Category Archives: Dr. Mark Kovacs

By Patrick Aubone, CTPS & Dr. Mark Kovacs, CTPS, MTPS

Hip range of motion in tennis is one of the most challenging areas to train and treat. It is well understood the importance of the hips in the tennis player both from a movement standpoint, but also from a stroke efficiency perspective. Limitations in hip range of motion has been linked to lower back issues and also shoulder and upper extremity problems. In tennis hip range of motion is important in order to transfer energy from the lower body to the upper body through the kinetic chain. Repetitive rotational stress in the lower extremities playing tennis can lead to sport specific range of motion adaptations. Such adaptations may increase the risk of injury to other joints along the kinetic chain.

The increase risk of injury due to lack of mobility is worrisome at the recreational level. Common injuries seen include shoulder injuries, tennis and golfers elbow, abdominal pulls, groin and hamstring pulls. Some if not all of these can possibly be prevented by increasing the hips range of motion. Abdominal strains are linked to hip flexion contractures. A hip flexion contracture is caused by sitting for extended periods of time. In one study hip flexion contractures were linked to abdominal strains with iliopsoas tightness. Tight ligaments and muscles were more related to injury in men not in women in one study done on college athletes (Krivickas 1996)

Increasing range of motion is important because decreased hip strength may be associated with poor control of lower extremity motion during weight bearing activities. A lack of hip strength can lead to abnormal patellofemoral motions and pain.  Individuals suffering from patellofemoral pain syndrome demonstrate significant impairments in hip strength. The question now is how can one increase their range of motion? The following exercises will help increase quadriceps and hamstring flexibility along with increasing hip range of motion.

1. Figure 4 stretch – Lying flat on your back place the outside of the right foot on the left quadriceps. Next place the right hand through the triangle and grab the left shin with both hands. Next pull the left leg towards your chest as far as possible stretching the right glute.
2. Single Leg Flexion – Start with one leg back with the knee downward flat on the ground while the opposite leg is flexed at 90 degrees. Make sure that your forward foot is in line with the same side hand in order to keep your shin vertical. Next place the hand on the foot locking it in place and sprawl the opposite leg back and drop move the forward knee slightly outward. From here move in and out with the front leg to loosen up the hip capsule.
3. Hip External Rotation – Sit upright with your legs straight out in front of you. Set up by learning toward one side and swing the opposite leg forward perpendicular to your body. Next extend your back leg keeping the foot flat on the ground and maintaining a flat back. Slowly lower your chest towards the ground. Make sure to hold the front foot down, one you have reached your limit experiment by rotating your torso in different directions still maintaining a flat back.

Here are 10 common hip stretches that can be a valuable addition to an athletes training – http://dailyinformator.com/10-piriformis-stretches-to-help-you-get-rid-of-sciatica-hip-and-lower-back-pain/

These are just a few exercises that can help increase range of motion in the hips and help prevent injuries. Because of the rotational nature of the sport it is vital to have a healthy kinetic chain from the ground up. The hips and glutes play an important role in the entire kinetic chain and their flexibility and range of motion is very important.

Here is another great resource on stretching the hip (as well as many other body parts) in the Dynamic Stretching book and the Stretching Strap Workbook at the link http://mark-kovacs.com/products.html

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25214532

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8931525

http://www.jospt.org/doi/abs/10.2519/jospt.2007.2439?code=jospt-site

Patrick Aubone CTPS, MTPS, M.S.

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