Golfers love chasing more range.

More hip rotation.
More shoulder turn.
A deeper backswing.
A bigger turn.
And somewhere along the way, we've created this idea that if a golfer can simply move farther...
their body must be getting better.

But what if:

MORE ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER?

There's nothing wrong with improving mobility.
There's nothing wrong with gaining range.
Golf obviously requires movement.
But gaining range and being able to use that range are two very different things.

​And that brings us to today's:

GOLFER MYTH

MORE RANGE IS ALWAYS BETTER.

If ten degrees is good...
fifteen must be better.
If a bigger shoulder turn is good...
an even bigger shoulder turn must be better.
If you can get deeper into a position...
your body must have improved.
Not necessarily.

Because range by itself doesn't tell us what your muscular system can actually do there.

​And that's where we need to talk about:

RANGE WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY

I define Range Without Responsibility as:
CHASING MORE RANGE WITHOUT CONSIDERING CONTROL, STRENGTH, OR STRUCTURE.

We spend a lot of time asking:

How far can I move?

But maybe we need to spend more time asking:

WHAT CAN I ACTUALLY DO WHEN I GET THERE?

Can your muscles create that position?
Can they support it?
Can you control it?
Can you create force from it?
Can you find it again when you need it?

​That's an entirely different conversation than simply becoming more flexible.

YOU ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER THE BODY YOU ACTUALLY HAVE

Every golfer brings a different body to the golf course.

Your training history matters.
Your previous injuries matter.
Your surgeries matter.
Arthritic changes matter.
Joint structure matters.
How you're built matters.
And how your muscles are functioning matters.

Especially once you're over 40...
you've probably put some mileage on this thing.
So have I.

And there's another reality we have to acknowledge:

I don't have an MRI machine built into my eyeballs.
I can't look at someone's hip and know every single structural variable occurring inside that joint.
I can't look at someone's shoulder and automatically say:
You need twenty more degrees of motion.

Yet golfers constantly chase ranges because someone else has them.

They see another golfer rotate farther.
They see something on Instagram.
They see what a tour player does.
Or somebody tells them:
This is where your body needs to go.

But someone else's range doesn't automatically need to become your range.
That doesn't mean your body can't improve.
You may absolutely gain more mobility.
You may access positions you haven't used in years.

You may improve your ability to rotate.
But if you gain more range...
you also gain more responsibility.

WITH NEWFOUND RANGE COMES GREATER RESPONSIBILITY.

Yes...

Spider-Man gets the original version.

​Golf Nerd Ninja gets this one.

DON'T JUST BECOME FLEXIBLE. Be FlexABLE®.

This is where the difference between flexible and FlexABLE® becomes important.

The goal isn't simply:

How much farther can I move?

The better question is:

WHAT CAN MY MUSCULAR SYSTEM DO WITH THE MOVEMENT I HAVE?

At Golf MATchanics, our definition is:
“To Be FlexABLE® means having the muscular capacity to create mobility, control, strength, and power, allowing your body to produce force when it's necessary for your golf game.”

The key phrase is:

MUSCULAR CAPACITY.

Be FlexABLE isn't about forcing your body past what its structure allows.

It's about developing as much muscular capacity as possible within the body you actually have.

And I like to break that down into three ideas:

DEVELOP IT.
CONTROL IT.
​OWN IT.

1. DEVELOP IT

If you want usable movement...

you first need to develop the muscular system responsible for creating it.

Can those muscles contract?
Can they contribute in the position?
Can you build strength there?
Can you tolerate load?
Can you produce force?
Can you eventually produce power?

This is where mobility becomes much bigger than simply getting loose.

The question isn't only:
Can I reach the position?

It's:
HAVE I DEVELOPED THE MUSCULAR CAPACITY TO USE IT?

If you're going to gain range...
​you need to build capability within that range.

2. CONTROL IT

Once you've developed more capacity...

can you control it?
Can different areas of your body separate when they need to?
Can you push into the ground appropriately?
Can you feel the different sections of your body well enough to create the movement you're trying to produce?

And there's another side of control that golfers often overlook:

CAN YOU CREATE TENSION AND RELEASE IT AT THE RIGHT TIME?

Watch great golfers swing.
Their swings often look almost effortless.
That doesn't mean they're not producing force.
They're producing tremendous force.

