Wheelchair tennis players are particular about their wheelchairs.

After all, if you want to move quickly, wouldn't it help to have a lightweight chair of 18 to 20 pounds, with wheels angled at 15 to 20 degrees to help you make swift turns while maintaining stability?

That's the idea that inspired William Hernandez to co-found Per4max Inc. in 1999. The Grand Prairie-based company designs, manufactures and distributes high-performance wheelchairs for a variety of sports.

It's a long way from the first wheelchair he had at age 11 – a modified hospital chair that weighed almost 50 pounds and would fold up while he was playing if he didn't find a way to lock it into place.

Hernandez, a two-time wheelchair basketball All-American who attended the University of Texas at Arlington on a wheelchair basketball scholarship, helped take his school's Movin' Mavs to three consecutive National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball championships. But as he and his teammates stretched the limitations of the heavy wheelchairs they kept trying to customize, he knew he could do better.

So after graduation, he put his degree in mechanical engineering to work, along with company co-founder and UTA alum Tim Criswell, building a better wheelchair. What makes it worthwhile, he says, is the glow on the faces of people as they come to pick up their chairs.

"Several people have told me, 'My life is a lot easier,' or, 'You've changed my game, man.' And that's the point of the company – to change people's lives."

It's been quite a journey for Hernandez, 38, who lives in Arlington with his wife, Angi, and 4-year-old son, Willie. Hernandez was paralyzed by polio when he was 3 months old. But that didn't stop him from growing up to climb trees and shoot hundreds of baskets a day, long before he knew a wheelchair basketball scholarship even existed.

His mother left their native El Salvador to move to California when he was 6 to get him medical help. There, Hernandez became the Easter Seals Society poster child and later made three McDonald's commercials, which helped the family's finances and got him his first relatively lightweight wheelchair of about 25 pounds from a manufacturer that wanted its chair publicized.

In 2000, Hernandez rode in one of his new Per4max chairs as he played for the bronze-medal-winning U.S. team at the Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia. He rode one when his team won the gold in the 2002 Kitakyushu Gold Cup.

And he rides an improved version now as a nine-year member of the semipro Dallas Wheelchair Mavericks, which has won eight national titles.

His current basketball wheelchair is 16 pounds.

And he loves it.

"I was never the tallest guy, so speed was one of the biggest things for me. This gives me the ability to scramble and pivot a lot better than anything else. I want to go fast everywhere."FAST FACTS

Sports wheelchairs at Per4max start at $2,495 and can go up to $3,200 with extras.

Call 972-641-6773 or visit http://www.per4max.com/