Hi Megmoo,

Ah... it is that wonderful season of soccer and the groin pulls that come along with it. Protect, Rest, Ice, Compress, and Elevate (PRICE) is a little complicated when it comes to a groin injury. The muscles affected are located deep in the abdominal cavity and very difficult to get cold. The tendon of the hip flexor (the muscle injured with a groin pull) is located in an area with alot of blood flow and the heat that's associated with it. Again, very difficult to get cold. The only way to "ice" the hip flexor is to sit in an ice bath for no more than 10 minutes and at least 5... But this wont fix your issue and you WILL re-injure it again... maybe even after the first week you are back playing.

What to do? Well.... I dont have you in front of me so I cant give you a specific way of fixing you as I need to do special testing but I will give you my advice.

A groin pull mostly happens when you apply an explosive deceleration force on the hip flexor. This comes from not jogging out a sprint (ie. DONT STOP when the attacker you have been shadowing passes the ball to a team mate... instead jog until you are almost walking) or when you dont finish off your kick (ie. DONT STOP your leg when your foot has contacted the ball... instead follow through so that it looks like you are doing a kung fu kick instead). When you stop suddenly, you exert loads on the muscle which will eventually weaken it and cause an injury.

Just because you can run does not mean you can sprint or kick the ball. The way you move your legs is very different between running and playing soccer. Runners are horrible soccer players because they have a reduced arc of leg range of motion strength. As an example, a runner needs to conserve energy for the 10k run so the runner (subconsciously) reduces the range in which the leg moves so that the large muscles are not over utilized. If this runner does this over a long period of time, the hamstrings learn to fire first before the glutes which will weaken the hip flexor. Now the runner is playing soccer and, as you know, soccer is not an endurance sport. It is all power. The body of the runner (trained for endurance) cant cope with explosive force as it has not trained for it and injuries eventually occur.

To fix your issue, you need to find a local trainer that specializes in soccer related exercises. If you play for a team ask your coach. I am sure they will point you in the right direction and offer tips for you to cope. I also tape my players before they play which takes some of the load off the hip flexor during the game or practice. Your coach should know how to do this or your local sports therapist.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions just ask.
Adamo