But they're able to create it...
control it...
and release it at the right time.

Now compare that with the golfer who is:

Squeezing the life out of the grip.
Tightening the shoulders.
Holding their breath.
Yanking the club down with their arms.
Trying to muscle the golf swing.

At that point you're not controlling the movement.

YOU'RE OVERPOWERING IT.

A good golf swing requires tension where tension is necessary...
and the ability to let go where it isn't.
That's also how I think about stability.
Stability isn't simply becoming stiff.

It's the muscular system's ability to:

CREATE, CONTROL, AND RELEASE TENSION AS THE MOVEMENT REQUIRES.

​That's control.

3. OWN IT

Then we get to the biggest question:

DO YOU OWN IT?

Can you find the position?
Can you feel it?
Can you reproduce it?
Can you access it when you're standing over a golf ball?

Imagine your golf coach puts you into the exact position they're looking for.

They move your hips.
Adjust your shoulders.
Get your backswing exactly where they want it.

You say:

Yep. I feel it.
Then they step away.

You swing...
and it's gone.

You don't own it yet.

Because being physically placed into a position and having your own body know how to find that position are two completely different things.

Ownership means:

CAN I FIND IT, FEEL IT, AND USE IT?

When you can do that...
​the movement starts becoming yours.

I EXPERIENCED THIS IN MY OWN GOLF GAME

I experienced this myself during my last couple rounds.

Two rounds ago...

I shot my lowest round ever.
Everything was clicking.

Then the next time I went out, naturally I thought:

All right. Let's reproduce it.
And the front nine?

Not so much.

I'm a very feely golfer.
I like to feel very specific positions.
I like to feel very specific things happening in my body.
When I can feel those positions...

my confidence skyrockets.
I feel like I can do no wrong.

But that round forced me to ask:

DO I ACTUALLY OWN THESE POSITIONS YET?

There are parts of my swing I own really well.
There are other parts I'm still learning to own.

On the front nine...
I was searching for those feels.

Then on the back nine...
I started finding them again.
My shift and turn started clicking.

I could feel the positions I'd been working on.

And suddenly...
the swing started feeling like my swing again.

Did I magically become more flexible between the ninth green and the tenth tee?

Of course not.

What changed was my ability to find the positions I'd been developing through my training, isometrics, exercises, and cues.

I'm working to create those positions...

feel those positions...

and reproduce those positions until:

THE FEELS BECOME REAL.

That's ownership.

​And I'm still working on it too.

WHY MUSCLE ACTIVATION TECHNIQUES™ FITS SO WELL INTO Be FlexABLE®

This is one of the reasons Muscle Activation Techniques™ fits so naturally into our Be FlexABLE system.
MAT gives us a way to start working on the muscular foundation behind the range and positions you need for golf.

It starts with:

DEVELOP IT.

Through hands-on muscle activation work, we're trying to improve individual muscle contraction—what I often describe as getting those muscles firing.
We're trying to improve the muscular contribution necessary to develop and support the ranges and positions your body needs.
Then we move toward:

CONTROL IT.

We challenge those positions through muscular contractions, isometrics, and movement.
Now the body isn't simply accessing a position.
We're starting to build muscular control within it.

Then eventually:

OWN IT.

You can feel the position.
You can reproduce the position.
And when your body starts losing a range or losing a feel...
you have ways to check back in, reconnect with the muscular system, and work toward finding it again.
That's how we integrate MAT into the larger system.

Golf is an integrated movement.

But those integrated movements are still dependent on individual muscles being able to do their jobs.

And every golfer has areas of their body they don't fully feel...
don't fully control...
or don't completely own.
That's why we start with the muscular system.

DEVELOP IT.
CONTROL IT.
OWN IT.

And that's why everything at Golf MATchanics keeps coming back to:

​MUSCLE FUNCTION FIRST.

THREE TAKEAWAYS

1. RANGE NEEDS RESPONSIBILITY
Improving range can be valuable.
But don't chase range simply for the sake of having more.
If you gain it...
build the muscular ability to use it.

2. DEVELOP IT. CONTROL IT. OWN IT.
Build the muscular capacity.
Learn to control it.
Then make the position yours.

3. MUSCLE FUNCTION FIRST
The golf swing may be integrated...
but the muscles still have to do their jobs.
That's the foundation we build from.