Teaching the 1-Leg SLDL using a Band

One of the hardest movements that most athletes take to grasp, in my opinion, is hip hinging, but more specifically, hinging on one leg. It is for that specific reason that I feel that everyone should be able to do it with technical proficiency and why we include it in our dynamic warm-up for everyone. Most of the errors that I see with 1-leg SLDL are…

Inverted Reach for Warm-up

Not really hinging back with the hips
Hips “opening” up instead of facing down to the ground
Keeping the eyes straight forward (upper neck in extension)
Down leg becomes locked out instead of staying slightly bent

With all of these, sometimes it can be caused by poor hamstring extensibility, motor control, or maybe from not having experience with them before. One of the cues that can be used for helping with pushing the hips back is to think of pushing/driving the heel straight back to the wall. Using a resistance band, it helps provide feedback to push back through the heel so that the trail leg reaches back effectively. Try it out and see how it feels or works!

Here is the idea…