The Yips

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Who has them? Curable?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/sports/golf/the-yips-bane-of-golfers-may-be-muscular.html?ref=sports

[A.G._Crockett]

Got 'em.  Started around 10 years ago on the first green of a tournament round, and have been sort of a constant companion ever since. Shot a 81 with 40 putts, and the rest is history.

Curable?  I think so, but in a qualified sense.  If you have a full-blown case of the yips, my very personal opinion is that you won't ever putt successfully in a conventional manner again, at least in any sort of competition.  Whether that means long/belly putter, claw grip, etc., it probably means some major change will have to happen.  The scar tissue is too intense.  I don't know who it was, but somebody said, "Once you've had 'em, you've got 'em!"  I know that sounds pessimistic, but that has been my experience for sure.

LOTS of people tell you that it is just a mental thing and that you can practice/technique your way out of it putting conventionally.  I have not found that to be the case, nor has it been true for other yippers that I have known.  I always suspect that those people are talking about terrible putting, and not the real thing.  I was a good (not great) putter with a solid stroke that held up well under pressure until it didn't anymore.

For me, the answer has been the wishbone grip with my thumbs side by side on top of the very oversized putter grip.  I am still perfectly capable of yipping a putt, but when I do it still goes straight.  I've been doing that for three years now, and have found it to be much better than other methods.

Good luck; don't let it ruin the game for you.

[Tim Martin]

From the people I know that have struggled with this affliction there seems to be high anxiety brought on by the overriding swing thought "please god don`t let me miss this". Every great teacher or player stresses the need for positive thinking in the form of a swing thought or key when at address. "Please god don`t let me miss" could not be farther from positive and yet it takes over regardless of the yips sufferer`s goal of being positive. It`s an interesting article.

[Bill_McBride]

If Tom Watson is an example, the yips can be cured.  There was nothing as painful as watching him play well only to whiff every other 3'er.  Now he seems to have that behind him.  I wonder what he did.

[astavrides]

there was a pretty long thread on this back in sept 2010.  you might want to look for it.

[Kalen Braley]

I have a buddy who plays to a 1 or less who has em.  If he could cure these, he'd easily be a +3 or +4. 

Painful to watch him hit so many beautiful shots, and even putt fine from long distance.  But give him 4 feet or less and its a train wreck.  I've never had them but couldn't imagine missing so much from that range.

[Ian Andrew]

AG,

I had them real bad about 10 years back and quit playing once it impacted my chipping too. I took the rest of the year off once I could not hit a green with a chip (it was that bad). The day I’ll never forget was the one where I could not draw the putter back. I tried numerous times and froze. Eventually I bought a belly putter and began to play again.

I hated the putter, but the alternative of not playing was unbearable. It helped settle my hands down and slowly gave me a basic stroke I could work with. I was never good with it (missed too many short putts) but I was no longer “clumsy” on the greens. I gave up on scoring and settled into enjoying golf as a pastime.

After that I worked steadily on trying to re-learn putting and chipping. It took years to get comfortable, but both came around eventually. It took years and some intervals of steady play to really make it happen. I finally made the permanent move to a short putter three years ago by making a trip with a short putter. I was awful for a while, but over time I have found each year I have become more fluid.

Last fall I found my “old” stroke again and I’ve begun to putt relatively well. I do still occasionally flinch on a long putt, but I no longer fear the flinch repeating or react when it happens. I think the new found “indifference” has been the key for me.

Good luck.

[Sean Leary]

I have had them for about 9 months. Started on long lag putts actually then crept into the shoties. I was already using the claw so I was in trouble. Just started going cross handed. We shall see.

[David Ober]

Who has them? Curable?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/sports/golf/the-yips-bane-of-golfers-may-be-muscular.html?ref=sports

I'm a competitive amateur, and I get them from time-to-time. Switched to The Heavy Putter last time I had them and that cured them. Just started playing again after a two-year layoff and have them again.

Will probably switch to the long putter for a bit and then go back to the Heavy Putter. Usually only have them for a few rounds before I figure out something to make them disappear.

[Mike_Clayton]

With the putter,I think there are at least two types of yips.
One is the Tom Watson scenario - which many have - where you cannot make the stroke you make on the practice green. You jab/jerk/stab/yip and miss the putt.

Much worse is the Bernhard Langer version. I saw him hit shots to six or eight feet and yip it twenty feet past the hole. When he was horrible he could three putt from five feet away with regularity.

[cary lichtenstein]

I think Tiger has the yips or at least the early stages of it. His stroke has beome jappy, inconsisent, not the full flowing stroke of old.

[A.G._Crockett]

I think Tiger has the yips or at least the early stages of it. His stroke has beome jappy, inconsisent, not the full flowing stroke of old.

Cary,
With all due respect, I'd disagree.  I'm not even sure that there ARE early stages to the yips; mine literally happened on ONE putt, and I heard Sam Torrance say the same thing about his case.  I DO agree that the yips can get much worse over time.

