[archie_struthers]

 

Has anyone here beaten the  yips  ??

[Jim_Kennedy]

Archie,

Is that in putting, or 'beatrn' the keyboard yips?  

Sorry, couldn't resist.  

It's possible to get rid of them.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Yes.   When I was in my forties, I could not make a putt outside three feet. I tinkered with grip pressure and different types of ways to grip the club.  At 63 I have never putted better in my life.  The yips does not have to be a sickness unto death.  Just ask Bernhard Langer.

[Jim Johnson]

http://www.putting-arc.com/

[Ian Andrew]

Yes.

In fact I had the chipping yips too. It was bad enough that I had to stop playing. One day I took the putter back six times and could not figure out how to move the putter forward. I don’t wish that experience on my worst enemy.

I went to a belly putter next spring for some form of control over the spasm that I was experiencing. It helped give me some confidence. Once I got myself back to "acceptable" I went to a short putter on short putts and used a rescue for long putts when the anxiety of the whole thing was too much.

I have made it back to a short putter and have begun to slowly gain some confidence back in my outing as of recent. I’m close to returning to my old blade putter, which at one time was the strength of my game.

Total length of time … six or seven years for a full recovery back to my short putter and confidence.

“I’m much better now”

[Tim Gavrich]

I putted cross-handed for the better part of a year, from Sophomore spring until Junior spring.  But I switched back and have putted fine since them.  Sometimes it's beneficial just to try something different for the sake of it.  Other than that, just focus on lining your shoulders up to your target line, and rock them back and forth.  Do all you can to simplify your putting stroke.

Best of luck!

--Tim

[Bill Brightly]

Lots of good physical tips have been offered, cross handed, belly-putter, etc so I will give you a mental one to try: accept that a short miss is possible, but you want to miss wth a solid stroke if it must be missed. Odds are it wont miss, but a decel almost always misses! Take your mind off the outcome you fear, and focus on the stroke you want to make.

If that fails, use the Shivas cheater line and take the putter back two inches then go.

[Jason Topp]

I had the putting yips for two years at ages 17 and 18.  On the practice green I was a good putter but on the course, I once 5 putted from 18 inches.  It destroyed my dream at that time of becoming a really good player.

Two physical changes were key for me:

1.  Add length to my backswing.  The pro suggested I try and have a backswing twice as long as my follow through - which is exactly opposite of what you read in many magazine articles.  The theory is that if you take too short of a backswing you try to compensate by adding power with your wrists, which creates many options for mis-hits and wayward direction.  

2.  Keep the right shoulder moving through impact.  Often the right shoulder stops and the blade can go many directions in reaction to that stoppage.  

Mental changes:

1.  I created a very precise routine that I follow.  I pick a specific target.  I see the ball going to the target.  I take two practice swings seeing the ball go to the target.  I line up the putter, take my stance and hit the putt.  (it is a bit different now).  I never timed it but I bet it takes less than 10 seconds.

2.  I try to hit the ball to my target and do not worry about whether or not the ball goes in the hole.  You can miss putts that you hit well and make putts you hit terribly.  If you make a good stroke, it will usually go in.

3.  I was patient.  I yipped a lot of putts for a couple of more years and had many days where I did not think I had improved.  Nonetheless, I got better and better to the point that five years later I was more confident on putts inside 10 feet than any other shots on the course.  20 years later I probably am still most confident facing a meaningful short putt.  I find the challenge fun rather than the torture chamber it was at one time.

[Wade Whitehead]

Read Putting Out of Your Mind by Bob Rotella.

WW

[astavrides]

had my worst yips last weekend, and just bought a Heavy Putter this evening.  Let's see...

[Anthony Gray]

  I have noticed that having artificial vertebrae will help keep your head down and help you keep the putter on line better.

  Anthony

[A.G._Crockett]

Has anyone here beatrn the  yips  ??

Archie,
If you truly have the yips, you can forget books, training aids, etc.  With all due respect, the folks that are recommending those are talking about bad putting.  The yips are another deal entirely.  I'm 58 and have been yipping for about 7 yrs.  I'm now in remission, but fully believe the saying "once you've had 'em, you've got 'em!"

I've used the belly, left hand low, claw, saw, looked at the hole, beer, and so on.  The only thing that has worked for me long-term is the two-thumb or wishbone grip, which is a little more radical version of a super stroke big grip.  It puts my wrists in a position where they can't break down, feels relatively natural, and is a pretty cheap experiment by comparison with some others.

