Windle, staff helping to strengthen Knights

By Tom Gottlieb, Staff Writer

Published: Tuesday, February 3, 2004

Contrary to popular belief, athletes aren't like cookies - they aren't formed out of a mold. It's a time-consuming process for them to fully take shape and become the competitor we see out on the field of play.

The credit for that process, however, is often misplaced. For without a strength and conditioning staff - like the one spearheaded here at Rutgers by Shawn Windle, among others - the players would be lost and unprepared for their respective seasons.

Windle has been an Assistant Strength Coach and Director of Olympic Sports for the Strength and Conditioning Department for the last two years. He earned his bachelor's degree in athletic training at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, with a master's in sport biomechanics from the University of Connecticut.

He started out as an athletic trainer - the people whose primary responsibilities include helping players rehabilitate after incurring a serious injury.

Windle, however, soon changed his mind about his calling.

"I started off as an athletic trainer, but I didn't like the reactionary side of health care," Windle said. "I wanted to stop it [injuries] before it happened."

It was at about that time that the strength and conditioning coach for the University of Connecticut basketball team moved on to a new position. Windle saw the opportunity to get into strength work and landed the job.

However, after three years of working exclusively for the Huskies' men's basketball team, Windle was offered the chance to not only work with the Knights' basketball team, but also many of the Olympic sports.

Windle leaped at the opportunity.

"I mainly wanted to run my own weight room," Windle said of his desire to come to the Banks. "I wanted to be able to implement my own philosophy."

Since Windle has taken over, he has done just that. He knows that with classes and other college distractions, sometimes his student-athletes have a hard time having a set schedule for lifting and exercising.

However, Windle has done his best to let them know that his staff is willing to work with them.

"I didn't want kids running around the weight room and treating it like a Gold's Gym," Windle said. "I wanted them to know it was a serious environment and we were coming to them."

Windle's efforts have not gone unnoticed by the athletes.

"He's a good motivator, everybody loves working with him, especially me," junior guard Ricky Shields said.

The workout regimens Windle likes to use vary - most dramatically between in-season and offseason workouts.

The strength and conditioning staff generally works with student-athletes once or twice a week during their seasons. Once the offseason comes around, that gets bumped up to four or five times a week.

"That's where we're getting a lot stronger, in the offseason. We lift with a lot more frequency and repetition," Windle said of the differences. "It's the best time of year to get bigger and stronger and faster."

In season, the workouts are intermingled with practice - a necessary evil that leaves even the hardiest of players feeling a little winded.

"They help us get stronger with the stuff we need for basketball," Shields said. "For example, being more explosive, or being able to control our bodies in the paint.

"You get tired, lifting like that. But it just brings your body back up. Even though it's lifting weights, it revives you in a way."

And even though the rehabilitation process is mainly in the hands of athletic trainers, Windle knows that part of his job is to "assist them [players] and bridge the gap from rehabilitation to the court."

Sophomore guard Calvin Wooten is well aware of what Windle and his staff does for recovering athletes.

After tearing his ACL and having offseason surgery, Wooten slowly worked his way back to his pre-injury form with the help of Windle.

"First thing they worked on was my strength, and getting my right leg back to where it used to be," Wooten said. "They had me do a lot of leg stuff - step ups, leg presses, leg slides, things like that.

"As I became able to run, they had me work on my cardio to get my wind back up," Wooten continued. "I did suicides, stop-and-go...and they got me back [in game-ready shape]."

What Windle has brought to Rutgers since his arrival cannot be measured in numbers and statistics. However, his contributions aren't quite intangible, either - among them, stronger athletes that don't wear down as the contest progresses.

"They're very valuable, and I think we have one of the best in the country in Shawn and the rest of the staff," Shields said.

The feelings of respect, according to Windle, are mutual.

"I think that at Rutgers we're seen as a larger piece of the puzzle," he said of his fondness for the Banks. "At Rutgers, I feel truly valued. They see us as the final part of the equation."