Groins are common hydraulic structures built in series to safeguard river banks. The stability of the groins and the protected zone depends on the stability of the first groin of a series. Despite the abundance of literature on groin design, groin effect, and so on, a few studies have focused on reducing thrust on the first groin due to upstream flow. This study explores a suitable approach to minimize the impact of upstream flow on the groins placed in a series focusing on the stability of the first groin. The study considers three different options: a set of five impermeable groins in a series (Case-1); the first one is a combined groin of Case-1 (Case-2); and an additional upstream minor combined groin in Case-1 (Case-3). All the laboratory experiments are conducted in this study under clear-water scour conditions. The results revealed that the first groin of combined nature in the series as well as the minor combined groin upstream of the main groins reduced the effect of upstream flow significantly. Compared to Case-1, Case-2 and Case-3 showed 50% and 47% reduction of scour, respectively. Therefore, Case-2 has been identified as an effective way of stabilizing groins and river banks in the field.