I’m going to preface this post by saying that I don’t quite know what the hell I’m talking about. Of course, I have a semblance of knowledge, but most of this is hypothetical on my part.
But because of my tricking days, I’ve developed a rash of noises—pops, clicks, and snaps—that emanate from my hip. In fact, back when my two friends and I did trick, each of us would have our own signature sounding hip noises. You could tell who was warming up based solely on the depth and uniqueness of them.
The official name for this concerto is snapping hip syndrome, and it is common among tricksters and other athletes that expect their hip to have the range of motion of their shoulder. Luckily, it’s not usually painful.
The general consensus—or Wikipedia explanation—is that snapping hip syndrome is caused by a thickening of the hip tendons, which then makes it easier for them to catch on the hip’s structures. But I think there might be more to it.
And if you’re wondering why I’m throwing these ideas around, it’s because I’m not a huge fan of traditional “just accept how it is” treatment. Common protocols for snapping hip never work. They are ridiculous, actually. How can you tell a gymnast that they need to “stretch” to fix snapping hip?
Usually, people that have it are some of the most flexible athletes in the world in dancers, gymnasts, and martial artists.
Before I spill my ideas, I first have to give a bit of credit to Kelly Baggett and the Mobility WOD. The general idea of this theory was inspired by Kelly Starr and how he harps on getting the hip to sit in its capsule better, but I also borrowed some concepts from Kelly Baggett.
So, with that, as you might have guessed, my theory revolves around getting the hip to sit in its capsule better. Repeated kicking motions, or so I theorize, constantly pull the head of the femur out of its socket. As we already know, tricksters have stronger, more enlarged, hip muscles and, when combined with a femur that doesn’t sit in its socket too well, it makes it more likely to have the tendons and whatnot catch on other structures.
Now, every case of snapping hip is different, so this is shotgun rehab. Nevertheless, here it goes:
Common rehabilitation strategies look directly at the problem. Usually the rectus femoris and IT band are the two tendons that catch on the bones of the pelvis. Therefore, it’s easy to think that they are the cause. But we can’t always zero in on the problem area; we have to consider all of the structures that cross the hip joint.
There are two muscles that often go unnoticed—the psoas major and the iliacus. They originate on the spine and pelvis and insert on the inner thigh.
Since they cross the hip joint, they have some responsibility in holding the hip in its socket (unlike most other muscles on the inside of the leg). The adductor mass doesn’t cross the hip, meaning they don’t play an as important role in hip integrity.
We also know that the deep hip flexors—according to Kelly Baggett—are usually weak in most athletes simply because they rarely do activities in which the knee is flexed above the 90 degree plane.
And while martial artists often kick much higher than that, it’s usually with the help of the body’s momentum. This is the difference between dynamic flexibility and static active flexibility. This means that it’s possible that the deep hip flexors lack the slow strength and fine motor control needed at the hip—specifically holding the femur in the socket.
So we have a few issues that are building up after just looking at the problem from an anatomical standpoint. We can attack these issues separately, but that wouldn’t get us too far because the problem is occurring in the complex kicking movement patterns. So not only do we have to treat each problem individually, but we have to think about how it can be incorporated into our kicking drills.
1) Suck your hip
I don’t know the fancy term for this exercise, but I call them hip sucks simply because to perform it you think about sucking your hip into its socket. Even though we’re mainly activating our midsection on these, we’re subliminally activating the psoas and iliacus which is tugging on the femur, encouraging it back into its socket.
(first exercises shown)
Now, when it comes to tricksters, you have to remember that my whole theory is based on doing tons of kicks with no regard for keeping the hip tight. So what I’m proposing is that all of your leg lifts and kicks need to be done with this “hip suck” implemented in order to activate the psoas and iliacus to keep the hip in its socket, but we’ll go into that a bit later.
2) Take care of the deep hip flexors
There’s a crowd out there that uses the following progression: pattern, grind, ballistic. What this means is that you have to develop endurance in a motor pattern before you can get strong in that motor patter. And once you’re strong in the motor pattern it can then be held during explosive movements.
