Recovering from shoulder surgery has turned out to help professional beach volleyball player Brooke Hanson in a couple of ways.
The first is the obvious: she can hit the ball without any pain.
The second effect of the surgery is it’s helped her gain perspective, which in turn has helped her play more relaxed and get better results in tournaments.
Former UCSB star Brooke Hanson has returned better than ever from shoulder surgery (Ken Delgado photo).
“I used to put so much pressure on myself to get better.” said Hanson, a former UCSB star, who is seeded seventh with partner Lisa Rutledge for this weekend’s AVP Nivea Santa Barbara Open at West Beach. “I’m a lot more relaxed because I appreciate it a lot more. I spent a whole year being absolutely miserable and not being able to do the thing you love the most. It’s really hard.
“To look back and see that I can still do it, it’s awesome.”
Hanson will be playing in Santa Barbara for the first time since finishing 17th in 2006. She missed the 2008 tour stop here, as well as the entire season, to recover from major shoulder surgery.
She and Rutledge will open play at 11 a.m. Friday against Cindie Boosin and Stacy Loyal.
Misty May-Treanor and Nicole Branagh are the top-seeded team in the $100,000 tournament that’s benefiting Komen for the Cure. The women’s final is set for 4:30 p.m. on Sunday and will be televised live on KTLA Channel 5.
Hanson-Rutledge are definitely a team on the rise. They finished ahead of May-Treanor-Branagh at last weekend’s FIVB international tournament in Brasilia, Brazil, taking fifth place. May-Treanor-Branagh placed ninth.
The result was a huge boost for Hanson, who had struggled in her three previous trips overseas.
“I had the worst luck internationally,” she said. “I never won a game until last week.”
The highlight for the team was beating the No. 2 seeded Brazilian squad.
“For us, to qualify was amazing, and to beat the No. 2 Brazilian team in front of their home crowd was really exciting,” said Hanson, who plans to play in 12 FIVB events this year.
She added, “(the result) gives us a lot more confidence. We were put in hard situations the whole tournament and we kind of battled out of them, so it gives us confidence and we can trust each other.”
Trust is what Hanson asked from the 6-2 Rutledge when the two became partners in 2009.
“When I first came back nobody really wanted to play with me because I had major surgery,” Hanson recalled.
She said Rutledge first rejected the idea of playing after Hanson tried to come back too soon after the surgery.
Hanson couldn’t believe it.
“What! I have all these points,” she exclaimed.
Then she realized, “Everything happens for a reason, because I wasn’t ready to come back.”
When she was ready, things started to click right away.
“She was really easy to play with, so our chemistry was there from the beginning,” Hanson said. “We’re trying to put it all together, and things have started happening pretty fast.”
They made waves in 2009 with nine top-five finishes in 15 events, including a second place in their third tournament together in San Diego. They lost to Branagh and Elaine Youngs in the final.
“I did luck out,” Hanson said. “I appreciate her skills. She’s a great blocker; she keeps getting better and better. We complement each other really.”
Hanson pocketed a career-best $60,165 last year, and she and Rutledge finished as the No. 9-ranked team on tour.
Did Hanson feel they surprised the top teams on the tour?
“I think so, at first,” she said, “but we both knew we were going to be good. We had to work our way up.”
Now everyone on tour is aware of them.
“This year is going to be challenge because teams kind of know what to expect from us,” Hanson said. “But we want to keep improving. Finishing higher in tournaments is going to be a challenge.”
She’s obviously excited to play in Santa Barbara, where she played her first pro tournament back in 2002 with college teammate Brooke Rundle.
“It’s like my home beach, I’ve been playing on it since I was 16. I went to college there and it really feels like home. I’ll have lots of family and friends there to watch.”
One important person who won’t be there is her college coach Kathy Gregory. She’s vacationing in Maui.
“I’ll have to yell at her for that,” she said, laughing. “She’s the best. She’s like my No. 1 supporter. She knows exactly what happens in these tournaments before I tell her. She’s always giving me pep talks, scouting reports and things like that. It’s a big part of her life, too. We’re both very passionate about it. She gets me and I get her. She’s actually turned into a really good friend.”
Hanson admitted that she’d love to win this weekend in Santa Barbara, but she’s quick to note that “I don’t want to put pressure on myself.
“We want to be in finals, and be in the semifinals every weekend,” she added. “We also don’t want to peak early in the year. It’s a process.”
That’s perspective.
