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Hip · Tennis ball

Front-of-hip ball

Take the shout out of the front of the hip so you can tuck the tailbone without a fight.

45–60 seconds per side
Tennis ball

Why we use it

Hip flexors that stay on dump the pelvis forward and park the low back in an arch. We work the front of the hip with a tennis ball — not a deep psoas hunt under the organs.

A ball or roller can briefly turn down guarding and make a joint easier to move. It does not break scar tissue, melt fascia, or diagnose what hurts. The useful window is short — that is why every technique ends with a drill from the program.

Start here

Lie face down. Tennis ball just below the hip crease, on the muscle, not on the belt line and not on the bone.

How to

  1. 1Place the ball in the front of the hip, a little to the outside of the midline.
  2. 2Let the hip rest on it. Tiny shifts. This is not a crunch.
  3. 3Gently bend the same-side knee if you want a little more, then put it down.
  4. 4Breathe into the front of the hip. Keep the low back from arching.
  5. 5Then do a couch stretch with the tailbone tucked first.

Feel for

Dull pressure in the front of the hip. Belly stays quiet. No pinch in the low back.

Breathing

Breathe into the front of the hip. Long breath out.

Do this

  • — Below the crease, on muscle.
  • — Tennis ball first. This area does not need a lacrosse ball on day one.
  • — If the low back arches, you lost the position. Reset.

Common mistakes

  • — Driving a hard ball into the abdomen.
  • — Arching the low back to feel ‘deeper.’
  • — Holding the breath.

Easier · Harder

Easier: Less weight. Ball against a wall, standing, hip to the ball.

Harder: Slightly more weight, still a tennis ball, then the couch stretch.

Stop if

A deep abdominal pinch, nerve zing, or low-back pain.

Then move: Pelvic Clock, then Couch Stretch. Options, then length.

Then do the drill

Couch Stretch

Lengthen the front of the hip that tips the pelvis forward.

Pelvic Clock

Give the pelvis more than one tilt, so the low back is not stuck in one shape.

Related patterns

Tight hip flexors, sleepy glutes
Bending from the low back

Same area

Front-outside hip ball
Back-of-hip ball
Inner-thigh ball

This is education for your own body. It is not a way to diagnose or treat a problem, and it is not a substitute for a clinician. These self-massage techniques are not a training method, and they are not to be used on other people.

All self-massage