Why Your Hip Mobility Is Killing Your Skating Power

As a hockey player, your stride is your engine. You can spend hours practicing edges, sprints, and shots, but if your hips aren’t functioning well, you're skating with the brakes on. Most players, even highly skilled ones, don’t realize that limited hip mobility can significantly reduce stride power, skating efficiency, and long-term durability. And when it’s ignored, those deficits often become chronic issues: groin strains, back tightness, or recurring knee pain.

Let’s break down why your hips matter so much and exactly what happens when you don’t address them.

The Role of the Hips in Hockey

Skating is a multi-directional, explosive, and highly rotational movement. Your hips are central to every stride, crossover, pivot, and transition. Anatomically, the hip is a ball-and-socket joint, built for mobility, but in many hockey athletes, it becomes stiff, guarded, or poorly controlled due to repetitive load, injury, or poor recovery.

The skating stride demands:

• External rotation + abduction during the push-off

• Internal rotation and extension during recovery and drive

• Dynamic pelvic stability to support trunk and lower extremity control

Without proper access to these ranges, you lose stride length, push-off strength, and directional control.

How Restricted Hip Mobility Impacts Performance

Here’s how common mobility deficits impact real-world skating mechanics:

Decreased Internal Rotation

• Decreased push-off power, limited crossovers, reduced acceleration

Decreased External Rotation

• Poor stride length, stiffness when changing direction, compromised edge control

Decreased Hip Extension

• Limited propulsion, increased low back strain

Decreased Abduction Control

• Groin/adductor overload, lateral energy leaks, instability in turns

Backed by Research:

• Philippon et al. (2007) found that over 90% of NHL players showed labral damage on imaging, often linked to limited hip rotation and repetitive impingement forces.

• Tyler et al. (2001) noted that restricted hip IR and abduction were significant predictors of groin strain in athletes.

• Emery & Meeuwisse (2010) found that poor hip strength and control were associated with increased injury risk in youth hockey players, especially when asymmetry was present.

What Happens When You Compensate

When the hips don’t move well, the body finds workarounds. These compensations often show up as:

• Low back overuse: rotating through lumbar spine instead of hips; leads to chronic tightness, facet joint overload

• Anterior pelvic tilt: shortened hip flexors + weak glutes = less efficient force transfer

• Valgus collapse at the knee: lacking abductor/ER strength = medial knee strain

• Groin/adductor overuse: adductors working overtime to stabilize dysfunctional hip movement

Schilders et al. (2013) emphasized that athletes with recurrent groin pain often demonstrate abnormal hip mechanics, particularly in rotational patterns.

Self-Screen: 3 Ways to Assess Hip Function

1. 90/90 Hip Rotation Test

• Sit on the ground, front and back legs bent at 90°.

• Rotate side to side without using your hands.

• Watch for: tightness, pelvic lift, pinch in front of hip.

2. Active Hip IR Test

• Sit upright with knees bent 90°.

• Rotate one foot outward (testing IR).

• Less than ~30–35°? Likely restriction affecting stride.

3. Hip Flexor Lunge Test

• Get into a half-kneeling lunge.

• Tuck your pelvis under and shift forward.

• Tight, pinching, or inability to tilt pelvis? Your stride length and trunk control may be compromised.

Why Stretching Alone Isn’t the Fix

Hockey players often default to foam rolling and static stretches. While these can provide temporary relief, they won’t restore dynamic hip function or prevent injury.

True mobility training includes:

• Joint mobilization to improve capsule mechanics

• Isometric holds to build strength at end-range

• Rotational patterning to integrate the mobility into usable motion

• Postural and pelvic control to support the hips dynamically

• Eccentric control to prepare for deceleration, cuts, and turns

You’re not just trying to “loosen up” you’re retraining your system to move more effectively on the ice.

A System Built for Hockey Athletes

That’s why I created the Hip Pain Prevention Program, a 3-phase system tailored specifically to hockey athletes. It’s not a random stretch routine. It’s a progression that builds from joint mobility to dynamic control to on-ice performance.

Phase	Focus	Goals
1	Mobility Restoration	Restore rotation, extension, and fascial glide
2	Control + Strength Integration	Build stability under load, reinforce skating mechanics
3	Power + Performance Transfer	Increase stride length, stability, and real-world movement

Each track (Hockey, General Athlete, Advanced Athlete) includes:

• Structured phases

• Exercise instruction with sets/reps

• Self-assessment tools

• Anatomy insights to understand what you're training

• Printable tracking templates

The Bottom Line

Your hips are your skating foundation. When they move well, you generate more power, absorb less stress, and skate more efficiently. When they don’t, you lose speed, overwork other joints, and put yourself at risk.

Don’t settle for tight hips and repeated injuries. Invest in the system built for what hockey players actually need.

Explore the Hip Pain Prevention Program, built by a physical therapist and performance coach. Designed to keep you skating hard and pain-free.