Hockey injuries: the flexed-posture problem

Field hockey has a structural quirk no other local sport shares: the game is played in sustained trunk flexion. Players spend most of a match bent forward over the stick, and that position is behind a large share of the back and shoulder complaints that come our way.

Lower back

Sustained flexion raises pressure inside the lumbar discs and loads the tissue at the back of the spine. Hockey players with low back pain more often present with a flexion-sensitive pattern — worse bending forward and sitting, better standing and extending — which is the opposite of what many other athletes show. That distinction changes the early management entirely; see low back pain.

Shoulders and the drag flick

The drag flick and hard hitting load the shoulder and thoracic spine in rotation under speed. Players who do a lot of it develop rotator cuff irritation and mid-back stiffness that then feeds back into the shoulder.

Hamstrings and hips

Running in a flexed posture keeps the hamstrings under lengthened tension for long periods, which is a different demand to upright sprinting. Hip flexor tightness is close to universal in hockey players and worth addressing rather than accepting.

Hands and wrists

Stick and ball impacts to the hands are common. Any hand injury that stays swollen and stiff for more than a week is worth assessing — small fractures in the hand present deceptively mildly.

What helps

Restoring extension and rotation to a spine that spends matches in flexion is the single highest-value thing for most hockey players. Thoracic mobility work and posterior chain strength do more than stretching the sore area.

What a first appointment looks like

We start with what actually happened and what the demands of your sport are, then assess the injured area alongside the joints and muscles above and below it — because the painful structure is often not the limiting one. You get a diagnosis, a realistic timeframe, and a plan that accounts for your training and match schedule rather than assuming you can stop. If we think you need imaging or another practitioner, we will say so at that first visit rather than after six sessions.

Booking in

We are at 5/6-8 Langmore Lane, Berwick, with street parking directly outside and same-week appointments most weeks. Initial consultations are 60 minutes and $149, with private health rebates processed on the spot via HICAPS. No referral is required, and we also work with WorkCover, DVA and Medicare care plans where they apply.

Book an initial consultation at RISE Sports & Spinal in Berwick. Clear diagnosis, hands-on treatment, and a plan that actually gets you better.