Martha Graham Between the Pipes: Exploring the use of Graham technique as supple-mental training for hockey goalies

Abstract

A commonality observed in ice hockey goalies is the frequency of overuse hip and groin injuries (Wörner et al., 2019). A 2019 study reported that 69% of all elite Swedish ice hockey goalies in the Swedish Women’s Hockey League, Swedish Hockey League, and Hockey Allsvenskan experienced hip and groin issues in a single season (Wörner et al. 2019). The butterfly technique is suspected to be a primary cause for these injuries in goalies due to the repetitive, extreme range of motion demands using internal rotation of the hip joints (Harrington et al., 2024; Whiteside et al., 2015; Worner et al., 2021). To combat overuse hip and groin injuries, two recommendations are combination training of both agonist and antagonist muscle groups in alternation (Baker & Newton, 2005; Materko et al., 2024; Robbins et al., 2010), and the development of underused muscles in the torso and around the pelvis (DeBlaiser et al., 2019; Leppänen et al., 2024; Sharma, 2015; Short et al., 2021; Whittaker et al., 2015). This could be achieved by Martha Graham modern dance technique training, which is centred around the use of core muscle strength and active flexibility using external rotation of the hip joints (Giguere, 2014). For my Master’s thesis with York University, I am positioning a supplemental training program based on the Martha Graham modern dance technique to prevent overuse hip and groin injuries in hockey goalies. In this study, I will use existing published research to evaluate the current methods of hockey goalie training, how the Martha Graham technique pertaining to the needs of goalies could prevent overuse hip and groin injuries, and propose exercises to do so.