I've been putting that way for a year and a half now, and it has made a dramatic difference.  The cool thing about it is that when I have the feeling that I yipped, the ball still goes pretty much where I wanted it to go.  That, in turn, has reduced the occurrences.

Good luck with whatever you try.

[archie_struthers]

 

A.G. you are on point...bad putting isn't the yips, that crazy phsical affliction that involves tremors and muscle paralysis. .. but no grip change or "method" has helped me for over five years .  I do think Jason has something with the lengthening of the stroke...you would think the opposite  would work better but I think the "lag" may be the key  .

Still working on a cure for bad putting...not the "yips"  thanks guys

[C. Squier]

Putt with your eyes closed.  Helps me every time I start peeking or (even worse) watching the putter head. 

Line it up, close eyes and let it rip.  Helps a lot with distance control too.

CPS

[Jason Topp]

Has anyone here beatrn the  yips  ??

Archie,
If you truly have the yips, you can forget books, training aids, etc.  With all due respect, the folks that are recommending those are talking about bad putting.  The yips are another deal entirely.  I'm 58 and have been yipping for about 7 yrs.  I'm now in remission, but fully believe the saying "once you've had 'em, you've got 'em!"

I disagree with this.  Anyone that saw me putt would say I had the yips - defined by a twitch that sends the ball anywhere.  They can be beaten.

[Peter Pallotta]

Has anyone ever tried assuming an attitude of radical disregard for the results?  I've done it half-heartedly over the years, but have never been able to commit fully to being the worst putter in the history of the world, and embracing fully the results.  I keep imagining that if I could only embrace the possibility of a 5-putt every time I then might become, or at least potentially become, 
Mr. 1-putt.

Peter 

[Ian Dalzell]

Archie
Come over to the club or IM me privately . . . I would be happy to help and think we could talk through some options.  You just need a fresh way to look at things and maybe just some conversation and evaluation of your mental approach can help.  I am here all day today and tomorrow, come on over.

Ian

[mike_beene]

been there.I would highly recommend a pro at my club named Pat Obrien who specializes in putting.I went from fear of a two footer to feeling like I could make anything and it has lasted for several years.

[Thomas McQuillan]

practise lots of puts from between 6 and 15 feet.if you get good at those you will begin to accept anything shorter as a mere formality and just step up and hit short ones without thinking.

[A.G._Crockett]

practise lots of puts from between 6 and 15 feet.if you get good at those you will begin to accept anything shorter as a mere formality and just step up and hit short ones without thinking.

Ah, Thomas, my boy...

Print out your post and put it away in a safe place.  Then, God forbid, if you ever get the yips you can pull it out and read it and wonder at the naivete of a yipless life.

[Rick Shefchik]

I've improved my bad putting by making a more conscious effort to watch the ball until impact, then continue to watch the spot where the ball was until well after it's gone, trying to guess how well I've done. I get less hole conscious and more stroke conscious that way. I wouldn't say I had the yips, but my putting issues were mostly about distance, as I believe the yips are, too. Putting that way has made me more relaxed over the ball, which is always a good thing.

A belt of scotch helps, too.

[Craig Van Egmond]

I wish you luck with the yips.  I tried all the stuff like left hand low, the Langer method, the claw, long putter, short putter, belly putters, etc...  anybody that has seen me putt the last 3 years knows that I now putt left handed (I'm a righty).

Its truly an awful thing when you dread getting onto the greens, standing over a putt that you have no confidence that you can make.

Putting left handed is the only thing that keeps me playing.

[Brent Hutto]

I switched from playing golf righty to lefty about a year after I took up the game. I still probably putt better right-handed so I figure if I ever get the yips I can just switch around to righty. I'm keeping that in reserve, sort of like that promise of total consciousness I'll receive on my deathbed.

[JSlonis]

Archie,

Two words...LONG PUTTER.

I've been playing with one for 15 years now.  I've tried everything. Different putters, different grips, you name it.  Nothing for me works better and more consistently than the long wand.

[Pat Burke]

I switched from playing golf righty to lefty about a year after I took up the game. I still probably putt better right-handed so I figure if I ever get the yips I can just switch around to righty. I'm keeping that in reserve, sort of like that promise of total consciousness I'll receive on my deathbed.

So, you got that going for you.....which is nice

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