As far as tricksters are concerned, there’s no shortage of ballistic action, but there’s definitely a shortage of pattern and grind, or, what I like to think of as slow strength. Therefore, we need to develop the slow control at the hip to get the deep hip more involved.
For this, I recommend a drill that is both explained and demonstrated by Kelly Baggett.
“A lot of people won’t be able to lift their knee an inch without squirming around all over the place. You should be able to come up several inches. The further you lean forward the harder the exercise is. I’d say if you lean forward about 45 degrees and can’t get your foot off the ground at all you could probably use some work.
I recommend doing a couple of sets of 8-10 with a 2-3 second hold at top on that exercise 2-3 x per week.”
The purpose of this exercise is to encourage the hip to be the dominant controller of the leg. This means that anytime we kick, we want our hip to drive the movement, which will create less outward tug on the femur.
3) Prevent external rotation, and the inside of the hip from collapsing
This is especially a concern for those that have lived in the front splits their entire lives. Although this demands flexibility, the rotation of the rear leg and the relaxation is the mechanism for our injury we’re trying to avoid.
4) Deal with soft tissue and resetting the hip
I harp on external rotation of the hip being a problem. Unlike other athletes, tricksters have well developed hip external rotators from side kicking, hook kicking, and outside crescent kicking. This mean the piriformis and the other external rotators are strong enough, and potentially tight enough, to be the reason that the front of our hip—psoas and iliacus—has trouble dealing with the external rotation.
Therefore, stealing from the Mobility WOD, here are some videos that pertain to stretching the external rotators and resetting the hip.
5) Stretch the hip flexors right
Just like in tip #3, most people are used to stretching the hip flexors with front split intentions meaning that their rear leg is externally rotated. But we need to avoid that, so here are two solutions to be used during any lunge stretch.
First, internally rotate the rear leg. Second, push the hip to the outside. I dare say that both can be done, but they can. You’ll notice that you feel this stretch much more on the lateral hip and quadriceps, possibly even creeping into your psoas and iliacus.
And the combination hip flexor and quadriceps stretch can be seen at the end of this article of mine on T-Nation. Remember to internally rotate the rear leg and push the hips to the outside.
6) Incorporation of the tips into front-based kicks
7) Incorporation of the tips into side-based kicks
I know all of these tips may actually reduce your performance in some capacity. By not externally rotating your rear leg, you won’t be as flexible as you could be. You might not be able to hit the splits. You might not be able to kick as high.
At some point, however, for a trickster, you have to assess how valuable these things are. Tricking isn’t martial arts so both the splits and incredibly high kicks to the point of form breakdown aren’t absolutely necessary.
If you are a competitive martial arts athlete or gymnast, however, perhaps you will always have to suffer through snapping hip. Perhaps it’s a rigor of the sport. But for tricksters, you have the power to make your own rules. You aren’t bound by tradition. You aren’t being judged. Give these tips a shot and see how your body responds. What do you have to lose?
Awesome article. Quick question: I mess around with parkour and some tumbling moreso than tricking; however, my hip doesn’t pop while doing the movements. My hip just pops randomly while walking. Some days it doesn’t do it, some days it does it constantly. Would you still advise me to follow the advice given here? Or is it a bit different?
It’s different, but you can try. Could be a lot of things, but if it becomes more frequent, keep your eye on it.
I don’t know if what I had was snapping hip syndrome, but I did have something that sounds quite similar. Band distraction, a la K-Star, during the hip flexor stretch you mentioned pretty much cured it. Thanks for the article and good luck with the new site!
Thanks.
This article was great! really informative and well explained! Im not sure if its exactly a snapping hip problem that i have but i know that when i externally rotate my leg naturally during hook kicks i tend to get alot of hip pain. Definately going to utilise everything ive seen in this article!
I’ll be replying to your e-mail later today. Thanks for commenting.
