Sports Therapy Isn’t About How Hard You Push, It’s About How Well You Listen
When people hear sports therapy, many still imagine one thing: deep, aggressive pressure on tight muscles until they “release.”
To be honest, I used to believe that too.
Earlier in my career, I treated like many other practitioners. If a muscle felt tight, I went hard on it. If a client could tolerate pain, I assumed stronger pressure meant better results. At the time, it felt logical, tight tissue needed force, right?
But years of clinical experience, sports training, and working with athletes taught me something important:
the body doesn’t always respond well to force.
Tight Doesn’t Always Mean Weak, Sometimes It Means Protected
From a neurological point of view, many tight or “knotted” areas aren’t just mechanical problems.
They’re often protective responses.
The nervous system tightens tissue when it perceives threat — previous injury, overload, fatigue, stress, or unfamiliar movement. When we attack that area aggressively without context, the brain can interpret it as more threat, not less.
That’s why some people feel worse after very deep treatments.
Not because the therapist was “bad,” but because the body wasn’t ready.
This is where my approach to sports therapy changed.
Pain Tolerance Is Personal, So Treatment Should Be Too
Every client is different.
Some athletes respond well to strong input. Others shut down the moment pain crosses a certain threshold. Pain tolerance, training history, injury background, and even mindset all influence how someone responds to treatment.
That’s why my sports therapy is never one-size-fits-all.
I don’t believe in chasing pain for the sake of it. I believe in finding the right level of stimulus for that individual, on that day.
My Clinical Approach at K-Flow Therapy
At K-Flow Therapy, sports therapy is built around assessment first, technique second.
I use a combination of hands-on and tool-based techniques depending on what the body needs:
Dry Needling (DN) to reduce neuromuscular overactivity and calm protective responses
IASTM (Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilisation) to improve tissue glide and load tolerance
Cupping to assist circulation and sensory input without excessive pressure
Myofascial Release (MFR) to work with the nervous system rather than against it
These tools aren’t used because they’re trendy — they’re used because they allow me to modulate input. Sometimes the goal is to stimulate. Other times, it’s to de-sensitise.
Strong pressure is still useful, but only when the body is ready for it.
Sports Therapy Is More Than “Fixing” Muscles
Real sports therapy isn’t about chasing tight spots.
It’s about understanding why they’re there.
Athletes don’t break down because of one tight muscle. They break down due to load, fatigue, poor recovery, altered movement patterns, or repeated stress without enough variation.
My role isn’t just to treat what hurts, it’s to help the body move better, recover faster, and feel safer under load.
Sometimes that means deep work.
Sometimes it means gentle work.
Sometimes it means doing less, not more.
A Human-Centred Approach to Performance
I treat weekend warriors, tradies, runners, gym-goers, and competitive athletes the same way I’d want to be treated myself, with context, respect, and adaptability.
Sports therapy should support your training, not fight your nervous system.
If you’re looking for a more considered, athlete-aware approach to sports massage and therapy in Werribee, that’s exactly what I aim to provide at K-Flow Therapy.
