Forward hip is hurting on slap shots.

[chapel 20]

not sure what's going on lately, but when I rip a slapper (particularly from the right side and I'm a righty) I seem to be really tearing the crap out of my hip.

when I get home it hurts to cross my left leg over my right (ankle to knee)

I noticed it today when doing it on dry land, so it may not be much of a problem when on the ice... but I'd still like to see if I'm suddenly doing something with my technique that's causing it.

[jazzyjoey 2]

sounds like you're over rotating your hips instead of driving through the shot. Your best bet would be to record yourself taking a few shots and post the video. make sure that when you shoot, your momentum from the weight transfer carries you forward rather than spinning you in a circle. I'm guessing you're twisting and loading all of that torque into your leading leg hip capsule. hard to say without a video, though.

[chapel 20]

yeah, maybe it's just because I'm having a hard time pushing through because I'm on my feet.

[thejackal 46]

might be a posture issue, if you spend a big chunk of your day sitting at a computer, let's say. do you ever do hip flexor stretches?

[chapel 20]

No. I need to start. I do them after I'm in pain. Because I'm a dope.

My wife gave me a really good yoga move to use that makes it feel wonderful.

http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/2313

[Souldriver 64]

Chapel, I mean no disrespect when I say this but I know in another thread you mentioned that you played hockey, took a very long break and are now playing again in your older years. Hockey is a very demanding sport no matter the level or age group, and if you took a big break and came back when your older you may have jumped back into it a little bit too fast and may be over taxing yourself. And I'll explain what I mean.

Hockey requires a certain level of conditioning, skill, and muscle memory that develops over time. Now you had all these while playing younger but during your break these all start to go away. When you come back you may still know how to skate and shoot but your body isn't conditioned to it so it needs to re adapt to playing and the strains it puts on the body. I know when I take a break for the summer and come back the first skate is usually one that makes me sore and taxes me a little and I'm a young 25, I can only wonder and hopefully one day experience it (if I keep playing) what it's like at an advanced age especially after years off.

The best way to combat that is to take a little at a time and work with the body with stretches and such. This isn't just touch the toes once or twice before the game and call yourself limber but both on and off day stretches in key areas such as the hips, legs lower back shoulders elbows wrists etc. this will keep you limber and blood flowing and healing areas before they start to be noticeably painful. Your wife knowing yoga is perfect, many major league teams in all sports promote yoga for multiple reasons.

Now you also have to be carefull with your form while playing, skating and slapshots are taxing above all else. Take a session to work on proper skating, stopping and turning form to alleviate stress on your joints. Raising a couple practice slappers in slow mo, concentrating on your form, body posture and where your blade hits the ice is key. Rarely is there a reason to lift your stick past your waist for a slapper and even though you are supposed to hit the ice a little before the puck to get the flex involved you don't need to be dreddging the ice. Do all this while making sure your body is aligned right and following through smoothly and naturally. I used to suck at slappers and they always hurt my palms untill I eased up on the shot, didn't lift my stick so high (i go right above the knee), and bent my knees and let my body follow through and do the work.

Once again no disrespect or saying your old and decrepit bc I don't know your true age but you have said in another thread that you are in an advanced age and havnt played for years and are just coming back. I think you may have come back a little too high throttle as it seems some things are bothering you and causing you pain when they shouldn't and hockey should be enjoyed pain free. I for one envy anyone that still plays at any type of advanced age as I hope to do so myself. And it takes guts to go on a forum, especially as people tend to get older and less accepting of others opinions, and say "hi, I'm getting backi nto playing, though I'm finding this hurts how do I change that." the older crowd here is probs my the first to be still playing and logging there experiences here on an internet forum, and as strong as MSH is I'm sure a lot of the info you guys share will stick around and help.others that keep playing.

[chapel 20]

Chapel, I mean no disrespect when I say this but I know in another thread you mentioned that you played hockey, took a very long break and are now playing again in your older years. Hockey is a very demanding sport no matter the level or age group, and if you took a big break and came back when your older you may have jumped back into it a little bit too fast and may be over taxing yourself. And I'll explain what I mean.

Hockey requires a certain level of conditioning, skill, and muscle memory that develops over time. Now you had all these while playing younger but during your break these all start to go away. When you come back you may still know how to skate and shoot but your body isn't conditioned to it so it needs to re adapt to playing and the strains it puts on the body. I know when I take a break for the summer and come back the first skate is usually one that makes me sore and taxes me a little and I'm a young 25, I can only wonder and hopefully one day experience it (if I keep playing) what it's like at an advanced age especially after years off.

yeah, I totally get that aspect. I'm 32 now. I haven't played since I was 18, but I was a referee until I was about 22. I'm actually in better shape now at 32 then I was at 18... though I may not be as strong. I can skate a HARD 9 minute shift without getting winded. However, last time I did this, I pulled my hip (I definitely overdid it). When I was playing at my peak, I couldn't run very well. I'd get winded quickly. Now I run 5Ks. Back then I could leg press 800-900lbs no problem... these days, no idea as I don't lift anymore. So, I totally get where you're coming from. I'm pushing myself a bit too much.

