Why Hip Internal Rotation Holds the Key to Hamstring Injury Prevention

“Back squatting for soccer players’ hips is like bench pressing for baseball players’ shoulders. When I posted this, it ruffled some feathers—and that’s a good thing.

If you’re a soccer player or coach who cares about long-term performance and injury resilience, you need to understand why exercises that restrict or overload certain joint patterns—like back squats—might be doing more harm than good. This is especially true when it comes to hip internal rotation (IR), which is often overlooked in conventional strength programs.

Hip internal rotation refers to the femur rotating inward toward the midline of the body while in the acetabulum (hip socket). It's a movement that occurs naturally during gait, sprinting, and deceleration.

But here’s what most people miss: hip internal rotation is not just a mobility issue—it’s a performance and injury prevention issue.

During the stance phase of gait (especially in sprinting), IR allows the pelvis to move over the femur efficiently. Without it, athletes compensate elsewhere—typically in the lumbar spine or knees. This leads to mechanical overload, altered force distribution, and a significantly higher risk of soft tissue injury, particularly in the posterior chain.

Research shows that limited hip IR is correlated with:

• Higher incidence of hamstring strains, especially in sports involving sprinting and rapid acceleration [1].

• Altered lumbopelvic rhythm, which contributes to inefficient movement and compensatory trunk flexion during high-speed running [2].

• Reduced deceleration ability, particularly in single-leg landings or COD scenarios [3].

Let’s make one thing clear: hamstring strains in soccer aren’t just caused by “weak hamstrings.” They are multi-factorial injuries with biomechanical, neuromuscular, and positional components.

The late swing phase of sprinting is the most common point of hamstring injury. This is when the hamstrings work eccentrically to decelerate the tibia. But here's the key—this task is drastically influenced by what’s happening at the hip.

If an athlete lacks IR at the hip, they can’t properly align the pelvis and femur during terminal swing. That forces the hamstrings to absorb more load than they’re designed for—especially the biceps femoris long head, which crosses both the hip and knee.

Limited IR = altered femoral mechanics = more strain on the hamstrings.

According to Schache et al. (2009), athletes who experience hamstring injuries tend to show higher anterior pelvic tilt and decreased hip flexion during running—both of which are influenced by poor rotational control at the hip joint [4].

This brings us to the big controversy: why do I compare back squats to bench presses for baseball players?

Because both are sagittal-dominant, compressive lifts that demand—and reinforce—very specific joint positions. For a baseball player, excessive anterior capsule stress from pressing too often creates shoulder vulnerability. For a soccer player, excessive posterior chain compressive loading (as seen in back squats) can limit natural rotation at the hips, particularly IR.

Here’s how:

• Back squats bias hip external rotation and abduction, often pushing athletes into wide stances with ER-biased femoral alignment.

• Athletes who lack IR to begin with may “borrow” motion from the lumbar spine, reinforcing dysfunctional patterns.

• Repeated compressive loading through limited ranges of motion can reduce capsular glide and increase posterior capsule stiffness, especially if rotation isn’t trained elsewhere.

This isn’t to say squats are bad. But for soccer players, whose sport requires multidirectional locomotion, rapid deceleration, and high-speed sprinting—a squat pattern that limits rotation is a red flag.

We need to reframe how we think about injury prevention. and "sport-specific" training"’s not just about building stronger hamstrings or glutes. It’s about increasing the capacity of the system to access positions—especially positions of internal rotation, flexion, and dynamic stability.

Think of it like this:

• Strength is the engine.

• Mobility is the steering.

• Rotational capacity is the alignment system that keeps everything working efficiently under load and velocity.

When soccer athletes can access controlled IR during sprinting, cutting, or landing, they absorb force more efficiently and reduce the demand placed on passive structures like tendons and ligaments.

According to Powers et al. (2010), improving hip IR and pelvic control significantly reduces anterior pelvic tilt and shear forces through the hamstring region during running [5].

It’s time we stop glorifying lifts that check powerlifting boxes and start programming for what soccer players actually need.

Just as baseball players don’t build bulletproof shoulders by benching every week, soccer players don’t develop elite hips by back squatting into external rotation. They develop them by training the positions that matter most—hip internal rotation, pelvic control, and multidirectional deceleration.

You don’t just need stronger hamstrings—you need a better-operating system.

If you’re serious about long-term performance, injury prevention, and movement efficiency, start with the hip. Get assessed, get mobile, and get rotational.

Try our 7 Day Hip IR Restore System now to improve your hip mobility

References

[1] van Dyk N et al. (2018). "Hamstring injuries in professional soccer players: correlation with hip mobility." British Journal of Sports Medicine.

[2] Schache AG et al. (2009). "Biomechanical response of the hamstrings to different running speeds." Journal of Biomechanics.

[3] Hewett TE et al. (2005). "Mechanisms, prediction, and prevention of ACL injuries: Cut mechanics and hip rotation." American Journal of Sports Medicine.

[4] Schache AG et al. (2010). "Pelvic and lower limb kinematics during running." Gait & Posture.

[5] Powers CM (2010). "The influence of abnormal hip mechanics on knee injury." Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.