How to Prevent Groin Injuries in Hockey: Evidence-Based Strategies

Groin strains are one of the most common and frustrating injuries in hockey. They often sneak up gradually, starting as tightness or a small twinge that players try to push through. Then one hard stride or pivot later, and something gives. The result? Days, weeks, sometimes months on the shelf. In elite hockey, groin and hip injuries account for a large portion of missed time. Even in youth and amateur levels, we see these injuries pop up regularly, especially during preseason, after time off, or when players jump back into heavy volume too quickly.

So what exactly is a groin strain? It’s a tear in one of the adductor muscles, usually the adductor longus. These muscles run along the inner thigh and are responsible for bringing the leg toward the midline. In skating, the adductors play a huge role in stabilizing the pelvis, controlling the stride, and helping with directional changes. They’re also constantly working eccentrically, lengthening under load—as players push off and recover during each stride. That repetitive demand, especially when combined with poor strength or mobility, makes the groin vulnerable to overload.

Most strains happen not from contact, but from overstretching or overloading the muscle during high-intensity movements. Think explosive starts, wide strides, reaching for a puck, or an awkward transition. Add in fatigue, cold muscles, or biomechanical imbalances, and the tissue just can’t handle the load. The result is a partial tear that varies in severity. Mild strains might feel like soreness or tightness. Moderate ones can make skating painful. Severe strains can shut a player down completely.

The key is understanding that groin injuries aren’t random. They come from predictable factors, weakness, poor mobility, imbalances, bad warm-ups, and training errors. Which means they’re also highly preventable when you train smart.

Given all the above, what can players and teams actually do to prevent groin strains? The good news is, sports science has come a long way in providing reliable, evidence-backed strategies to significantly lower the risk. But it takes a well-rounded approach. Strength, mobility, warm-up habits, and load management all need attention. Here’s how to get ahead of groin injuries:

1. Strengthen the Adductors (Groin Muscles) The number one thing you can do is make sure your adductors are strong and not a weak link. We’ve got solid evidence here. Players with weaker adductors are more likely to get hurt. Simple as that. And when you build up that strength, the risk drops. That means adding specific groin-strengthening work into your program. Adduction machines, cable or banded adductions, side-lying leg raises, and ball squeezes all help. But the gold standard right now is the Copenhagen Adductor exercise. It’s a side plank variation that heavily loads the groin and has been shown to significantly boost eccentric strength while cutting injury rates. One study in soccer showed a 40% drop in groin issues with a consistent program. In hockey, we’re aiming for an adductor-to-abductor strength ratio close to 1:1. At the very least, greater than 0.8. That kind of balance matters. Adding groin-specific work 2 to 3 times a week—yes, even in-season—goes a long way. Bodyweight Copenhagens or banded work can help maintain strength.

2. Improve Hip Mobility and Flexibility Tight hips and limited range of motion are a problem. If the tissue can't handle the movement demands of skating, you're setting yourself up for trouble. That’s why we prioritize dynamic mobility, walking lunges, leg swings, hip circles, squats, lateral lunges, all should be built into the warm-up. After practice or on off-days, static stretching (like butterfly or kneeling lunge stretches) helps keep muscle length in check. Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) are also useful here. They’re just slow, controlled hip circles that help keep the joint moving well. If a player has structural issues like FAI, we adjust accordingly, maybe work on technique tweaks, stay within their movement envelope, and keep their hips mobile. Flexible groins are tougher groins.

3. Balanced Strength & Core Stability You can’t just look at the adductors in isolation. Hockey players need strength balance across the hips and core. Weak glutes or poor core control force the adductors to pick up slack. That’s how overload injuries happen. Your program should cover the bases: squats, lunges, deadlifts for general strength, plus focused adductor work and core stability, planks, Pallof presses, rotational med ball drills. The pelvic region has to be solid. Core weakness means the groin gets overworked. Some teams even use Pilates-based exercises or low abdominal targeting for groin prevention. Flexibility in the glutes matters too. In some cases, tight glutes or hamstrings create asymmetries that push more strain into the groin. Balance across the system is what keeps the strain off any one structure.

4. Proper Warm-Up and Activation Cold muscles tear. That’s the reality. So we need a legit warm-up. Before stepping on the ice, players should do 10 to 15 minutes of targeted prep. Start with something aerobic to increase body temp, then go into dynamic stretches, leg swings in both directions, lateral lunges, high knees, butt kicks, cariocas. Add in activation: band walks for the glutes, isometric squeezes or side-lying raises for the adductors. Get the blood flowing and the muscles firing. This kind of warm-up improves tissue elasticity and range of motion. Just avoid long static stretches pre-game, they can blunt force output. Save those for after practice. Bottom line: pre-ice prep matters. Cold groins are high-risk groins.

