Article

A change of direction in Soccer

A change of direction in Soccer

Three Introductory Exercises to Bulletproof Your Groin

Wednesday 9 March, 2022

by Charlie Kay and Matt Croyle


The adductors are a group of 5 muscles (the adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus gracilis and pectineus) that make up the region commonly referred to as the groin. Their main role is to pull the leg towards and beyond the midline of the body, a movement termed ‘adduction’.

Due to their function in pulling the leg in, the adductors play a key role during changes of direction. Furthermore, they have secondary roles in hip extension (adductor magnus) and hip flexion (adductor brevis, adductor longus, gracilis, pectineus) which make the adductors facilitators of sprinting. When you consider how many movements in sport include straight line running and change of direction, it’s no surprise to consider adductor injuries can occur in a variety of different situations.


Serner et al., (2019), examined adductor injuries in professional soccer, concluding that most adductor injuries were non-contact in nature and occurred following a quick reaction to a change in play. Injuries occurring whilst changing direction accounted for 35% of those in the study, kicking 29%, reaching 24% and jumping 12%. When performing a 45-degree cut, external rotation of the plant leg causes a large eccentric contraction of the adductors to decelerate the leg at touchdown, which is followed by concentric contractions to recover the swing leg ready for the next foot strike – this all amounts to big demands placed on the adductors.

We have established the important roles and large demands placed on the groin in sport. Every time you run or change direction, they are active. Groin strains can lead to a loss of training time, and Tyler et al., (2002) showed a group of patients actively training the adductors displayed significant improvements in pain compared to those treated with passive stretching, massage, and electrical stimulation. So, how often do you train your groin directly?

If, like most people who read this article you thought to yourself ‘probably not enough’, do not worry. Please read below for three exercises you can use to bulletproof your groin.


Three introductory exercises to bulletproof your groin

The exercises below can all be considered 'assistance' or 'accessory' lifts, which you can use after the main exercises in your programme. Example set and rep schemes are included but should always be taken with a pinch of salt. The suggestions below are exactly that - suggestions. To view a video demonstration, please click on the exercise.

 

Short Lever Copenhagen Plank

Develop strength in an advantageous joint position. You can build up to a certain time and even out asymmetries. At Performance Herts, we target athletes to get to 60 seconds each side. You can progress this exercise to a long lever position to increase difficulty.

If you’re new to this exercise, first work up to 2-3 sets of 30 seconds each side.

 

Cossack Squat

A more dynamic movement, but one with a consistent and stable base. By keeping the feet wide we do not need to ‘decelerate’ or focus on driving up back to the middle, but we can still develop strength at length in the groin. The video here has a landmine used to load the exercise, but you could use a goblet, barbell or even bodyweight.

A nice set and rep scheme for this exercise may be 3 sets of 6-8 reps each side.

 

Slideboard Lateral Lunge

If you access to the equipment, or are able to recreate it with a shiny floor and towel, a sliding lateral lunge can be a useful tool to build range of motion and strength at length. By having a stable leg, it encourages a good weight distribution with a controlled eccentric contraction through the groin, followed up by a challenging concentric.

Just like the Cossack squat, something like 3 sets of 6-8 reps each side would be an appropriate training prescription.

 

Happy training!

Charlie

 


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