How Brooke Hanson Bounced Back From Injury
It’s what all athletes fear: getting injured in their prime, right before a big event. Just ask AVP pro volleyball player Brooke Hanson, whose career took a turn for the worse in 2007, when she went down with a brutal shoulder injury.
Brooke was born with volleyball in the blood—both her parents are former players—and she refused to let sitting out for a year slow her down. Instead, she dedicated herself to honing her skills and fighting her way back physically and mentally to become a grueling opponent on the sand. Her hard work paid off, and she’s currently ranked seventh in the AVP player ratings. She and her partner Lisa Rutledge are fourth in team standings.
We had a chance to chat it up with Brooke to find out how she dealt with being injured, and how she mentally pushed herself to get back in the game.
STACK: Tell us about your shoulder injury.
Brooke Hanson: Two years ago, I was actually playing in my first final in Chicago, and I went out to dig a ball midway though the final. I laid out under my arm and landed weird; it kind of felt like I dislocated my shoulder, but I just shook it off and thought it was fine. I played the rest of the season and had some shoulder issues, but I thought it was just fatigue from being overused. After the season, I had knee surgery, and I took two months off of volleyball completely. When I tried to start training again, I couldn’t even lift my arm above my ear. I tried to do some physical therapy for awhile to see if it would help. Nobody really knew what was wrong. I went to the doctor, and they said I tore the labrum [in my shoulder]. [Labrum is fibrous cartilage around a joint.] I needed surgery right away, and I was only going to miss one tournament. I had the surgery, and then afterwards the doctors woke me up and told me, “It was worse than we thought,” and I was going to miss eight months to a year because I tore my rotator cuff as well.
STACK: What went through your mind when you were told you’d be unable to play?
BH: It was weird; it just felt like a dream. Then a few days later I realized the reality, and I had to call my partner and tell her the bad news. I [had] thought I might not even miss a tournament, and then I was kind of just lost for a while, because my whole life has been around volleyball. I was like, “What am I going to do with myself?”
STACK: Were you ever injured that long in high school or college?
BH: This was [my] first real injury. I had a couple knee surgeries but they were very minor, they were [during the] off-season, and they were nothing compared to this. I never missed a game because of an injury, ever. I went from playing and getting prepared for the next season to having my surgery on New Year’s Eve and then not being able to play or do anything else. The injury was so bad that if I were to work or do anything physical with my arm, it could disrupt the healing process.
STACK: Did you still attend competitions or was it too difficult to bear?
BH: I had to go. I actually had a sponsor at the time that made me go to seven or eight events, and they weren’t even in California. I had to fly to the events and represent them, which was awesome because I still had a sponsor, but it was brutal that I had to sit and watch all my friends play. It made me want to be out there and made me want to work harder, because I missed playing so much. They say your prime is late 20s or early 30s, and I felt like I was in my prime and was getting up there, and this kind of just crushed me.
STACK: How did the injury make you want to come back even stronger?
BH: It just made me miss volleyball so much and made me realize when you are traveling and going through each tournament, [you can] get annoyed with the traveling and the life and wish [you] had weekends off. And now I never want a weekend off; I just want to play as much as I can. I love this sport even more than I did before. I had an event this weekend, and we didn’t play particularly well, but I am just like, “It’s better than sitting on the couch and not being able to lift my arm above my head.”
STACK: What was your recovery process like?
BH: You just have to teach yourself how to use your arm again. It was little things like walking my hand up a wall. I remember just lying on my back and trying to lift my arm six inches off the ground. I went to physical therapy three to four days a week for eight months, and I also did pool therapy where the currents moved my arm for me.
STACK: What was it like your first time back on the sand in the volleyball setting?
BH: Well, the first time I was back on the beach was the first time I was allowed to hit a ball again. I was only allowed to be 10 feet away from the net. I literally threw the ball up in the air and missed it three times in a row. You lose all your arm speed, and that’s the hardest part to get back. You think you are going to hit this ball in front of you, but you totally whiff it. Then I did it again and again. I was there with my brother, and he was laughing at me because he thought I was doing it on purpose. That was literally my first time back on the beach. When I started to practice with my friends who played on tour again, it was hard because I felt like I really had to be 100 percent right away, and I wasn’t. It was just a huge, long process, and it taught me a lot of patience.
STACK: Once you were fully healed and able to play again, were you afraid of re-injury?
BH: Yeah, I actually came back and tried to play in a tournament nine months out of surgery, in Dubai of all places. I actually hurt my shoulder during the event, and that was hard because I had mentally prepared myself. I gave myself a timeline of when I wanted to be back, because I was just going crazy waiting. My doctors told me it would take at least a year before I would feel totally 100 percent. I just trusted in them and trusted in the process, and it worked out in the end.
STACK: Was there a silver lining with the injury, and did it help change you for the better?
BH: Now looking back, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it made me retool my game and change my arm swing for the better. I got to work out in this gym in Santa Barbara called P3 [Peak Performance Project, headed by Dr. Marcus Elliott]. That really changed my game, and [Dr. Elliott] has completely reworked my shoulder and my entire athleticism. Without this injury happening, I would not have had a chance to revamp my game. I don’t think I would have been where I am right now. I would have been playing in these tournaments and just finishing the same and not improving. Now I can say that I am happy it happened, because I have been improving and have really fallen back in love with the game.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
MOST POPULAR
How Brooke Hanson Bounced Back From Injury
It’s what all athletes fear: getting injured in their prime, right before a big event. Just ask AVP pro volleyball player Brooke Hanson, whose career took a turn for the worse in 2007, when she went down with a brutal shoulder injury.