The best way to combat that is to take a little at a time and work with the body with stretches and such. This isn't just touch the toes once or twice before the game and call yourself limber but both on and off day stretches in key areas such as the hips, legs lower back shoulders elbows wrists etc. this will keep you limber and blood flowing and healing areas before they start to be noticeably painful. Your wife knowing yoga is perfect, many major league teams in all sports promote yoga for multiple reasons.

Yeah, I'm going to start doing a lot more yoga and stretching. My strength is good enough for the level I'm playing at, but the flexibility needs to get better

Now you also have to be carefull with your form while playing, skating and slapshots are taxing above all else. Take a session to work on proper skating, stopping and turning form to alleviate stress on your joints. Raising a couple practice slappers in slow mo, concentrating on your form, body posture and where your blade hits the ice is key. Rarely is there a reason to lift your stick past your waist for a slapper and even though you are supposed to hit the ice a little before the puck to get the flex involved you don't need to be dreddging the ice. Do all this while making sure your body is aligned right and following through smoothly and naturally. I used to suck at slappers and they always hurt my palms untill I eased up on the shot, didn't lift my stick so high (i go right above the knee), and bent my knees and let my body follow through and do the work.

Once again no disrespect or saying your old and decrepit bc I don't know your true age but you have said in another thread that you are in an advanced age and havnt played for years and are just coming back. I think you may have come back a little too high throttle as it seems some things are bothering you and causing you pain when they shouldn't and hockey should be enjoyed pain free. I for one envy anyone that still plays at any type of advanced age as I hope to do so myself. And it takes guts to go on a forum, especially as people tend to get older and less accepting of others opinions, and say "hi, I'm getting backi nto playing, though I'm finding this hurts how do I change that." the older crowd here is probs my the first to be still playing and logging there experiences here on an internet forum, and as strong as MSH is I'm sure a lot of the info you guys share will stick around and help.others that keep playing.

No disrespect read at all. I get it. I'm diving in too quickly.

The difference now is that when I'm doing something wrong, I have the internet to ask. When I was doing it wrong as a teen, I'd just keep doing it and deal with the pain. Mainly because I was stubborn.

You can actually read about my transformation from a 325lbs slobbo to a 225lb... um... less slobbo here:

http://primalfatso.wordpress.com

http://primalfatso.wordpress.com/about-me-1-year-later/

Now that I've lost all that weight, I've been dying to get back into something I love and hockey is the easiest thing for me to get back into.

I'll try to get some video of my slapshot technique. There's room for improvement.

Thanks for your reply

[Haggerty 144]

yeah, I totally get that aspect. I'm 32 now. I haven't played since I was 18, but I was a referee until I was about 22. I'm actually in better shape now at 32 then I was at 18... though I may not be as strong. I can skate a HARD 9 minute shift without getting winded. However, last time I did this, I pulled my hip (I definitely overdid it). When I was playing at my peak, I couldn't run very well. I'd get winded quickly. Now I run 5Ks. Back then I could leg press 800-900lbs no problem... these days, no idea as I don't lift anymore. So, I totally get where you're coming from. I'm pushing myself a bit too much.

Then you really are not skating hard. Your best conditioned athletes can't play a full 2 minute shift without getting winded.

[chapel 20]

Then you really are not skating hard. Your best conditioned athletes can't play a full 2 minute shift without getting winded.

well, I would blame that more on the level I'm playing at.

I get muscle fatigue for sure... but I never run out of breath like I used to.

I'm curious to see what would happen when I move up to a B-league. But in C-league, I'm having no problems playing long shifts with plenty of juice in the tank when needed.

I attribute that to the running I've been doing. I do a full mile at like 90% throttle and that takes me about 9 minutes.

Playing defence tends to mean bursts of 90-100% throttle followed by a few seconds of shifting around on the blue line.

[Souldriver 64]

At 32 I wouldn't say your at an advanced age, we have members in their 40s, 50s, and 60s playing well. congrats on cutting down on the weight I'm 250 now and have been trying to get to about 200 and I know it's not easy. I would say take it easy and work on form. Just because you can do a 9 minutes shift I wouldn't do that bc long shifts can strain things too. doing some lifting again will help, strength and flexability will keep things working well, you don't need heavy weights, just some lifting. When you do physical therapy it's about stretches and lighter weights, many times the strength work is against your own body weight

[evor1 6]

its almost certainly a lack of hip mobility. i bet if you look at your feet on the ice after you take a shot your front foot is pointed forward. you are lacking rotation in the hip and your body is dispersing that torque by turning your feet forward. this is easily done on the ice but on dry land your front foot is planted and not able to rotate.

[Chadd 916]

My guess would be that you are flying open with your hips early in the motion and your upper body isn't in sync. The only other thing I could see would be if you were really raising your left shoulder, but I would think you would feel that along the side of the ribs. I used get get really bad rib pains when taking a lot of slapshots coaching or on dry land but that was from my top hand punching myself over and over again.

[bwhockey17 12]

It could be that a previous injury hasn't fully healed. Or over rotation of the hips to generate extra force?