GAA Groin Injuries

Barry.Oglesby

First to the mods I'm not looking for injury advice- my groin is healthy and functioning as normal. So please don't shut this down!

I'm just curious as to people's opinion on the amount of groin injuries in Gaelic Football, Soccer and Rugby. It's fairly common to see people posting their Gilmore's Groin complaints on here and looking for advice, particularly GAA players.

What do you think causes it and why? Why is it such a sudden epidemic (~10 years old) and what do you think can be done to prevent it?

Before anyone asks, I do have my own opinion on this but I think it's best to allow the discussion to develop before swaying the discussion one way or the other.

Inspector Coptoor

Is it to do with people not turning completely in the direction they are trying to run in?

i.e. one leg is facing towards the direction the person wants to accelerate towards, while the other is facing away out to the side so that when the person accelerates the force isnt going through the main muscles (quads and hamstrings), rather the force is going through the pubic symphysis and the surrounding muscles and this can lead to groin strains

very open to correction here

d'Oracle

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

What do you think causes it and why? Why is it such a sudden epidemic (~10 years old) and what do you think can be done to prevent it?

I think that generally when an injury epidemic seems to start its usually down to people putting a name to something they didn't have a name for before.

The illustration of this point would be David Beckham and his metatarsal.
Before that world cup people broke their foot. Now its third metatarsal this, fourth metatarsal that.

As for the main question, I wouldn't have much of an idea. Bad training? I know it happens to soccer players and I would suspect its down to being weak.

cc87

People ignoring small niggling aches and pains which turn into major problems such as Gilmores groin.

People ignoring the importance of stretching and increasing joint mobility before training and matches.

Basically people having the oldschool attitude of all you have to do is turn up and start the match.

A trainer of mine once said "there were no hamstrings in my day".

mushykeogh

A combination of poor turning mechanics, poor flexibility and weak glutes?

podge57

cc87 wrote: »

People ignoring small niggling aches and pains which turn into major problems such as Gilmores groin.

People ignoring the importance of stretching and increasing joint mobility before training and matches.

Basically people having the oldschool attitude of all you have to do is turn up and start the match.

A trainer of mine once said "there were no hamstrings in my day".

I agree with the first point, but I think most players and teams realise the importance of warming up properly and stretching.

One of the reasons I think groin injuries are more common in GAA than in soccer and rugby is that alot of the games are played during the summer on rock-hard surfaces.

Also, the amount of turning involved, and the impact when landing play a part

Barry.Oglesby

All good stuff guys. But let me ask you this. Men have been playing football for over a century now and have been turning about as much as they always have been. They're also now better fed and stronger than before. So if it was down to turning mechanics and weakness, surely groin problems would have been ever present, rather than epidemic as they have become in the last few years?

Mushy I can't believe you haven't heard this rant before! When I saw your name I thought you'd have it.

cc87

Blades?

mushykeogh

well, a surgeon told me before that it was down to all the excessive drills that teams were doing and he stopped his teams doing any drills that involved turning!
Were better fed and stronger, but maybe were stronger in the wrong areas?
Now Barry, i hope your not going to drip feed us info for a fortnight before giving us the answer!

mushykeogh

cc87 wrote: »

Blades?

i was going to say that but before the blades plenty of people did their groin wearing puma kings! Which were a fine boot by the way!

cc87

mushykeogh wrote: »

i was going to say that but before the blades plenty of people did their groin wearing puma kings! Which were a fine boot by the way!

But has the increase in groin injuries and conditions increased along with the popularity and availability of those style boots

Barry.Oglesby

mushykeogh wrote: »

well, a surgeon told me before that it was down to all the excessive drills that teams were doing and he stopped his teams doing any drills that involved turning!
Were better fed and stronger, but maybe were stronger in the wrong areas?
Now Barry, i hope your not going to drip feed us info for a fortnight before giving us the answer!

Warmer!

I'm actually going to let Will see this one tomorrow and he can go off on one.

mushykeogh

cc87 wrote: »

But has the increase in groin injuries and conditions increased along with the popularity and availability of those style boots

Maybe, do the blades provide too much grip, leaving the foot planted while the body turns?

cc87

mushykeogh wrote: »

Maybe, do the blades provide too much grip, leaving the foot planted while the body turns?

Im sure ive read about them being linked to knee ligament injuries anyway.

Sir Vival

Mabye the increase in all-weather pitches which means the surface is hard all year round...? I think static stretching also may contribute...

Hamstring injuries seem to be a bigger problem than groin injuries in my experience.

cc87

I knew i had heard will talking about groin problems somewhere before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkyvwGezb9g

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