Brooke was born with volleyball in the blood—both her parents are former players—and she refused to let sitting out for a year slow her down. Instead, she dedicated herself to honing her skills and fighting her way back physically and mentally to become a grueling opponent on the sand. Her hard work paid off, and she’s currently ranked seventh in the AVP player ratings. She and her partner Lisa Rutledge are fourth in team standings.
We had a chance to chat it up with Brooke to find out how she dealt with being injured, and how she mentally pushed herself to get back in the game.
STACK: Tell us about your shoulder injury.
Brooke Hanson: Two years ago, I was actually playing in my first final in Chicago, and I went out to dig a ball midway though the final. I laid out under my arm and landed weird; it kind of felt like I dislocated my shoulder, but I just shook it off and thought it was fine. I played the rest of the season and had some shoulder issues, but I thought it was just fatigue from being overused. After the season, I had knee surgery, and I took two months off of volleyball completely. When I tried to start training again, I couldn’t even lift my arm above my ear. I tried to do some physical therapy for awhile to see if it would help. Nobody really knew what was wrong. I went to the doctor, and they said I tore the labrum [in my shoulder]. [Labrum is fibrous cartilage around a joint.] I needed surgery right away, and I was only going to miss one tournament. I had the surgery, and then afterwards the doctors woke me up and told me, “It was worse than we thought,” and I was going to miss eight months to a year because I tore my rotator cuff as well.
STACK: What went through your mind when you were told you’d be unable to play?
BH: It was weird; it just felt like a dream. Then a few days later I realized the reality, and I had to call my partner and tell her the bad news. I [had] thought I might not even miss a tournament, and then I was kind of just lost for a while, because my whole life has been around volleyball. I was like, “What am I going to do with myself?”
STACK: Were you ever injured that long in high school or college?
BH: This was [my] first real injury. I had a couple knee surgeries but they were very minor, they were [during the] off-season, and they were nothing compared to this. I never missed a game because of an injury, ever. I went from playing and getting prepared for the next season to having my surgery on New Year’s Eve and then not being able to play or do anything else. The injury was so bad that if I were to work or do anything physical with my arm, it could disrupt the healing process.
STACK: Did you still attend competitions or was it too difficult to bear?
BH: I had to go. I actually had a sponsor at the time that made me go to seven or eight events, and they weren’t even in California. I had to fly to the events and represent them, which was awesome because I still had a sponsor, but it was brutal that I had to sit and watch all my friends play. It made me want to be out there and made me want to work harder, because I missed playing so much. They say your prime is late 20s or early 30s, and I felt like I was in my prime and was getting up there, and this kind of just crushed me.
STACK: How did the injury make you want to come back even stronger?
BH: It just made me miss volleyball so much and made me realize when you are traveling and going through each tournament, [you can] get annoyed with the traveling and the life and wish [you] had weekends off. And now I never want a weekend off; I just want to play as much as I can. I love this sport even more than I did before. I had an event this weekend, and we didn’t play particularly well, but I am just like, “It’s better than sitting on the couch and not being able to lift my arm above my head.”
STACK: What was your recovery process like?
BH: You just have to teach yourself how to use your arm again. It was little things like walking my hand up a wall. I remember just lying on my back and trying to lift my arm six inches off the ground. I went to physical therapy three to four days a week for eight months, and I also did pool therapy where the currents moved my arm for me.
STACK: What was it like your first time back on the sand in the volleyball setting?
BH: Well, the first time I was back on the beach was the first time I was allowed to hit a ball again. I was only allowed to be 10 feet away from the net. I literally threw the ball up in the air and missed it three times in a row. You lose all your arm speed, and that’s the hardest part to get back. You think you are going to hit this ball in front of you, but you totally whiff it. Then I did it again and again. I was there with my brother, and he was laughing at me because he thought I was doing it on purpose. That was literally my first time back on the beach. When I started to practice with my friends who played on tour again, it was hard because I felt like I really had to be 100 percent right away, and I wasn’t. It was just a huge, long process, and it taught me a lot of patience.
STACK: Once you were fully healed and able to play again, were you afraid of re-injury?
BH: Yeah, I actually came back and tried to play in a tournament nine months out of surgery, in Dubai of all places. I actually hurt my shoulder during the event, and that was hard because I had mentally prepared myself. I gave myself a timeline of when I wanted to be back, because I was just going crazy waiting. My doctors told me it would take at least a year before I would feel totally 100 percent. I just trusted in them and trusted in the process, and it worked out in the end.
STACK: Was there a silver lining with the injury, and did it help change you for the better?
BH: Now looking back, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me, because it made me retool my game and change my arm swing for the better. I got to work out in this gym in Santa Barbara called P3 [Peak Performance Project, headed by Dr. Marcus Elliott]. That really changed my game, and [Dr. Elliott] has completely reworked my shoulder and my entire athleticism. Without this injury happening, I would not have had a chance to revamp my game. I don’t think I would have been where I am right now. I would have been playing in these tournaments and just finishing the same and not improving. Now I can say that I am happy it happened, because I have been improving and have really fallen back in love with the game.