Solberg’s game: “I like more to just live in a situation and trust my guts”

“We are really depending on the back players and they need to do a good job before we are free also, so I think we can also thank them for every time we actually get free,” says Sanna Solberg-Isaksen on the role of the wing in positional play, where one needs to be ready to deliver on their shot from the most difficult angle in the game — and the chance to do that might come rarely, given the team will go for the available options in the middle of the court first. 

“Sometimes you get this one shot and then of course you want to score, so then you really need to be prepared, but of course, that's not that easy every time — if you have been playing 55 minutes and then now it's your turn,” she says. 

That is the job of the wing and is one reason Solberg is happy to have an important role in defence, where she often plays the number two rather than the standard one.  

“It's really fun to be in defence because I know there's a lot more happening there in this play, because we sometimes don't have that many shots in attack. I guess that's why I also think it's really fun to be in as number two in defence because it's happening so much more and it's more physical. I like to take the high for the duel and I will try to show some attitude that no one is going to come through this space between me,” says Solberg, who developed as a defender in part due to one player she was playing alongside from a young age: Stine Oftedal Dahmke.

“I have never been the most technical player in attack, but I had competences also in defence”

“I think they were thinking about Oftedal’s height — that she was maybe a bit too small being a defender as number two. So, then they wanted to try to change us two, because we were playing in this club in Norway together and also the national team for junior. We have been playing a lot together,” says Solberg.

“Stine Oftedal’s really good also in the counterattack. If she needs to change defence-attack every time, you will lose a lot of her quality, so they thought for her case it's really good if she can be in defence. And for me, I have never been the most technical player in attack, but I had competences also in defence, so if I also could develop there, it could also be nice for me — and I think we really succeeded with this because we came far together.”  

The first title Solberg and Oftedal won together was the Women’s 19 EHF EURO in 2010 — and they went on to much bigger and many more, most recently taking Olympic gold at Paris 2024 before Oftedal retired. Now, Solberg has a similar situation with Henny Reistad, with whom she plays alongside for both Norway and Team Esbjerg, moving into the number two position in defence to allow Reistad a break due to the EHF Excellence Awards MVP of the 2024/25 season’s considerable role in attack. 

“The team comes first”

Perfecting the transition from defence to attack and vice versa is half of the picture when it comes to collaboration with the backs she plays alongside. In positional attack, the wing usually waits in the corner, assessing any options like running in as a second line player or whether it is better to stay put and be ready for a pass and shot from position. 

“The team comes first and of course, it's fun to have success ourselves also,” says Solberg when asked about moments where she knows she has a great chance to shoot but the back court finish the action. “It's also fun when the team succeeds, so I think that's just the part of the play.” 

Solberg has built a strong connection with Reistad, playing beside each other regularly for some years now. Knowing the backs and how they play naturally helps to anticipate what might come her way on the wing, and Solberg says, “the relations are really important.”

Being so familiar with many of the backs she has played with through the years, Solberg has to hypothesise a little when considering how it is to be on court with a back she doesn’t know so well. 

“I think you need to react a bit faster because if you know the person maybe things are going more automatically, but now you also need to follow more and OK, ‘what is she doing? If she's doing that, I need to do this.’ So then you need to react a bit faster,” says Solberg, indulging the question as we aim to highlight how the wing has less control of how the attack is played yet also the responsibility to deliver an accurate shot when the ball comes their way. In a way, the position comes with a lot of pressure. 

“But then it's more important to communicate,” says Solberg. “If you fail one time, you try to correct it for the next time, or if there's something you want, this is how you want to have it.” 

“Our parents actually said that I was better in goal and Silje was better outside”

A two-time EHF Champions League All-star Team left wing, Solberg did not always play that position, revealing that the situation as any handball fan familiar with the Solberg twins — the other being goalkeeper Silje — knows it was once the opposite. 

“Me and my twin actually were changing when we were smaller — I was a goalkeeper and she was playing outside. Our parents actually said that I was better in goal and Silje was better outside, so they don't know why we changed. But I think I'm really happy for that now because I can't understand how I could be in this goal,” reflects Sanna Solberg. 

No idol, but a great training partner

Having a twin she could practice with any time she wanted might be one reason Solberg did not have any specific role model in handball: “I watched handball, but I think I watched less handball than a lot of other players.

“I didn't really have a big idol. But I wanted to come to the national team and had a dream of this when I was small.” 

For Solberg, it was always more about getting on the court herself. “We trained a lot together and when my sister had her first week on the national team for junior, the coach told her that she needed to be better at throwing contra balls, so then we started to train this the whole summer. 

“She was throwing and I was running several times maybe each day this summer, so then we got really good in the counterattack after this. So yes, we definitely used each other a lot to get better.” 

“When I think back, I felt I was more in shape than I maybe was”

Just one day before speaking to eurohandball.com, Solberg announced her second pregnancy, after welcoming her first child in January 2023. Almost simultaneously, she extended her contract with Esbjerg for another two years after her due date, to June 2028 — so, she intends to return to action, and has experienced that return before. 

“I was really motivated and when I'm motivated, I feel like you're kind of flowing a little bit better, so it was just really fun and good to know that you actually succeed in coming back when you had that as a goal,” she reflects on the previous experience, saying she naturally missed some physical fitness on her return. 

“I was good training in the pregnancy, doing as much as I could to keep the shape up, but of course when you give birth, there's something happening, so it takes time to come back. And when I think back, I felt I was more in shape than I maybe was. After one year I could say, or my boyfriend said, ‘I think it took almost one year before you were really on top again.’ 

“It just takes some more time — you can play and you can be like on the top level, but you're not on your best maybe. I felt like the year before Olympics, maybe the half year before Olympics, that's when I really started to find my shape again.” 

“If I don't get the good jump, then I don't feel I have the same opportunities”

Before the start of her break, Solberg was working on the area that has always been her focus: “It's always been about the technical details in my jump and also the shots. I think the jump is really important to have a good shot also, because if I don't get the good jump, then I don't feel I have the same opportunities. I feel like you can always improve in technical shots.” 

When it comes to scoring goals, Solberg is typically more of a straight shooter — it is rare that you will see her reach for a spin shot. 

“I had some periods where I practiced a lot in training, but I don't use it that much in a match. It's probably because you don't feel that confident in it and when you play even games, then you want to have a shot that kind of is more sure than a spin, if you are not sure this is going inside,” says Solberg.  

“It depends how good you are at it and also about the goalkeeper — where their weaknesses are. So of course, if there's a goalkeeper who’s either standing a lot or lifting a foot, I think it could be a really good shot. It's about both how good you are and also who you're playing against.” 

Solberg agrees that it is perhaps the wings who need to be most aware of a goalkeeper’s tendencies, along with regular penalty shooters and those typically shooting closer range. However, she does not like to study too much, preferring to be able to respond in the moment rather than get lost in any thoughts from preparation when she is lining up a shot.  

“The first priority should be you have a good jump and you need to look at the goalkeeper and then you'll see where there's space. But of course, it's nice to know if the goalkeeper are following with the arms or lifting a foot often because then you may be one step in front in some way. 

“But I also think it's sometimes a mind game because the goalkeepers are also preparing for our shots and what our routines are or like, pattern, you know. So I think when I start to think too much and think ‘what does she think I will do?’, then I think I will fail because then I'm thinking too much. I like more to just live in a situation and trust my guts.”

all photos © kolektiff