The Flexibility Myth and the Gumby Mindset

Before explaining why I call this the Gumby mindset, I need to acknowledge something:
I believed it too.

My original background was bodybuilding and traditional strength training.

My mentality was straightforward:

Train harder.
Lift heavier.
Push through discomfort.
If your body hurts, keep going.

I looked strong, but I did not always feel good. My body was frequently sore, restricted, and beat up.
Then I was introduced to massage therapy.

My first massage happened while I was attending personal training school.
I was visiting my girlfriend’s family in Iowa, and her parents bought me a massage for Christmas.

I had never received bodywork before and had no idea what to expect.
The experience felt unfamiliar, but when the session ended, I felt surprisingly good.

My body felt lighter.
I felt less restricted.

When I returned to personal training school, I moved more comfortably.
I did not fully connect the experience to my training until later.

A few years afterward, while working as a trainer at Multiplex Gold Coast, I began trading services with a massage therapist named Erin.

I trained her, and she gave me massages.

After those sessions, my body hurt less, I felt more mobile, and I could return to the gym feeling better, but the experience appeared to confirm what I had been taught:

My tissue became tight.
Massage loosened it.

Therefore, tight tissue must have been the problem.

That belief eventually helped lead me to become a licensed massage therapist.

At the time, I thought massage was the missing mobility component in my training model.
Massage would create motion.
Strength training would build performance.

I was not asking whether the muscles could actively control the motion that had become available.

I cared about two things:

Did the person move farther?
Did the person feel better?

That is why the traditional flexibility model is so believable.
​Massage appeared to prove it to me.

What Is the Gumby Mindset?

Whenever I think about the traditional flexibility model, I think about Gumby.
You could bend him, twist him, flatten him, and pull him into almost any position.

That is similar to how many golfers have been taught to view their muscles.

If a muscle feels tight, stretch it.
If the hips feel restricted, open them.
If the hamstrings feel short, lengthen them.
If the lower back feels tight, loosen it.

I define the Gumby mindset as:
The belief that muscles are pieces of elastic tissue and that greater mobility comes primarily from stretching, lengthening, rubbing, or manually loosening them.

The Gumby mindset focuses on how far the body can be moved.

It often overlooks whether the muscles can actively contract, support the joints, and control the range that has been created.

The logic behind it is understandable.

If a right-handed golfer cannot rotate to the right, it may affect the backswing.
If that golfer cannot rotate to the left, it may affect the downswing and follow-through.

The assumption becomes:

More flexibility creates more turn.
More turn creates more speed.
More speed creates more distance.

The model makes sense on the surface.
But it is incomplete.

Muscles are not simply pieces of elastic that we can shape and deform at will.
They are contractile tissues connected to the nervous system.

They must contract, create force, support joints, control movement, manage load, and help decelerate the body.

Golfers do not only need access to a position.

​They must actively own that position.

Passive Range Is Not Active Ownership

Someone may be able to push your hip farther while you are lying on a table.

But can you actively move into that position?
Can you control it?
Can you create force from it?
Can you decelerate out of it?
Can you access the same range while standing over a golf ball?

Passive range is not the same as active ownership.

When your body does not feel capable of controlling a position, it may restrict the motion available to you.

You may experience that restriction as tightness.

You can temporarily stretch or manipulate the body farther into the range.
But when your muscles cannot control the position,
your body may return to the amount of motion it currently feels capable of managing.

That may be one reason the same tightness continues returning.

The tightness is not necessarily the enemy.
It may be information.

One muscle may be fatigued or overworking.
Another muscle may not be contributing effectively.
The joint may not feel adequately supported.

Or the body may not possess enough neuromuscular control in that position.

Instead of only asking:
“How do I stretch this farther?”

A better question may be:
“Why does my body feel the need to create this tension?”

That is the question I was not asking early in my career as a massage therapist.
It is also the question Muscle Activation Techniques™ eventually taught me to investigate..

