Paul Henning was not kidding himself.

When the volleyball player from Bundesliga club United Volleys focused on his prospects in the summer, he had to admit that his dreams would not come true indoors.

"I always wanted to get to the top," says the 24-year-old.

But for a world-class middle blocker, he is too small at 2.02 meters in length, and he does not correspond to the typical image of a specialist in this position.

"Rollercoaster of feelings"

But, according to the former footballer and athlete, he is dynamic and fast for his size and has a very good feel for the ball.

Qualities that paid off when the man from Erfurt spent the off-season playing in the sand for fun.

In order not to miss a chance, the person who wanted to change wrote an email to national beach volleyball coach Jürgen Wagner, almost on suspicion.

Just under half a year later he was a national player.

In the beach variant, the apprentice describes the past few months as a “roller coaster of emotions”.

Potential for the top

The former boarding school student had not expected such a lightning exit from Frankfurt.

The door opened with the surprising resignation of Olympic fifth-placed Julius Thole in October.

The end of the law student's career triggered a castling in the top German teams.

Another block player was needed.

On his own initiative, where he didn't yet know anything about the forthcoming rotations in the elite, Henning went to a trial training session at the central beach base in Hamburg in December.

A week later, the coaching staff there signaled that they saw him as having enough potential for the top.

The German champion and world championship participant Sven Winter chose him as his new partner.

The two know each other from the junior national team, with which they finished fourth at the 2015 European Championships indoors.

At the end of January, Henning played his last game with the United team in the CEV Cup round of 16 with the Romanian representative Arcadi Galati;

also in his new discipline, the Thuringian goes online for the Hessians.

"Not like in the hammock in the hall"

A lot is different for him now.

He works intensively and sometimes with two trainers on his own on the basic techniques, especially in passing and in acceptance, which he hardly needed in the hall.

The duos have to organize flights to tournaments, hotel rooms or apartments themselves.

"It's not like in the hammock in the hall," where you don't have to worry about anything as a player, says Henning.

The association covers travel expenses, otherwise the player, who is no longer employed by a club, finances himself through the Deutsche Sporthilfe foundation, a subsidy from United and a salary that he now receives from the Bundeswehr.

The sports soldier has to catch up on his basic training after the season.

For the time being, the playful development should be the focus.

Henning does not feel any pressure, support has been signaled to him from all sides.

"Feels great"

He repaid part of the trust at the weekend at his premiere on the German Beach Tour.

Henning/Winter prevailed in the final of the series tournament in Düsseldorf 2:1 (18:21, 21:13, 15:13) against Lukas Pfretzschner and Robin Sowa from Hamburg.

"It feels great," commented the debutant.

"But we still have a long way to go."

The two felt this during their first joint assignment on the international Pro Tour in Turkey in the middle of the month when they failed in the first qualifying round.

Nevertheless, Henning raves about the "outstanding feeling" he felt in the midst of the world's best.

And that he can hope again one day, maybe as early as 2024 in Paris, to appear at the Olympic Games.