Brad Shaw
Groin pain is one of those sporting problems that rarely arrives with fireworks but can leave an athlete moving like a man trying to climb out of a deckchair in a hurricane. It is common in sports built around sharp changes of direction, rapid acceleration, twisting, kicking, sprinting and heavy lower-body loading — which, inconveniently, covers most of the fun ones.
Golfers are not immune either. While the game may look civilised from the outside, the modern swing asks plenty of the hips, pelvis, lower abdominals and deep groin muscles. Add gym work, running, five-a-side football or weekend padel into the mix and suddenly that innocent little twinge can become a stubborn passenger.
The difficulty with groin injuries is not simply the pain itself. It is the comeback. Return too quickly, reload too aggressively, or mistake “feels better” for “is ready”, and the whole thing can flare up again like a bunker rake left in the wrong place.
Perfect Stride, a physical therapy clinic specialising in individualised rehabilitation and performance work, says the key lies in identifying the type of groin pain, managing load intelligently, and rebuilding strength with the right exercises at the right time.
Why Groin Pain Is So Common In Sport
The groin region is not one tidy little muscle sitting politely on its own. It is more like a busy motorway junction involving the adductors, hip flexors, lower abdominal muscles, tendons, pelvis and pubic area.
Sports that demand multi-directional movement place serious strain through this system. Sprint, stop, rotate, kick, lunge, brace, drive off one leg — the groin has a hand in all of it. When the load exceeds what the tissue can tolerate, irritation, strain or longer-term injury can follow.
That is why groin pain can be particularly awkward for athletes. It may settle with rest, only to return the moment training intensity increases. The body has not forgotten the injury; it simply has not been prepared properly for the next demand.
The Return-To-Sport Problem
One of the biggest issues with groin pain is the high risk of reaggravation. Athletes often feel good during ordinary daily movement, then discover the problem is still lurking once they sprint, cut, kick or rotate at speed.
In golf terms, walking the fairway may feel fine. Trying to post hard into the lead side or fire through the ball with real intent may be a rather different conversation.
That is where rehabilitation becomes more than a few stretches and a hopeful thumbs-up. Load management matters. Progression matters. Timing matters. And, above all, the athlete needs to know which tissues are irritated before trying to batter them back into shape.
Pubic-Related Groin Pain
Pubic-related groin pain often involves discomfort around the pubic area, where repeated sporting activity can place high demand on nearby muscles and tendons. Pain in this region may suggest a reactive tendon.
In the early phase, treatment should mainly focus on reducing and managing load, followed by gradual reloading after around one week. In plain English: do not keep poking the bear and then act surprised when it bites.
Perfect Stride recommends the following exercises as part of that early-stage approach:
- Couch Stretch
2–3 sets x 2-minute holds per side - Prone Hip Extension Holds
10 reps x 30-second holds per side - Quadruped Hip Extension Holds
10 reps x 30-second holds per side - Standing Eccentric Hip Flexion
3 sets of 10 repetitions per side
These movements are designed to help restore tolerance through the hip and pelvic region without immediately returning the athlete to the sort of explosive loading that caused the trouble in the first place.
Adductor-Related Groin Pain
Adductor-related groin pain is usually felt on the inside of the thigh. This is the area many athletes instinctively point to when they say they have “done their groin”.
In the early stages of rehabilitation, useful exercises are those that load the adductor region with relatively low irritability. Isometric work — where the muscle produces force without much movement — can be especially useful.
Perfect Stride notes that athletes do not necessarily need to be completely pain-free during these exercises. However, pain should not be excessive, because pushing too hard may increase the chance of a flare-up.
The suggested exercises include:
- Seated Adductor Arm Squeeze
10 reps of 30-second holds per side - Copenhagen Planks Straight Leg with Lower Leg Assist
10 reps of 30-second holds per side - Copenhagen Planks Straight Leg
10 reps of 30-second holds per side - Copenhagen Planks Straight Leg with Contralateral Hip Flexion
10 reps of 30-second holds per side
The Copenhagen plank, in particular, has earned a reputation as a brutally honest exercise. It does not care what your handicap is, how expensive your trainers are, or whether you once “nearly went pro”. It simply asks whether your adductors are ready for business.
Load Management Beats Guesswork
The clever bit in groin pain rehabilitation is not finding the hardest exercise on Instagram and declaring war on your inner thigh. It is matching the exercise to the stage of injury and the athlete in front of you.
Too little load and the tissue never adapts. Too much load and the injury becomes irritated again. The sweet spot is controlled, progressive loading that gradually improves strength, confidence and tolerance.
That is especially relevant for athletes preparing to return to sprinting, football, rugby, tennis, golf, running or gym-based lower-body work. The goal is not merely to feel better on the sofa. The goal is to tolerate the actual demands of sport.
When To Get Groin Pain Assessed
A mild niggle that settles quickly may not be cause for panic. But persistent groin pain, sharp pain, swelling, bruising, loss of strength, pain with coughing or sneezing, or symptoms that keep returning during sport should be assessed by a qualified clinician.
The same applies if pain is affecting walking, running, training or day-to-day movement. Guesswork is rarely a great medical strategy, even when delivered with supreme confidence in a changing room.
The Verdict
Groin pain is common, stubborn and frequently underestimated. The mistake many athletes make is treating it like a temporary inconvenience rather than a signal that the body needs better load management and progressive strengthening.
The good news is that with the right diagnosis, sensible rehabilitation and a staged return to sport, groin pain does not have to become a recurring chapter in an athlete’s season.
The bad news? The Copenhagen plank may be waiting for you. And it has absolutely no interest in your excuses.
