DAVID WILLIAM WALLENDORF BOUNCEING BACK FROM INJURY

David William Wallendorf was born in Burnsville, Minnesota on October 4, 1992. Wallendorf has three older siblings.

Wallendorf goes to Minnesota Transitions High School where he will graduate in June of 2012. He plays on the MTS basketball team and is considering to playing soccer to help on his conditioning.

He grew up in Elk River, Minnesota.

When asked what does basketball mean to you? He responded, “Basketball means the world to me. It's the main thing. I'm not too sure how to explain it... It's the way of life. It's a family thing and I've grown up knowing basketball. I remember dreaming about being an NBA all-star since I was 4. My father played in the league in the 70's and I credit my ability to him. My brother has been my role model since day one and I remember going to all of his games as a kid. I learned a ton from him. He's the best player I've ever seen. No questions asked.”

When asked about his plans for this summer he stated, “My plan for this upcoming season is to get better obviously. My goal everyday is to learn something new and get better at what I know. I plan on watching a lot of game film this spring and summer. I'm always trying to add some things my game. One of my coaches who I workout with has tapes on Kobe and his preparation, we watch those for hours. I plan on working overtime in the gym; late nights and early mornings. Getting stronger and quicker. I plan on playing in a few college leagues in southern California as well”.

Wallendorf said that, “My nationality is over 50% German and the rest, French, Yugoslavian, and English. Aside from basketball it's all about family. I have a wonderful girlfriend and am into fashion.”

In September of 2010 Wallendorf was involved in a car accident. He described the car crash, “The car accident was September of 2010 in Osseo, MN. My friend was driving the car and was going way to fast, showing off his new car. Going around a 30 mph corner going 55-60 mph. He popped the clutch and then we rolled the car. Previous to the accident, I was jumping higher than ever. Dunking in warm-ups at the Sweet16 in St. Cloud. First time ever dunking. My vertical was around 36 inches at 17, almost 18. After the accident, that went down to 27 inches due to the injury of the whiplash. I took some time off from the accident but was still seeing Dr. Sandell and his doctors at spineandsportsinstitute.com/

Wallendorf said, “I'm going to be with my trainer all spring and summer in Edina, MN at EEA Athletics. These are the guys I was with when my vertical was 36 inches. I worked with them all of 2010 until the car accident.”

I was able to talk to Dr. Sandell about Wallendorf. He talked about Wallendorf's experience at the clinic. Here is a statement released by Dr. Sandell about Wellendorf's condition.

“David Wallendorf sustained a bone bruise inside of his knee during a basketball game. He initially presented to my office with severe knee pain, swelling, and a noticeable limp. Bone bruises are a “self-limiting” injury meaning that they resolve in time; however it is a quite painful injury and a relatively lengthy recovery. The prognostic implications of bone bruises are that they are thought to be a precursor to early post-traumatic arthritis due to the injury to the articular cartilage.

The treatment options are really quite limited and all of them were presented to David. One of which was an intra-articular steroid injection which would have the most dramatic symptomatic improvement on his knee and would allow him to return to basketball within probably a week or two versus the eight to twelve week recovery process with just rest alone. David was informed that corticosteroids could pose a potential negative long-term effect on cartilage, and because he was such a young athlete, this is something to consider for the long term.

He thought about it overnight and made the decision himself to forgo the steroid injection and manage the injury conservatively. This is merely only one example of David’s maturity that I have been a witness to over the years and he really is a fine young man. We moved forward immediately on his treatment program and I prescribed Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate for cartilage health as well as a myriad of vitamins and minerals needed to promote and facilitate the healing process following an injury. He came into the clinic for his physical rehabilitation with me over the next 6 weeks. His rehab program was comprehensive and included the use of Normateck sleeves for circulation and recovery, functional strength training, cold laser therapy and physical medicine procedures to restore flexibility and mobility. Initially, because of his inability to bear weight on the knee, he was given a high intensity interval training program on the stationary bike to limit any deconditioning of the cardiovascular system.

As he progressed to being able to bear weight and walk without pain, he was instructed to go to the gym and work on his shots within a range where he knee function impairment would not affect his shot and thus develop any compensatory patterns. He was also sent to my other office location to run on the Alter G treadmill, which is an anti-gravity treadmill that can precisely decrease his body weight in 1% increments all the way to a decrease in 80% of his body weight while maintain true running form, to continue to improve his overall cardiovascular fitness. Through his dedication, hard work, and compliance with his comprehensive rehab program, at 6-weeks post-injury he has full function of his knee without any pain or functional limitations. He is now going to re-connect with his trainer to improve his strength and power and then he will start with me on his ACL prevention program.”

Due to his car accident Wallendorf has played in seven games during the 2011-2012 season. He scored a total of 139 points. Which averaged out to be 19.9 points per game. He brought down 76 total rebound and averaged 10.9 rebounds per game. Had a total of 33 assists per game with an average of 4.7 assists per game. And a total of 22 steals and had 3.1 steals per game.

Wallendorf's coach John Sherman said, “He is one of the best shooters I have ever coached and he is also a superior athlete who almost surely will be a D1 scholarship player.”

Wallendorf is well on his way to making a full recovery. He will be looking to get back on the court very soon and in a college gym somewhere in the country very soon.