Grandveau’s game: “I have always seen my height as a strength, not a weakness”

“Getting my coaches to understand that I could do as well as a player taller than me has been a struggle,” explains French back court player Léna Grandveau. At 171 cm, she might not feature in the shortest players category in the EHF Champions League Women, but still, as she puts it: “I am definitely not one of the tallest ones.”

From very early on, Grandveau has had to find ways to get around defenders and be able to do as well as the others. “In younger categories, I managed to adapt, but it was harder when I made it to professional handball. I can not jump as high as the others, and I can not shoot from too far out,” she says, before adding with a smile: “But don’t worry, I found a way to express myself.”

There’s no surprise, then, that she defines herself as both a “quick” and “spot-on” player. “My speed has always been something that I have relied on a lot. Because taller players usually are not as fast as I am, so I can outrun them,” she says. But she also had to be able to work her way around with the ball and to deliver perfect actions. “That’s something that I have always done, and I don’t know quite how. The good timings, the good runs, are something that I have always been able to do.”

Adapting the game

No wonder that she has not struggled too much to play offensively since she made it to professional handball at 17. Especially since she was able to play on all back court positions, not just as centre back, the one that she learned handball on. “And that’s the one that I prefer as well. I used to get frustrated playing as a right back, but then it was also a way to get into teams, like the France national one,” she admits. “Sometimes, when you are a young player, you have to accept things that you don’t prefer in order to make it to the team.”

But why, then, does she prefer to be in the centre back position rather than in the other back court ones? After all, she was elected IHF Young Female Player of the Year after the 2023 World Championship, where she mainly played on the right-hand side. “I love having the ball in my hand, I love being able to decide what we are going to play,” she decrypts. “I love being the head of the orchestra and making the others play and score. That's probably my favourite part of the game.”

Playing on two positions, as she does with France and Metz Handball, forces Lena Grandveau to work twice as much. “There are things that you can take from one position to the other, but there are also a lot of things to learn. Like, I am not going to attack the same player, depending on where I am on the court, so I have to study twice as many opponents.”

That probably means who to attack and who she can surprise with her speed, also. But that style of play also means that she will probably take more blows and hits than a player being able to shoot from 10 meters. “That, I don’t mind. What is more frustrating is that I sometimes miss training or that I have to recover more because I have been hit too many times in a game. This, I hate,” explains the 22-year-old. 

She will also admit that her physical training is a little bit different from the others. “I have to be able to run fast for 60 minutes, because usually I won’t make as many differences at minute 5 as at minute 55. Also, being able to run at the right time is very important, as you can be ahead of your opponent by a fraction of a second and that will make the difference in the end.”

Using her strengths in defence

What is now different in her game, compared to two or three years ago, is that she can give back the blows while she is defending. Listening to her, you will understand that Léna Grandveau had to show her coaches that she can also defend. “It has been a real fight, to be honest. Some of my coaches did not want me to defend because they thought I was too short,” she remembers. 

“But the thing is that I will never defend like a girl who is 15 centimetres taller than me. If you want me to wait on the six-metre-line and block, of course, this is not going to work. But if you allow me to try and surprise my opponent, steal the ball or disturb the pass, then I think I can be a great option,” she says, before adding: “I have to defend a different way, just as I have to attack differently.”

Summing up, Léna Grandveau admits to having “never seen myself as a half player.” Either she plays on both sides of the court, attacking and defending, or she probably would not be as comfortable only being on the offensive position. But if you ask her what her favourite action on the handball court is, she will tell you with a straight answer: “Attacking. I love it so much. I mean, is there anything better than giving a perfect assist?”

Photos © Kevin Clement; Anze Malovrh, Jozo Cabraja & Sasa Pahic Szabo / kolektiff