Best article on your blog and on the argument
I was wondering if someone could shed some light on a problem I have. When I do side leg raises, I get pain in my hips(not sure if it’s the actual joints or the hip flexors) when I point the toes downwards. It alleviates slightly when I point them parallel to the floor or slightly upward and even Tom Kurz recommends this way during the side split and side kick: http://stadion.com/column_stretch02.html
However when I do it the way Kurz recommends, I get snapping hip. It seems that I can’t do side stretches at all without some sort of problem.
I’m befuddled on your terminology. You say that it alleviates with the foot the way Kurz recommends, right?
Side lifts can be tough on the hips. Try the hip suck method I talk about in the videos. Does that help?
Terminology as in toes up, down, parallel? The more I point my toes upwards, the less pain I get in the hips. But the clunking in the hips is still there. When I try the hip suck, it helps a lot for front lifts, but not so much for side lifts. I guess I need more practise with that.
Well the side lift is tricky all around. Can you get me a video? It might just be that your hips have some anatomical restrictions. It happens frequently. Everyone has different bones and the trochanters on the femur could just be getting in the way. Damn the genetics!
Thank you _so much_ for posting this. Its been immensely helpful. I have had some form of snapping hip for 6 years (former gymnast/ballerina, now climber/hiker/yogi) and its manifested as an obnoxiously loud pop in the inside of the standing hip in any motion that is similar to the sideways kick you trickster/martial arts people do. Plus, lots of really creepy little pops and clicks all around the IS area, such that I’ve developed a nasty habit at my desk (day job) of popping my entire hip joint and lower back by just clenching the left buttock. Yuck! Falling on my tailbone really hard countless times, a torn miniscus, hiking ridiculous miles (mountaineering) and retaining near-contortionist flexbility have all led up to this, and have had me going to chiropractors, massage therapists, physical therapists, acupuncturists, even bone and sports doctors. So far, to no avail… although the massages have been nice. Anyhows, I wanted to tell you that simple “hip-suck” (or what I am guessing it is supposed to be) has really fixed most of my problem. I just did 16 really tough mountain miles with hardly any pain or popping at all for the first time in … forever. You’re making me a nicer human being and you rock for posting intel that works for us whacky stretchy athletes, not just the usual advice for normal folks. with snapping hip
Question foryah: Do you have a super-clear video of the “hip-suck” move or am I missing something? That first one of the guy in the black sweatpants gave me a general idea but I’d really like a more detailed video of that one move.
Charity, thanks for the reply. I have some youtube videos up on my page that kind of shows it from a standing position that you can check out. I’m glad it helped you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3wTWxONF5s&list=UU2pfIl5Sh8FxIk7SABUBjMA&index=4&feature=plcp
I noticed I had this problem with my hips about a year ago and it kept getting more frequent. Now both of my hips click whenever I put my leg down after raising my leg (both bent or straight) and even while doing sit ups. The only time it doesn’t click is when I’m laying on my side and I bend the top leg up towards my chest and back down again. Sometimes they get stuck and I have to rotate my hip around until it “unlocks”. There’s also a dull ache in my right hip that’s developed over the past month. I think I have the right diagnosis but the problem with a lot of the exercises on here is that I am a dancer and most if not all of the leg kicks and other movements require my hips and legs to be externally rotated and the toe needs to lead, not the heal.
Is there anything you can suggest I can do that will help them stay in place while still being able to dance correctly?
Ehhh, not so much. Sorry to say, but sometimes sport demands do their damage. Just do these exercises as applicable. I’d also look into a torn labrum if I were you.
Wow this is great! I have been looking for some exercises for this issue. You explain it better then a physician who has no time to talk to you. I have been suffering with this for years and the only thing that has helped it has been a cortisone shot. And now it’s messing up my back
I am going to try these exercises.
Thanks. Let me know how it goes.
Hello, how do you know if your hips (femur heads) are loosened from the sockets or if you are just built that way (bone frame)?
thank you
X-Ray.
Heh.
But seriously, most looseness is causes from demanding the hip joint to be more mobile than it’d like to be.
Thanks, Anthony. My greater trochanters stick out, kind of like a bump in an otherwise straight nose but there is very little padding on them (nothing to work on to lose) so I can’t tell if that was just my frame or if my femurs have loosened a bit. Must be just my frame because I don’t really exercise or anything that would put strain on them…
Well anatomy does come into play sometimes. Perhaps you should ask an orthopedist to check it out. She’d be able to check this for sure.
