In the kicking arts we can sometimes suffer from painful and achy hips that seem to be "tight" however is this always the issue?! Sometimes we just need to assist the hips and the muscles around it to activate correctly instead of going back to our fallback position of more stretching and mobility work.
The lateral hip group is comprised of three main players; the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus and a the tensor fascia late (TFL). These three muscles can get weak over time, especially if you are not challenging them correctly causing a lack of stability at the lateral hip. This can result in pain at the hip itself, and the lower back in some cases and potential injury.
Instead of trying to do the typical foam roll on this muscular area, try the following method to create cross friction on these muscular fibers that acts to "activate" the lateral hip group for better function and feeling.