MAT™ vs. Massage: Different Goals and Different Outcomes

The biggest difference between MAT™ and massage is what each process is trying to accomplish.

Massage generally focuses on changing tissue sensation, encouraging relaxation, decreasing the perception of soreness, or temporarily improving mobility.
MAT™ focuses on assessing muscular contraction and contribution.

One of the founding principles behind MAT™
is that muscle tightness is secondary to muscle weakness.

That means a muscle may not feel tight simply because it needs to be stretched or loosened.
The body may be creating tension because certain muscles are not contracting efficiently or providing enough support around a joint.

The sensation of tightness is real.

But MAT™ considers the possibility that the tightness may be a response to poor muscular contribution.
Massage may help an area feel easier to move.

MAT™ asks whether the muscles can actively create, support, and control that movement.
Massage may encourage the muscular system to relax.

​Different physiological goals.
Different processes.
Different outcomes.

How the MAT™ Process Works

What makes MAT™ different is the assessment and reassessment process.

The basic process includes:

Assess the motion.
Identify the limitation.
Test the muscles that contribute to the range.
Activate muscles that are not responding efficiently.
Retest the muscular response.
Reassess the motion.
​
The system gives us a more specific and repeatable process that can be compared during the session and between sessions.

That does not make the human body perfectly predictable.
It does provide more information than simply asking whether someone feels looser.

MAT™ focuses on improving isolated muscular function around a joint. Improving the contribution of an isolated muscle may then give the body a better opportunity to create a more efficient integrated movement pattern.

Consider a golfer who struggles to rotate into the trail-side hip during the backswing.
If the hip is not moving effectively, the golfer may begin avoiding that side.

That can influence the takeaway, shorten the backswing, rush the transition, and make it harder to shift pressure toward the lead side.

If the muscles around the trail hip are not contributing efficiently, improving their response may give the golfer a better physical opportunity to rotate into the trail side, complete the backswing, and transition toward the lead side.

MAT™ does not teach the golfer how to swing.
It does not replace golf instruction.

It addresses an isolated physical component that may be affecting the integrated movement of the golf swing.

The golf swing is an integrated action, but it is still built from individual joints and muscles.

​When one part of the system is not contributing effectively, the rest of the body must adjust.

Five Rules for Choosing a Massage Therapist

Massage can be useful when it is chosen and applied strategically.
The therapist, pressure, duration, timing, and treatment goal can all influence how your body responds.

A massage should not be judged solely by how intense it felt or how loose you felt while lying on the table.

The real evaluation begins when you stand up.

How do you walk?
How do you rotate?
Do you feel coordinated?
Can you create force?
Do you feel relaxed and connected—or relaxed and disconnected?

​These five rules can help golfers determine whether a massage supports what their body needs to do next.

1. Make Sure the Therapist Understands the Goal

A good therapist should ask why you are receiving the massage.

Are you trying to relax?
Are you sore after several rounds?
Are you playing golf tomorrow?
Are you training later that day?
Or are you expecting the therapist to correct a recurring limitation?

Those are very different goals, and the massage should reflect that.

Earlier in my career, I usually approached massage with the idea that something needed to be fixed.

I wanted my back to feel better.
I wanted my shoulder to move better.
I wanted the therapist to work on the area until the problem was gone.

As I have gotten older, my reason for getting a massage has changed.

Most of the time, I now choose a lighter Swedish-style massage focused on relaxation.
It gives me an opportunity to calm my nervous system, quiet my mind, and recover without aggressively working through the tissue.

Because I also receive regular Muscle Activation Techniques™ sessions, I am careful with deep-tissue massage. Aggressive work may change the way my muscles feel and potentially interfere with the muscular contractions and control I have been working to improve.

That is why communication matters.

When the therapist clearly understands your goal, the session is more likely to be appropriate, enjoyable, and beneficial for what your body actually needs.

2. Do Not Confuse Pain With Progress

A painful massage is not automatically a productive massage.

