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Hip · Tennis or lacrosse ball

Front-outside hip ball

Take pressure off the front-outside of the hip that yanks the knee inward.

45–60 seconds per side
Tennis or lacrosse ball

Why we use it

The TFL is a small muscle with a loud opinion. People roll the IT band for it. The useful work is higher, at the front-outside of the hip pocket — then the side of the hip has to do its job.

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 on your side. Tennis or lacrosse ball under the front-outside of the top of the hip — not on the point of the hip bone, not down the side of the thigh.

How to

  1. 1Find the pocket just in front of and below the point of the hip.
  2. 2Let a little weight onto the ball. Tiny shifts, not big rolls.
  3. 3Bend and straighten the top knee slowly if you want to change the feel.
  4. 4Breathe into the front of the hip. Thirty to sixty seconds is enough.
  5. 5Then do sidelying hip lifts, heel leading.

Feel for

A specific, dull hotspot at the front-outside of the hip. Not bone. Not a zing down the leg.

Breathing

Breathe into the front of the hip. Do not brace.

Do this

  • — Pocket, not bone.
  • — Small moves. This is not a rolling pin.
  • — If it shoots down the leg, you are too far back or too far down.

Common mistakes

  • — Parking on the point of the hip bone.
  • — Sliding down to saw the IT band.
  • — Going so hard the whole side of the waist braces.

Easier · Harder

Easier: Tennis ball. Less bodyweight. Do it against a wall standing if the floor is too much.

Harder: Lacrosse ball, slightly more weight, still a breath you can finish.

Stop if

Bone pain, numbness, or a zing down the side of the leg.

Then move: Side Lying Hip Abduction. Then Couch Stretch with the tailbone tucked.

Then do the drill

Side Lying Hip Abduction

Wake the side of the hip so the pelvis stops dropping on the standing leg.

Couch Stretch

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

Related patterns

One hip taking over
Knee caving in
Tight hip flexors, sleepy glutes

Same area

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