Hip pain is a common occurrence in hockey players. And it might actually be making players slower.
If you’re working with players dealing with hip or groin pain from FAI, you’ll want to keep reading. FAI can change how people move, some of it is compensation to avoid pain and some is a result of having hip pain. For hockey players, this can change their skating technique and make them slower.
To maximize your rehab with hockey players, these are important things to consider. Let’s dive in!
#1 Hip adduction:
Faster skaters bring their stance leg further under their body than slower skaters.
For most who have symptomatic FAI, doing this will be painful. So they avoid it. They live in more abduction. But for skating, this can be detrimental. They lose the ability to load each stride. Those who are no longer symptomatic may need to retrain this movement pattern.
Here’s one of my go-to drills to begin working on this:
#2 Hip abduction velocity:
A common result of dealing with hip pain is a lack of hip strength.
The hips are the drivers of the skating stride. Fast skaters have the ability to abduct the hip faster during push-off compared to slower skaters. In order to move fast, one must produce high force (strength) over a given distance (hip abduction angle). Less muscle strength indirectly results in slower hip abduction.
Here’s one drill I use to begin working on abduction strength and speed. The intent is to push as hard and as fast as possible.
#3 Hip extension velocity:
Glutes, glute, glutes.
The glutes play a significant role in hip function. Unfortunately, glute strength is often affected in those with hip and groin pain.
Hip extension velocity in the push-off phase is also a differentiator between fast and slow skaters. Which means the glutes need to be strong and powerful to drive the push phase of each stride.
There are lots of ways to re-build glute strength, here’s one of my new favourites:
#4 Slower movement :
People dealing with hip and groin pain will move with hesitation in anticipation of pain. In hockey players, this will likely happen at the transitions from push-off to recovery and recovery to stance phase.
Small hesitations during the skating stride will slow players down. If players are anticipating pain in certain positions, they will hesitate getting into them. These quick hesitations can make a big difference when it comes to foot races. On top of that, it will always be top of mind taking away their ability to think about the game.
Here’s a drill you can use to reduce hesitation in the push-off phase of skating.
Slider Skater Strides w Band (Speed)