When I practiced massage, clients regularly asked for deep-tissue work.
I was strong, so they assumed I could apply a tremendous amount of pressure.

And I could.

But the ability to apply pressure does not mean that pressure is appropriate.

I once worked deeply through a client’s lower back and glutes for approximately 45 minutes.
When he initially stood up, he said he felt great.

The tissue felt softer.
His back felt looser.

Within a short period, both sides of his lower back tightened aggressively. His muscles essentially splinted around the area, and he could barely move.

Thankfully, the response eventually settled.

That experience taught me an important lesson:
A body can initially feel looser and still respond poorly to the treatment dose.

Maybe it was the depth.
Maybe it was his sensitivity that day.

I cannot claim to know the exact mechanism.

But pain is not proof that productive change is occurring.
When the pressure feels excessive, tell the therapist.

​That is useful feedback—not a challenge for the therapist to overcome.

3. Avoid Therapist who stays married to one area.

The area that feels the tightest or most painful is not always the only area influencing how your body moves.

Be cautious when a massage therapist becomes overly focused on one spot and continues applying more pressure or spending more time there simply because the area has not “released.”

More treatment is not always better treatment.

Sometimes an area has received enough input, even if it still feels tight or sensitive. A good therapist should recognize when to adjust the approach rather than continuing to attack the same tissue.

I experienced this after a therapist worked extensively on one of my calves.

The soreness decreased, but when I trained the following day, I had difficulty feeling the calf contribute.

My lower leg felt disconnected, and it took several days before it felt normal again.

The session changed the sensation.
It did not make me feel more capable.

A good therapist should be willing to:

* Change the pressure
* Use a different technique
* Move to another area
* Reduce the amount of time spent on the tissue
* Decide that the area has received enough input

Your body does not need to lose a fight against the therapist.

It needs an amount of input it can tolerate and respond to appropriately.

4. Match the Massage to Your Golf Schedule

Timing matters.

An aggressive massage immediately before a round may leave a golfer feeling sore, disconnected, or unable to create force as expected.

A light and familiar session may work for some golfers, but the closer the massage is to golf, the more predictable and less aggressive it should be.

After a round may be a better time for a relaxation-focused session because the primary physical demands of the day have ended.

You can hydrate, eat, and recover afterward.

When seeing a new therapist or receiving deeper work, allowing approximately 24 to 48 hours before your next round is a more conservative approach.

Remember:
Tournament week is not experimentation week.

​Do not introduce a new therapist or aggressive massage style immediately before an important round.

5. Pay Attention to Muscle Function Afterward

Do not evaluate a massage only by how good it felt while you were lying on the table.

Pay attention when you stand up.

How do you walk?
How do you rotate?
Do you feel connected to the ground?
Can you create a comfortable muscular contraction?
Do you feel relaxed and coordinated?
Or do you feel numb, unstable, excessively sore, or disconnected?

Golf MATchanics clients who already have specific low-level isometric exercises may perform a few light contractions afterward.

They are not diagnosing themselves.

They are simply checking whether they still feel connected to the muscular system that was worked on.

Feeling relaxed can be useful.
Feeling relaxed but unable to control movement may not be the response you wanted.

The goal is not merely to feel loose.

​The goal is to feel relaxed but still connected.

Key Takeaways

1. Muscles are not Gumby. Golfers need more than passive flexibility.
They need muscular strength and control throughout the range they use.

2. Massage and MAT™ serve different purposes.
Massage may encourage relaxation and change tissue sensation.
MAT™ assesses muscular contraction, joint support, and active control.

3. Tightness is not always something to attack.
It may be information that certain muscles are fatigued, overworking, or not contributing efficiently.

4. Use massage strategically.
Understand the goal, do not confuse pain with progress,
avoid overworking one area, and match the session to your golf schedule.

​5. Evaluate how you function afterward.
The goal is not simply to feel loose.
It is to feel relaxed and still connected.