Hi Anthony,
Great article and very applicable to me. I’m a rugby player and had broken a fibula a few times a year back (now fine) which has caused stability issues in my hip joint. The snapping hip hadn’t been much of a problem until I started having groin problems on the same side.
Having saw a lot of physios, doctors and chiropractors I have finally put two and two together. Snapping hip fits the bill. I read in another article that groin problems often coincide and this is my main concern. It’s preseason here at the minute and I have been training a lot (the groin pain was never enough to have me stop). I have been trying to strengthen up my stabilizers with a lot of glute exercises and a lot of the exercises you have shown. I was wondering if you had ever come across associated groin pain with snapping hip and weather treatment should be any different? I need to get rid of this as it is a nuisance but i don’t want to miss out on any training.
Thanks,
John
Well most cases of snapping hip aren’t all that painful, FYI. Dunno if it’s your hip or groin that’s giving you the pain. But I haven’t noticed any correlations with groin pain and hip problems.
It’s been groin pain, but not during exercise, only after. I’m currently working on getting my hips back to neutral and to get everything stabilized. Hopefully everything will come good again soon.
Thanks
Nice. Good luck John.
This was a great introduction to a problem I have had following me for years, never been painful until I recently tried doing the mountain climber and my hips couldn’t handle it and the one hip went out of place to the point of pain. I had no techniques till recently and this was a good walk through of some basic workouts to stabilize my hips from going out of place. I will deffinately be using these workouts in the future to get my hip snapping problem worked on. Thank you for your generous website with great tips to a beginner on getting that hip stable. Cheers!
Welcome Christian. Thanks for the reply.
Hi There ,
I am now 30 yrs and since 3.5 years I am suffering from snapping hip syndrome/ hip bursitis along with a little pain in SI joint. All on my right side. I am worried about my future, how i will deal with these in future when i will be 45 or 50 or 55. Any inputs will be appreciated.
However i will be trying these exercises.
Any idea if hip arthroscopiy or any other surgery can cure this , if the pain becomes unbearable in future days?
so that i can keep as a plan B to secure my future.
All I got is right here my man. No idea on the surgery.
Thanks Anthony for your quick response. I started exercising and i will let you know the progress.
Any idea if leg length difference will cause snapping hip syndrome ? I can see my right shoe (Pain is also in my right side) is slightly more worn-out than the left one but both legs looks equal . And also my back bone is very slightly curved towards right side.
Perhaps. But I’m no doctor, so it’s outside of my realm. Are you sure theres a length difference? Most people have uneven wear. (And some curvature in their spine…)
I measured few times and i realized that my left leg is 1.5 to 2 cms shorter than the right one.And i strongly feel the root cause which resulted in bio mechanical imbalance in my body causing lower back pain, SI joint pain, Snapping hip and hip bursitis.
I saw some sites and there is an evidance of leg length difference causing snapping hip(in the greater trochanter).
I’d get someone that knows how to legitimately measure to take a look.
Thanks so much for this. Years of ballet ( for fun ) has left me with obnoxious hip pops whenever I do any sort lower ab exercise. I will try the hip sucking moves you recommend.
Ballet is sweet. Teach me.
Awesome…thank u so much
Welcomes.
This is the best article I’ve read on Snapping Hip Syndrome – hands down. It is the only article to address what is happening by really explaining the detailed anatomy of the area. I’ve read so many articles and visited my doctor where I kept thinking ‘This isn’t exactly what’s happening to me.” Your article makes sense with great solutions to try. Thanks!!
Thanks for the kind word, my man.
Hi Anthony,
I do these exercises at my desk 4 days a week, coupled tennis ball hip adduction squeezes. External rotation still sucks (which I hadn’t even noticed was the main issue prior to this article) but after 8 sessions a standing neutral position knee raise feels fine (they would click like crazy before). Solid advice, thanks for the help.
Sweet man, thanks for sharing.