I have run across this problem on a couple of occasions, students often describe it as " their hips catching, or clicking, or popping" when doing Grand Battements, Devellope or Grand Ronde de Jambe.<P> In a nut shell this is when the tendon attaching the leg to the hip socket snaps<BR>over the head of the femor. It may appear from only a popping sound/sensation to a<BR>sound/sensation and pain. It stems from a combination of tightness in the hip flexors and too much of the lifting of the leg being<BR>done by the tendon rather than the large group muscles. <P>To get to my point: I have observed that this problem either begins of intensifies through the pubescent years with girls age 11 through 14. I have never had a student complain of it after the age of 15, even if they previously have experienced the problem, so I was wondering if there is a "Hormonal/.developmental" issue at work here as well and would be interested in others experiences with this. Developmentally I can see a relationship with the hips forming to a more womanly appearance. Another curious note on this is that students who also are involved in Track & Field sports have this complaint more often than others.<P> Also, what coarse of action do other teachers take towards this. Personally I advise my students to take it easy and not do any thing to irritate things further. <P>comments ? <P><p>[This message has been edited by Rabbit (edited November 18, 2000).]

I have to say first of all, that I can't remember ever having a student complain of this. But, it is not at all hard to imagine that there is a hormonal change taking place. The hips change shape and also the female tends to have a loser hip structure than the male and this is the time when it occurs.<P>As for the track and field activity - perhaps what we are seeing here is the pounding that occurs during track and field impacting on a loosening/widening hip structure. <P> There are other problems that occur in the pubescent female and one of them is with the knees. (I have been thinking of starting a thread dealing exclusively with the structural changes in these years in females). <P>I can say that during pregnancy the hip loosens considerably. I experienced this during pregnancy. At times my hip would "catch" and I literally was halted in mid-step for a few minutes, till somehow it all went back in place. <P>Pain in the body is a signal that all is not well, and it is always good advice not to do the "thing" which is causing the pain.

If it is accompanied by pain, I would have them see a doctor. Otherwise, check for hip tightness and placement problems. Maybe they need to do better warm-up. See if it's happening in both hips. also check for other related "issues"- knee, foot or back problems which may be contributing to this. I never heard of the pubescent/hormonal correlation. Not sure about that.

rabbit, i don't know about your hypothesised connections here, but i do know that 'clicking hips' are very common, and that as long as no pain accompanies the clicking, the medical advice is always to discount it.<P>any pain should be seen to and medically diagnosed, but clicking without pain is not something to bother about. personally i had this all the time, 20's, 30's etc, and any number of dancers i knew/know never considered themselves 'ready' to do a class UNTIL they had 'clicked their hips'!!

I've noticed a difference between types of "clicks" - one is more thunky and I think of as being from the tendon over the head of the femur thing. The second kind is the kind of popping that comes from knuckles which I'd heard has something to do with gas in joints. <P>When my hips pop like the second kind - like knuckles - I don't have any problems. It's more like what Grace said about some people not feeling ready for class until their hips had "clicked".<P>The first kind however, the thunkier sound I have more attributed to being tense in the joint. That for whatever movement I'm trying to do the hip needs to be relaxed open more.<P>One thing about the difference between these types of pops - the knuckly one happens in all kinds of joints - ankles, fingers, backs, necks, toes. The clunky one I've only heard in hips and shoulders. Do you think this might be because they're the only ball and socket joints?

Guess I was just lucky to miss all this clicking and thunking. I do remember Fonteyn mentioning her hip "plopping" (she was well into middle age) and remarking that she then felt "ready" to dance. I still think it has to do with the inherent looseness of the female hip structure and the demands of the ballet.

rabbit - hope you don't mind that i have retitled this forum ('Klicking' as 'Clicking') just so it would come up, if anyone searched for this topic in the future.... <P>p.s. are you ready yet for further reponsibilities, as discussed? please advise!

Re: the thunk. (lol) <P>IMHO this is often the result of not fully opening the hip, either as a result of sitting in the hip (even slightly) or not engaging and lengthening the hamstring in order for the hip to be able to open completely. It may be a result of a lack of psoas strength, good-old core support that our limbs and sockets depend on (and something younger dancers really develop after post-puberty growth spurts).<P>I've seen a lot of modern dancers in their 20s with this problem, particularly if they hadn't studied ballet or didn't have enough training to give them sufficient strength in the psoas and low abs/pelvic floor.

I've also has this problem with students thart are "hyper-mobile"- very loose hips with lots of turnout. Probably those type of dancers need to develop more core strength.

For one thing, I think it's interesting one sound could come from being either too tight OR too loose. Kinda neat. <P>

Priscilla - the hip joint not having vocal cords - has a rather limited range of sound production. (LOL) This is probably the most profound post I have ever made. LOL