Tiger, by all accounts, is simply not spending the time on the short game in general and putting specifically that he used to.  That is as much a function of aging as anything else, IMO, but I don't think he is anywhere close to the yips.  That said, I do wonder if he will ever putt again the way that he used to; it was the most technically perfect stroke imaginable.

[Jason Walker]

I always have to chime in on these topics....putting yips are nothing....chip yips are the real killer!  They can make golf become unplaybable far faster than just not being able to putt 5 footers.  As AG said, yips show up overnight.  I remember the moment with clarity.  Las Vegas March Madness trip in 2005.  Hole No. 2, Pauite Wolf.  50 yards to the flag, what used to by my wheelhouse.   Green light city.  I yipped the downswing, hit the middle of the ball. and off it went.  I went from a 3 hcap to a 14 that year.  No lie.  Still fight them a little today, although a rigourous practice routine and continuous technique evals from the asst  pro at Tavistock have helped considerably.  They put pressure on all areas of game though, even today.  Maintain a consiistent 5-7 hcap but will still get the feeling every now and then.  I'm convinced the yips--putting and chipping--are a combination of an evolution of poor technique, i.e. 'getting away with it', a reduction in frequency of play that exposed said evolution, and getting a little older.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here is last year's thread that did not have the benefit of the study referenced in the NYT article:

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,45983.0.html

[Ken Moum]

I've got'em, but it's from about 50 yards out to 150 or so....  I shot 41 on the front nine a couple of days ago with 7 one putts.  I'm not bad for an 11 handicap from 160 out to my max, which is 190, because I get to hit a wood shot.

But if I have to hit an iron, I am dead meat... the shankapotamus will be hovering.

I've got a 13 wood in my bag right now, and thinking about getting a 15 to match it. 

K

[Paul Stephenson]

I have not but my father is burdened with them from time to time.  He's tried every putter/grip combination possible, and when you shut your eyes the number of combinations double.  I used to ask "eyes open or closed" when a putt went in.

My all time favourite was when he went with some sort of modified claw grip with a belly putter.  I think he kept his eyes open with that one.

I just hope the yips are not genetic.

[Craig Van Egmond]

I had to change to putting left handed it got so bad and have so for 3 years now. Now I am just a bad putter and not a horrible one.

It has taken a lot of the fun out of playing.

[Stu Grant]

I've struggled with them for much of the last decade.  Right now they are in remission, and my current coping mechanisms are as follows:

1.  Push away bad thoughts (i.e. I'm putting for birdie and my match play opponent is putting for bogey....let's try not to three-putt) and instead focus solely on trying to make the putt!

2.  Use the Calcavecchia claw for the short putts

3.  On longer putts I use a traditional grip, take the putt back, and then close my eyes for the follow through, visualizing a beautiful putting stroke (and not allowing myself to flinch at the moment of impact because I'm not actually looking at the ball!)

Number three sounds insane but you do what you gotta do.  So far this year I'm averaging 30.4 putts per round instead of my normal 32-33 range, so it's some improvement.

[Richard Choi]

I don't have the yips putting, but I do have them while chipping. I make a nice smooth chipping motion during practice than I usually violently stab the clubhead into the ground, hitting the ball fat (if I make contact, that is not always guaranteed). My short game horrible due to this and I have no idea how to fix it.

[Brad Wilbur]

To echo Craig's comment above, changing to left solved my yipping.  Occasionally I'll try right-handed (with someone else's putter), and am reminded why I switched. Evidently, the brain doesn't cross over yip-wise.  How bad was I?  You know you're bad when people look the other way while you putt.

[mike_beene]

a buy I play with who is a very low handicap has cured his chip yips by chipping with just his right hand.He chips very well that way,becoming a pure body chipper vs his hands jabbing.

[Doug Siebert]

This is kind of timely, I almost felt like I had the onset of yips when I played Sunday afternoon.  I took 21 putts on the front nine, 38 total, with only 3 one putts and 5 three putts between the 6th and 13th holes!  Typically I'd three putt maybe once every other round.  I made a couple par saving four footers on 14th and 17th and rolled in a 12 footer for birdie on the 18th so hopefully it was just 12 holes of pretty much the worst putting I've ever had rather than the onset of the yips

[Kalen Braley]

I don't have the yips putting, but I do have them while chipping. I make a nice smooth chipping motion during practice than I usually violently stab the clubhead into the ground, hitting the ball fat (if I make contact, that is not always guaranteed). My short game horrible due to this and I have no idea how to fix it.

RIchard,

Have u tried just playing all of your chips like bump and run shots and using a 7 iron or something?  In a few cases like over water or a bunker this may not work...but it could help out.

For the longest time I would hit hozzle rockets when chipping.  I finally discovered it was a setup problem and its fixed now...but it was so bad for awhile I would putt from 20-30 yards off the green.

[Dan Kelly]

For those of us who are particularly suggestible, this is THE MOST DANGEROUS THREAD EVER!

[Dan Herrmann]

Check out "Tour Tempo".  They have tones you use for putting that can really help.