How to reduce the risk of Groin Injuries!
Groin injuries cannot be totally prevented, but the risk of groin injuries occurring can certainly be reduced.
Groin injuries are more prevalent in multi-directional field sports such as soccer, football, lacrosse, as well as tennis and ice hockey.
All these sports share common movement demands with the most commonly groin aggravating movements being acceleration, deceleration, cutting and kicking, which are frequently involved in these sports.
Groin Anatomy
The hip & groin region is puzzling due to the complex and overlapping nature of the anatomy.
This is further compounded by the fact that there is a poor understanding of the adverse mechanics that predispose the athlete to injury in the first place.
See below on how complex the hip & groin region is:
Groin Injuries: Movement Patterns Matter
However, we must not just focus on the hardware (muscles) but also the movement patterns that the hip and groin region assist in like energy transfer, cutting, jumping, accelerating and decelerating.
The proposed mechanism for adductor muscle strains (groin strains) is the overstretching and eccentric force (slowing down) of the adductors attempting to decelerate the limb during rapid abduction and external rotation or sudden change in direction.
Based on this proposed mechanism, muscle strength or flexibility may be related to injury risk.[
3 Simple Exercises for Groin Injury’s
So what do we do?
From a flexibility standpoint, we want to make sure that we implement some type of self-myofascial tissue work, and active mobility & flexibility drills.
From a strength standpoint you want to emphasize isometrics and eccentric movements.
Here are 3 exercises that can help you with all of the above using just a foam roller.
Taking it to the next level
We hope that these exercises will be helpful in taking your game to the next level!
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