that Pete Sampras was really laid-back and incredibly flexible, allowing Howell to cross Sampras’s arms behind his back to unheard of degrees.

He knows that John McEnroe was on the other side of that court, not really working out and relying on skills to wear his opponents down.

He helped fix Andy Roddick up so he could win the last two sets in the championship match in his career’s final tournament.

And Andre Agassi was a really opinionated touring player, but Howell never managed to butt heads with the athlete.

Players from other parts of the globe also act a little bit differently than those that are born and raised in the United States.

“European players are somewhat untrusting of foreign trainers,” he said. “So you had to work with them more.”

While that’s just the way the serve bounces, Howell likens the community to a “world-wide type fraternity.”

Many of the guys in the community go out to dinner with each other and keep in touch over Facebook and email after they’ve worked together.

“There’s just no one player better than the other, experience-wise,” he said. “They’re all the same, most of the times, really fun to work with.”

Meet Wayne Howell:

Age: 59

Family: Wife, Debbie, 59, daughter, Ashley, 26

Favorite tennis player: John Isner

Practices at: IU Health North Hospital and USTA and ATP Tennis Tours

Education: ATC degree from Purdue University, PT degree from University of Pennsylvania


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