5. Neuromuscular Training and Technique Groin strains often happen during chaotic movements, cuts, pivots, awkward reaches. So we need to train control. Neuromuscular training teaches the body how to move well under load. That means cutting drills, agility work, balance exercises, single-leg training, and proprioception drills like wobble board holds. Plyometrics like lateral bounds or skater jumps are excellent for building reactive strength in the groin. And don’t forget about skating mechanics. A player with poor posture, bad stride habits, or a tendency to overextend is asking for trouble. Coaches should clean up those patterns. Technique and movement quality are part of injury prevention.

6. Workload Management and Recovery Most groin injuries have an overuse component. If a player’s training or game load spikes too fast, or doesn’t allow for recovery, the tissues don’t adapt. That’s when strains happen. During preseason, ramp things up gradually. In-season, monitor for signs of groin tightness or fatigue, and scale back if needed. Missing one skate is better than missing a month. Schedule regular rest days. Prioritize sleep and nutrition. Use recovery tools like foam rolling or massage to maintain tissue quality. For youth players, be cautious with the number of teams or tournaments. Growing bodies can’t handle constant overload. Volume, intensity, and recovery all need to be in check.

7. Screening and Early Intervention Catching problems early changes everything. Some teams now use the 5-Second Squeeze Test to gauge groin health. The athlete squeezes their knees together isometrically and rates any pain. This gives you a quick snapshot of adductor function and potential injury risk. If a player scores poorly, they can get immediate intervention, whether that’s extra rest, targeted strengthening, or treatment. No need to wait for a full strain. The sooner we jump on tightness, discomfort, or weakness, the better the outcomes. This only works if players feel safe reporting early symptoms, so the culture around that matters.

By consistently applying these principles—strength, mobility, warm-ups, balance, workload control, and early screening, we can significantly reduce groin injuries. It’s why pro teams now treat groin health as part of their core training strategy. While groin strains may never disappear completely, we can dramatically lower the odds and severity when they do occur.

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Sources:

1. Sim FH, Chao EY. Injury potential in modern ice hockey. Physician Sportsmed. 1978. “Ice hockey players are at high risk for noncontact musculoskeletal injuries because of the excessive force generated during the acceleration and deceleration phases of skating.”
2. Molsa J, et al. Injuries in Finnish elite ice hockey from 1970 to 1997. Br J Sports Med. 1997. 43% of muscle strains in elite Finnish hockey players involved the groin region.
3. Emery CA, Meeuwisse WH, Powell JW. Groin and abdominal strain injuries in the NHL. Clin J Sport Med. 1999. Groin strain incidence in the NHL increased from ~13 per 100 players (1991) to ~20 per 100 players (1997), with a 23.5% recurrence rate.
4. Tyler TF, et al. Association of hip strength and flexibility with incidence of adductor strains in professional ice hockey players. Am J Sports Med. 2001. Found preseason hip adduction strength was 18% lower in players who later sustained groin injuries. Adductors were ~78% as strong as abductors in injured players vs 95% in uninjured – indicating imbalance risk.
5. Whittaker JL, et al. Risk factors for groin injury in sport: systematic review. Br J Sports Med. 2015. Identified reduced hip adductor strength as a key modifiable risk factor for groin injuries.
6. Esteve E, et al. Copenhagen Adduction exercise and prevention. J Sports Phys Ther. 2017. Demonstrated the effectiveness of the Copenhagen Adductor exercise in increasing eccentric adductor strength and reducing groin injury rates in athletes.
7. Westin M, et al. High prevalence of hip and groin problems in elite ice hockey. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc. 2020. Survey of Swedish elite players: 53.2% had hip/groin problems in the previous season (29.5% time-loss injuries, 48% non-time-loss). Emphasizes many cases do not cause missed games but do affect performance.
8. Pasanen K, et al. Injuries in youth ice hockey and connection to warm-ups. Orthop J Sports Med. 2017. Highlighted the importance of neuromuscular training and proper warm-ups in reducing lower-body injuries (including groin strains) in hockey.
9. Serner A, et al. Strength training for groin injury rehabilitation. Br J Sports Med. 2015. Showed active strengthening (Hölmich protocol) was superior to passive treatment for chronic adductor-related groin pain, with higher return-to-sport rates.
10. Nelson P (MikeReinold.com). Groin Injuries in Hockey Players: An All-Too-Common Problem… 2013. (Guest post summarizing multiple studies and highlighting muscular imbalance and biomechanics as root causes.)
11. Grand River Sports Medicine Centre. Hockey Groin Injury Identification and Treatment. 2025. (Clinical blog discussing common causes of hockey groin injuries – overuse, imbalances, FAI – and recommending strengthening and core stability work.)
12. Body Gears PT. Common Injury in Ice Skaters: The Hip Adductor Strain. 2023. (Explains how skating mechanics cause repeated eccentric adductor contractions and outlines a rehab approach focusing on eccentric strengthening, balance, and core stability.)
13. Gary Roberts High Performance. Understanding Groin Injuries in Ice Hockey: Prevention and Management. 2023. (Provides stats on groin injury prevalence and detailed prevention tips like proper warm-up, strength training, and recovery for hockey players.)

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