Introduction:
In this episode of The Golf Fitness Bomb Squad, host Chris Finn sits down with Dennis Dunphy, co-founder of Stick Mobility, to explore how Stick Mobility’s unique approach can enhance athletic performance, specifically in golf. They dive into Stick Mobility’s origins, developed by Dennis and his partner Neal, from observing a chiropractor’s innovative use of sticks for stretching. Dennis explains the core principles of the system, including the benefits of isometric exercises and active stretching, which work to improve range of motion, strength, and neuromuscular control in a way that traditional passive stretching does not.
They discuss how Stick Mobility’s drills are used to improve hip mobility, T-spine rotation, and ground-force engagement, all critical components of an effective golf swing. Dennis also shares insights into training different populations, from juniors to older adults, and how Stick Mobility can address the specific needs of golfers at all levels. Whether you're looking to increase your range of motion, gain more torque in your swing, or maintain your improvements over time, Stick Mobility offers accessible tools and training options for everyone.
Below is the conversation on how Stick Mobility can help golfers improve their game by addressing key mobility, strength, and control aspects with simple yet effective drills that fit seamlessly into any training routine.
Podcast Q&A:
Host, Chris Finn:
My name is Chris Finn. I'm your host, and I'm excited today because we have a little change up. This week, I have a fellow fitness guy. I’m super excited to have Dennis Dunphy here with me today, the co-founder of the Stick Mobility. We're going to talk about how it could potentially help you and your golf game.
Dennis:
Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be on your podcast.
Host, Chris Finn:
I'm always curious fellow entrepreneur, where did this all come from? How did you get to where you guys are at? What's the origin story?
Dennis:
Neal and I used to do stick stretching with a chiropractor over in Santa Cruz, California, Dr. Arthur Faygenholtz, and he used to use rattan sticks to do some stretching for his clients. So we learned from him on how he applies the stick. And we looked at it, went, okay, well, there's a lot of strength training aspects that can be used with a stick. And we love isometrics because they're very effective, very safe to use. And so we said, hey, we're going to start creating our own system. And he's like, Hey, go for it. So for him, it was just about using the stick to stretch his clients. And for us, we figured, okay, we can first of all show people joint by joint mobilizations with the stick, and then also give them a good amount of strength training, which most of our program is actual strength training. And then we can finish off with the active stretching, which is a big difference from what most people do, which is typically passive stretching,
Active vs. Passive Stretching
Host, Chris Finn:
Awesome and so just everybody listening, who I would say, a percent of them probably have no idea the difference between active versus passive stretching, what's the difference?
Dennis:
People typically passively stretch, which means they'll sit on the lay down on the floor. They'll grab a leg and stretch the hamstring, they'll just pull it up and just lay there for us, we want to use that isometric contraction. So we want you to activate the muscle tissue fibers with the connective tissue and fight against that stretch or pull or into the stretch even more. So that way, you're bringing some neuromuscular control to those tissue lines. So that's the difference between passive and active, and you'll feel it right away. So people that are used to passive stretching, when we ask them, so hey, do a little isometric contraction, push against me, pull against me. Then they're like, oh, that's a massive difference. And in our case, we use the stick. So we'll have the stick. We'll say, okay, we'll set them up into a posture, they'll say, okay, now exhale and push the stick away from you, or pull the stick towards you. And people's eyes light right up, and they go, oh, that's vastly different feel than what I'm used to. To which I reply, this is a little bit more effective than what you're typically used to, right.
Host, Chris Finn:
Obviously there are different types of kind of contractions, like isometric. I always like to make sure everybody is, we're all speaking the same language. Everybody listening understands, because I think that's obviously a unique part of the system you guys have built. So, what is isometric? And, you know and astutely said it's very safe. What is isometric, and how does that differ from, weight lifting, or, those other types of things, types of strength training that people may be more familiar with just coming out of, like the 80s and 90s bodybuilding era.
