Glenn Dawson shows three exercises to fix hip mobility problems that cause knee and lower-back pain in pickleball. A quadruped internal rotation drill, a knee-to-chest hold, and the 90-90 stretch all work the hip capsule. Do them consistently and you'll move better on court.
If you're having hip issues with pickleball, I want to show you 3 exercises you can do from home to loosen up those tight hips. Hip joint is a ball and socket joint, kind of like your shoulder. It's supposed to do a lot of cool things. However, a lot of us, when we're doing a cutting sport like pickleball, you'll cut and then have to turn back in to go get the ball on the other side after you've hit. Well, this cut here is an external rotation of the hip. If we're locked up here, it'll feel sticky and tight and pop a little bit even. And if you're locked up on internal rotation, it causes a lot more pressure in your knee and your lower back to compensate because the hip doesn't rotate in. We're going to show you how to fix that now. So here we are in a quadruped stance. So on all fours, make sure your knee is padded. We're going to focus on internal rotation of the hip. So I'm externally rotating or away from center, my heel out and squeezing, and I'm loading this hip here like a spring. It's going to go in and out and you're going to feel the hip capsule rotate inward and back down. Make sure you do both sides and focus on that internal rotation. Hip external rotation. I'm going to bring my knee up to my chest. Hold. Now this may provide enough stretch for you in your hip capsule. Just sit here for 90 seconds and breathe. Let it relax. If you want to go more, bring the knee out externally. And slide back down and do 10 reps of this nice and slow. And then move on to our very last stretch. Last but not least, if there was one move to rule them all, like Lord of the Rings, it would be the 90-90 stretch. Make two 90-degree angles with your legs. Now we've got internal rotation with this hip and external rotation from this hip. Now what I want you to do from this position is to activate both sides of your hip capsules. So I'm going to push both knees into the ground. Now, yours may be way up here. Still push down and squeeze that outer part of your glute here or the inner part of your groin. You're going to flex and then relax. And as you relax, push lightly into the ground with your hand here. That'll provide a nice little glide on the thigh bone. Go back and forth, alternating pressure, and then make sure you switch. Once you've done this, you should feel amazing and free as you walk, run, skip, jump, and play on the pickleball court.
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