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Essential Movement Qualities: Hip Internal Rotation

By Phil Loomis, Athletes Acceleration, 11/06/18, 12:00PM PST

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Decreased hip internal rotation increases the risk of back and abdominal muscle injuries in pro baseball players.

Hip internal rotation (HIR) is very important in sport and performance training. Here are a few examples:

  • During a change of direction or when making a cut HIR helps decelerate the body while also loading the hip allowing for a powerful reacceleration.
  • When sprinting HIR allows an athlete to maximally extend their hip and get over the stance leg at terminal stance/toe off, thus improving stride length.
  • For rotational athletes in golf, baseball, tennis, etc. HIR is crucial for optimizing force transfer from the lower extremity to the upper extremity.