Dennis:
Typically, most people are just doing joint ranges of motion with load, right? So let's take an overhead press for example. Up and down with the arm, with the weight in the arm for us, okay, we'll say, well, let's do a little bit of a hang to reverse that pressing motion, to engage the lat, a little bit more help open up that shoulder space. Okay, let's grab a stick, reach to the top. Now let's drop into the hang so we'll passively let them just drop their body weight. They're going to feel that grip intensify. They're going to feel their arm line activate. And then from there, we'll say, now let's push the stick into the floor with that hand at about 30, 40% of your max effort. So on a scale one to ten, you're giving me like a three. So they'll push the stick down. We tell them to keep the elbow straight and push down from the lat rib cage area. And then they're like, oh, they'll feel the scapula pull down. They'll feel that lat engaged. And then we're like, great, now you're packing your shoulder right? And they'll be okay, well, that's that's something that I’m not used to feeling. And then from there, we'll get them to add some rotation to that, while you continue to push the stick into the floor to keep those tissues actually engaged versus shutting them down, so to speak.
Golf Specific Approach
Host, Chris Finn:
For sure, so in the system how do you guys approach a rotary athlete, you know, specifically, obviously golf. That's obviously everyone listening here is golfer, so we should probably talk about that. It's like, when you guys come in and you get a golfer, and they want to, use the system like, what sort of different approach might you take with them, versus, maybe just a Gen pop person or somebody who's, obviously just playing different sport altogether.
Dennis:
Well, typically, for a lot of golfers, is, I think the the thing that the general golfer, the amateur golfer, doesn't realize is the amount of physical skills the professional golfer has, right? And that's what sets professionals apart from the rest of us, normal people, right? Is their skill sets, physically and mentally, are far superior to ours. So the average person who's sitting at the at their desk all day or sitting on their couch then goes up and gets up to play golf, doesn't have the same hip mobilization ability that the professional golfer has. They may not have the T-spine rotation, especially the professional golfer will have. So those are the aspects that we're typically looking to attack. First, want to make sure that, number one, the hips are buttery, as some people would say. And number two, we want to make sure that the T-spine rotation is what it needs to be, that you have that ability to rotate it in and out of your swing.
Host, Chris Finn:
Yeah, for sure. When we work with goffers, we get, you know, juniors, eight, nine, ten years old, all the way to the oldest guy at the gym right now who's 94. So wide range. And then we got, long drive guys swinging 160 miles an hour. Based on the wide variety of people listening, how does the implementation potentially change? Or, how should people think about where to potentially implement it? You know, based on where they're at.
Dennis:
I think for a younger person who's still developing, then we can use the stick to help them understand more of that physical development that they're going through. We see kids as they as they're growing up, they may need a little bit of help coordinating some movements they're growing into their bodies. They're growing so we sometimes see that as that's taking place, they get a little clumsy. They don't know how to deal with those new lever lengths that they're growing and developing. So we can use the stick as a really great way to help them really move smoothly in and out of their motions. For an older person, 50, 60, years of age, before we make sure that everything's moving well, we want to make sure that those hips know internal and external rotation. We want to help them understand what shifting weight is from side to side. And then we want to make sure that the rib cage and the spine move relatively well. And therefore your highly skilled professional athlete, a lot of times, we can use that just to help access more drive internally, either loading into that backswing, or accessing greater ground force coming out of the backswing. I think one of the things that a lot of golfers, especially amateurs, don't get is ground force reactions necessary. We see a lot of golfers and a lot of general population when you ask them to swing, it's completely upper body dominant, right? The hips are non existent. And so they they really don't understand ground force, just because they haven't really used it in so long. So for us, it's a great tool to we can set them up into that rotation with the stick in the ground and say, Okay, now push the stick into the ground a little bit more dynamically, and then as they push down, they should feel that inside leg drive into the ground also and say, Okay, that's your ground force reaction that you're looking for. So that way you're using that propulsion from the ground like you should be, versus trying to just dominate through the upper torso.
Host, Chris Finn:
We've done a ton of research in ground force. We got two sets of dual plates. There’s a lot of people that will get to the point where they move how they're supposed to. They're as strong as they need to be relative to how fast they're going to be swinging. The next level we then go to is, we call it transfer training. So basically, how do we train? In the gym to the ground forces, to get them to transfer to the actual specific activity of the golf swing? So if you have somebody who, and we've got people that sometimes it's more vertical timing of they're too late, maybe their horizontals aren't good, you know, maybe they just, depending on the player, they may be more dominant, or maybe more of a preference than the other, in terms of how they create speed naturally. So I be curious, just for my sake, and anyone listening who's interested as well, what's so I think it sounds like the one you were describing already. That's more vertical timing to get more vertical force through the leg. What about if they want more horizontal or toe heel? Are there drills that you guys have? Curious, like, an example of one of each of those for people listening?
