Olympic Champion Laura Ludwig is on the comeback trail after surgery

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Laura in true spiking mode at the Gstaad Major last year.

Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst had an interested audience when they practiced on the beach at Tenerife last week.

The duo were back on the beach together in Laura’s first training session since her successful shoulder operation – and the onlookers on the beach promenade looked very impressed when they saw Laura spiking.

The Olympic and Swatch World Tour Finals champion of 2016 had shoulder surgery late last year in December – but as she continued to practice on the sand, you would have never believed she had been out of action. What the spectators on the beach in Tenerife did not know was that Laura was spiking with her left arm.

The heroes of the 2016 season will embark on the new season in May at the three-star World Tour event in Rio, before they turn their attentions to the Swatch Major Series and the 2017 FIVB World Championships in Vienna.

With Laura back on the sand, we thought it was a good time to catch up with her and get her views on Fort Lauderdale.

Swatch Major Series: Laura, two months you were not allowed to practice with the ball. What has been the biggest challenge for you during that time?

Laura Ludwig: Like always, it has been the patience. But indeed, it worked out surprisingly well for me to be extremely careful and to do exactly what the physiotherapists and doctors told me to do. The most important thing for me has been the time – to have enough time to do everything in the right way. So on a scale from one to 10, if 10 is very patient, I would give myself an eight.

SMS: What is your feeling after your first practice sessions concerning power or pain you have in your shoulder?

LL: I hardly have any pain. As I act extremely carefully, I am not doing all movements with full power. All directions aren’t free yet and I need to get more stability until I can spike with the right arm again at all. At the moment, I am doing that with my left arm and we think, that in a week or two that I can start to do shots with my right arm.

Beachvolleyball-Olympiasieger Laura Ludwig & Kira Walkenhorst

Läuft..... Abwehr geht schon wieder und der Angriff mit Links wird auch immer besser😀. Und Kira ist sowieso schon gnadenlos fit.;:) Wir genießen auf jeden Fall das gemeinsame Training unter kanarischer Sonne. Eure Mädelzzzzz

SMS: Although you weren’t playing, you were watching the Fort Lauderdale Major on the BeachStream.

LL: Of course, I watched some games. At the beginning, I liked it very much, cheering on the couch. But the further the tournament went, the sooner I was itching to play. However, I had a fully packed course of the day – my break from playing did not mean that I just went from bed to couch to the kitchen. Every day, I went once or twice to the physiotherapist and had two units of sport to do. Therefore, I could not watch so many games.

SMS: Was there been something at the Fort Lauderdale Major that really caught your attention?

LL: I liked very much watching Agatha and Duda playing together. I am curious to know where this journey will take them. It was very interesting to watch the new constellations of our German teams and also those of the Dutch women. The year after the Olympics is always very exciting.

SMS: What are you looking for at Tenerife – despite of sun and warmth?

LL: I am really looking forward to start finally into the real practice with the ball, to become a strong unit again with Kira and, of course, to see all the familiar faces again after the long break.

I like training camps😁😁😁

830 Likes, 6 Comments - Laura Ludwig (@lalu86) on Instagram: "I like training camps😁😁😁"