Preventing adductor strain in hockey and soccer: Copenhagen adduction progressions, cutting mechanics, and groin load management

Look, the classic setup is easy to recognize. You feel fine in warmups, then one hard push on skates or one sharp cut to chase a through ball and the inside of the groin grabs. Not a big pop. Not always a collapse. Just that sudden, ugly warning that tells you the adductors were asked for more than they were ready to give.

That’s the part athletes get wrong. They treat groin strain prevention like it’s all about stretching. In reality, hockey and soccer ask the adductors to do three hard jobs at once: produce force, absorb force, and help control the pelvis and femur while you accelerate, decelerate, and change direction. If strength, mechanics, and weekly load don’t match the demands of the sport, the tissue gets exposed.

If you want to lower your risk, the plan has to look like the sport. Build adductor strength on purpose, clean up cutting mechanics, and manage how much skating, sprinting, and directional work you stack into a week.

The adductors do more than pull the leg in

Here’s the deal. The adductors sit along the inner thigh and help pull the leg inward, but in sport that’s only part of the job. They also help stabilize the hip and pelvis when one leg is on the ground, and they work hard when the leg moves out to the side and has to reverse direction. In hockey, that shows up during stride recovery, edge work, and wide skating positions. In soccer, it shows up during cutting, planting, reaching for the ball, and swinging through a pass or shot.

That’s why prevention is not just long static groin stretches before play. Mobility matters. Sure. But having the range to get into a wide position without the strength to control it does not protect you by itself.

A practical warmup works better. Start with two rounds of lateral lunges for 6 reps each side, adductor rock-backs for 8 reps each side, and a short skipping or shuffle series for 10 to 15 yards. Then build into effort with progressive accelerations or controlled skating strides. You’re not just trying to feel loose. You’re telling the adductors what’s coming.

Start Copenhagen adduction work where you can actually own it

Yes, Copenhagen adduction work belongs here. But it needs to be progressed instead of jumping straight to the hardest version because you saw a pro team do it online.

Begin with the short-lever version: set up on your side with your top knee supported on a bench and your bottom leg underneath. Lift the body into a straight line from shoulder to knee, then bring the bottom leg up to meet the top leg. Hold for 10 to 20 seconds or do 6 to 8 controlled reps. Two or three sets per side is enough at first, done two times per week with at least a day between sessions.

If that feels solid for two weeks and you’re not getting next-day groin pain, move to longer holds or more reps. Then progress to a longer lever by supporting closer to the ankle instead of the knee. A good working range is 2 to 3 sets of 5 to 8 reps, or 15 to 30 second holds, depending on the variation.

Form matters more than bragging rights. Keep the trunk stiff, pelvis level, and movement smooth. If the hip drops, the low back twists, or you feel pinching at the front of the hip instead of work along the inner thigh, back off. You’re training the adductors to carry load, not trying to survive a sloppy side plank contest.

It also helps to pair Copenhagen work with two other patterns so the hip stays balanced. Side-lying hip abduction for 2 sets of 12 to 15 reps helps the lateral hip, and a split squat with a slight forward trunk lean for 2 or 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps helps the glutes and adductors share the work. That combination usually fits well on lower-body strength days.

If you want more hip and groin guidance, especially when the issue starts blending into hip joint pain, see JointPain.ai.

When cutting mechanics get sloppy, the groin pays for it

Real talk. A lot of groin strains do not happen because the adductors are weak in isolation. They happen because the body gets thrown into a bad position at speed. You plant too far outside your center of mass, the trunk leans the wrong way, the knee caves in, and the inner thigh has to slam on the brakes.

Picture a soccer player late in a match, chasing a loose ball, reaching with the plant leg, and trying to cut back inside without dropping the hips first. Or a hockey player opening up for a tight turn after a long shift, with the stride getting wider and sloppier as fatigue sets in. Same story. High braking demand lands on the adductors when alignment and timing fall apart.

So the fix is pretty simple. On cuts you can control, think hips back, chest over the thigh, and foot landing closer to your body instead of way out to the side. You want some knee and hip bend before the change of direction, not a stiff upright plant. The push away from the cut should come from the whole hip, not just the groin trying to drag you through it.

Drill that before you expect it to hold up in play. Start with lateral deceleration drills over 5 to 10 yards at about 50 to 60 percent speed and stick the plant for 2 seconds. Then progress to shuffle-cut-shuffle drills for 4 to 6 reps each side. After that, add reactive cuts where a partner points left or right at the last second. If your groin gets sore during these, don’t jump straight to full-speed scrimmage. That gap. That’s where strains happen.

Most prevention plans break down at load management

Here’s the part people skip. You can do all the Copenhagen work in the world and still strain an adductor if your weekly load spikes. Groin tissue usually handles stress better when exposure is consistent, not when you go from light training to three hard skates, two games, and a sprint session in four days.

Track the obvious stuff: hard skating sessions, sprint work, repeated shooting, long passing sessions, small-sided soccer games with lots of cutting, and extra conditioning after practice. It all counts. If you had a lighter week, don’t turn the next one into a catch-up week.

A simple approach works well here. Keep one or two adductor strength sessions in the week, build field or ice intensity gradually, and separate your heaviest change-of-direction day from your hardest strength day when you can. If the groin feels stiff, sore to touch, or painful with a squeeze test the next morning, that tells you something. Not weakness. Information. Pull back before it turns into a true strain.

Manage-at-home soreness is usually mild, settles within a day or two, and doesn’t change your walking, skating stride, or ability to jog. What needs a PT or sports medicine doctor is pain that keeps coming back, bruising, loss of strength, pain with coughing, pain near the pubic bone, or pain that shows up with basic drills and does not improve after a week or two of backing off and rebuilding. If you need help finding a sports medicine clinician, use DrFinder.ai.

The practical weekly picture might look like this: two strength exposures that include adductor work, two to three sport sessions with planned intensity, and one lower-demand day after your hardest skating or cutting session. Keep the adductors in the program even when you feel good.

And don’t use “I can play through it” as your screening test. If the adductors are talking to you during push-off, crossing over, striking the ball, or lateral shuffle, that’s already the tissue giving feedback. Listen early and you usually keep training. Ignore it and your timeline gets a lot less flexible.

Sources

• Latest hospital rankings place NYU Langone Health at the very top (News Medical, 2026-08-04)