Dennis:
Well, first of all, see what they need improvement in right? Do they need it in the vertical? Do they need in the horizontal? And then if they needed the horizontal a lot of times, what we'll do is we'll set them up in that in that nice, tall structure, maybe even seated, split stance, whatever they need. And then they'll use the stick. We'll either grab, we'll put our hands on the very ends of the stick. Sometimes we'll use a longer stick or a shorter stick. We'll have them pull apart on the stick like they're trying to rip it apart. Let's say we have them using a short stick. We'll say, Okay, pull apart on the stick. Let's make that stick about five inches longer, right? Not too much longer. And then they'll pull the activate the whole upper posterior chain. And then we'll say, Okay, now disassociate. Keep the head looking straight ahead, and now rotate to the to the right, and then they're using that posterior chain to pull themselves into rotation, to improve that horizontal rotation. We can also have them push in on the stick, activate the anterior chain to come out of that rotation. So, like we'd like to say, hey, pull yourself into that horizontal rotation and then push yourself back to center. Or we may actually use the stick into a fixed point and have them isometrically push on that horizontal plane, and then get them to breathe too. Because one of the things that people do when they're trying to rotate, if they can't rotate, they're gonna they're gonna hold their breath and brace, right? So we want them to be able to get into that rotational position, especially at their end range motion, and then start to access that breathing to help open everything up. And then over a period of time, as they're getting more comfortable, they can control their breathing pattern. All of a sudden, you start to see that T-spine open up a little bit more. And then get them a little bit more comfortable. And really, for us, it's about owning your end range. Where's your end range. And now, can you demonstrate force application in it, and can you become comfortable in it and really breathe in and out of that position?
Getting Started
Host, Chris Finn:
And how do you guys, for somebody who buys the stick, help them start working with it. How do they assess, where that end range is? How do you recommend that people, when they start with it, they kind of see, all right, this is where I'm at. And then, how are they measuring their improvement? Or, you know, how do they know when they're at that end range?
Dennis:
So typically, for the average person with smartphones, you can film yourself. You can go through a drill. We have tons of content online, so you can look at one of our T-spine drills and go, Okay, I'm going to try this one. Set up your camera. Film yourself doing it. You can get an idea visually with the exercise. For us, as far as feel the level of discomfort when you get into your end range is going to increase, of course, but also, when you ask your body to produce force in an end range position that it's not normally used to doing, you're typically going to cramp, right? So the muscles are going to cramp up. That's when you know, okay, you're in an area that needs a little bit more improvement. And so as you get stronger, and you start to own that range of motion a little bit more, and you repeat it, then that cramping dissipates. And so then we know, that has now become part of your quote, unquote, normal range of motion, or usable range of motion.
Host, Chris Finn:
Very cool. So and I guess I'm curious, as you know, when people look to start a program, what do you typically see in terms of change results? Do people come strictly just because they want to get more mobile? You mentioned there's some strength elements. Like, what are people typically like? I guess what I'm asking is, who is this for.
Dennis:
It's for everybody, whether you have back pain or hip issues when you're on the golf course, or simply just want to access more ability to create more torque, whether it's horizontally or vertically. Maybe you have some shoulder issues. We can use the sticks to help bring some neuromuscular control create some space in the shoulder joints, of course, again, so that's our first thing. That's why we do the joint by joint articulations to help create some space back in the joint, and then afterwards, okay, now you've got better tissue quality. Now let's use the stick to push or pull on to now bring some neuromuscular control to those tissues that we just, quote, unquote, gave more range of motion to.
Host, Chris Finn:
Awesome. And what sort of timeframe, like, when people are using the system, do they tend to see improvement in? And how long to get to a point and then they're good? What's the general, I guess, quote, unquote protocol.
Dennis:
Well, before looking for improvement, that's the first thing we want to see, okay? We want to see increases in angles. And then after that, we want to see the strength aspect increase. So those are your first two things. But everything's based off of consistency, right? How much? How consistent are you with the practice? And people always ask us, well, how often can I use the stick? And we always say you can use it every day. It's self-regulated, it's not externally loaded. It's all internally driven. So you need movement every day. So yeah, you can grab a stick. And whether it's 15 minutes of drills, or whether you devote 45 minutes or a full hour to it, that's up to what your schedule allows. But we always tell our clients, hey, at least give yourself 15 to 20 minutes a day and grab a stick, go through some drills, but we want a little bit longer duration, more consistent effort. If we're trying to see vast improvement, once we get vast improvement, then, yeah, after that, it's just about maintaining, because we know that the body's going to adapt to whatever stimulus you give it, and then it adapts to whatever stimulus you take away. So if you get from point A to point B, but then you go back to point A, that's not what we're looking for, right? So once you get to that new destination, you're like, oh, man, I got more range of motion. I feel great. Okay, well, you got to maintain it. So still be consistent and vigilant in that maintenance. People typically do when we feel really good is when we stop doing everything, and then we're like, no, but the things you did got you to that point. So now, prevent, maintain, right? Be, be proactive versus reactive. Now, so don't go back to those old habits that got you stuck in the first place.
Host, Chris Finn:
So yeah, I think one of the interesting things to me that I've seen is, you know, to your point, people will get improvement pretty quickly when it comes to mobility, particularly if they're, if they're putting in 15 to 20 minutes a day and they know what they're doing; things will improve. You know, when we work with guys and girls at any age really, basically, we're looking at hips, shoulders, all the rotary centers that you've mentioned. How does somebody do you guys have kind of an assessment protocol that people start with, like, what's the starting point that they use? Or do they just kind of pick a movement you said, you obviously have a massive, online library of stuff. Do they pick one that they feel like is, hey, I think that may be the one that I need to work on. How do people generally get started?
Dennis:
We usually tell our coaches, anyone that takes our education, hey, use your own assessments, right? So all individuals have their preferred ways of assessing people. For Neal and I, we what we start right away from watching the person walk in the door, walk towards us, what's their gait pattern like? What is that telling us right away? That tells us okay, how are there oblique slings? Are there spiral lines restricted? And if we see in their gait pattern that there's restriction in the spiral lines or the T-spine, then when they're standing talking to us casually, without them knowing we're looking again. So what is their resting postures, or standing while talking to us? Is the pelvis underneath them? Is the pelvis behind them? Is it in front of them, is it in rotation when they're just standing, just talking to you without them knowing, because that's when you want to assess them when they don't. So then we can say, okay, this person has a posterior pelvic tilt. This person has an anterior pelvic tilt. This person's hips went at rest, are rotated to the left, about maybe 10 degrees, even sometimes right, maybe a little bit less. And then also, that person is standing there with hips rotated 10 degrees to the left is the one saying my back is always killing me. Well, yeah, because there your hips are naturally rotated. You're twisted up, down low, so to speak, right? So in that case that we're looking at, we've got to approach the spiral line a little bit more right? The lower spiral lines, one lower spiral line from the foot up to the hip is over exceeding the opposing spiral line, so to speak. So now let's reverse that. Let's reverse the process and get you back to a quote, unquote, normal resting posture.
Host, Chris Finn:
Cool. What's the best place for people to learn more about what you guys are doing?
Dennis:
Stick Mobility YouTube. Please subscribe. We have a ton of content on there. So we have everything from a single drill to more complex workouts. But then you can also see different body parts. Say, okay, I want to open up my upper back. Okay, here's a drill. Here's a series of drills that target specifically that area.
Host, Chris Finn:
Awesome. We'll put all that into the show notes for you so you guys can check that out. Definitely a great resource for everyone here in the community. Dennis, I can't thank you enough for bringing this to our community and then and kind of sitting down and taking some of your very valuable time to connect. So thank you so much for for coming on today.
Dennis:
It was a pleasure. Thank you very much for having me.
Host, Chris Finn:
Yeah for sure. Alright guys, well, appreciate you hanging out with us today. Hopefully you picked up a few nuggets there from Dennis, and we look forward to seeing you on the next episode.
Conclusion:
Stick Mobility is more than a training tool—it's a comprehensive system that combines mobility, strength, stability, leverage, and coordination to enhance movement quality. By applying the principles that Dennis and Chris discussed, individuals can unlock greater physical potential and reach their fitness goals. Whether you're aiming to boost athletic performance or simply move better in daily life, Stick Mobility offers a versatile, effective approach to training. Embrace the power of movement and start transforming your fitness journey today.
Listen to the full podcast HERE.
See HERE for more information on Stick Mobility and their Professional Education HERE.
You can see more of the The Golf Bomb Squad with host Chris Finn HERE.
