sports psychologist #yips

Quahog217

Hi, my chippings yips are ruining my game. In practice my chipping is really good, but when im on the course, its thin or fat shots all day. My handicap is 5 so its almost impossible to have a good score at the minute.
My problem is 100 percent mental. Im terrified over the simplest chip or pitch shot.
My question is has anyone tried a sports psychologist or hypnotherapy for there yips?
Ive seen some stuff online about it, just wondering if any of you guys have tried it.
Cheers, quahog.

luvthegame

I had the putting yips for about a year and managed to figure out a way to get rid of them. I had the chipping yips very very briefly but they went away on their own. I don't usually post on forums but cos i understand what you are going through i will try to help.

I looked into some hypnotherapy cd's and tried them but they didn't work for me.

You're bang on when you say its 100% mental. And obviously its fear. Thoughts/Emotions/Physical all linked. Nobody understands how bad it is until they experience it. Your brain has whats called plasticity, (whenever you learn something new, maybe a new dance move or skill it develops new neural pathways) so its programmable. Unfortunately the longer the yips exist the more they get 'programmed' into your head.

So you need to figure out a way to reprogram your brain. Each time you change something you have an opportunity. So i would start with something significant so your brain will wake up and take notice. So for instance I changed to left hand low which felt totally different and was a good start. That maybe wont work so well for chipping so you could try something physical that you would normally never do while playing golf that your brain will take notice. Maybe maximum grip strength or unusual stance or even Jason Days crazy eye movements (hide that from your playing partners ) You are trying to change the focus of your brain from the usual yips situation to something new. If you find something then you need to ingrain it by using it on the course.

If you have any questions you can PM me and ill be glad to try and help you.

Quahog217

luvthegame wrote: »

I had the putting yips for about a year and managed to figure out a way to get rid of them. I had the chipping yips very very briefly but they went away on their own. I don't usually post on forums but cos i understand what you are going through i will try to help.

I looked into some hypnotherapy cd's and tried them but they didn't work for me.

You're bang on when you say its 100% mental. And obviously its fear. Thoughts/Emotions/Physical all linked. Nobody understands how bad it is until they experience it. Your brain has whats called plasticity, (whenever you learn something new, maybe a new dance move or skill it develops new neural pathways) so its programmable. Unfortunately the longer the yips exist the more they get 'programmed' into your head.

So you need to figure out a way to reprogram your brain. Each time you change something you have an opportunity. So i would start with something significant so your brain will wake up and take notice. So for instance I changed to left hand low which felt totally different and was a good start. That maybe wont work so well for chipping so you could try something physical that you would normally never do while playing golf that your brain will take notice. Maybe maximum grip strength or unusual stance or even Jason Days crazy eye movements (hide that from your playing partners ) You are trying to change the focus of your brain from the usual yips situation to something new. If you find something then you need to ingrain it by using it on the course.

If you have any questions you can PM me and ill be glad to try and help you.

Thanks for the reply, funnily enough if I chip right hand only on the course it works ok, maybe I might try that for a while, I can only imagine the funny looks and comments, but better than hitting the thins and fats I suppose, ha ha.

ShivasIrons

The yips are rarely just mental. A technical fault occurs first which leads to poor results and then the resultant mental issues.

In order to cure them you need to fix the technical fault as well as the mental issues together. Fixing just the mental issues will still leave the technical problem and the mental issues will come back.

When you mention that you chip will right hand only, this implies that your problem isn't 100% mental. That a change in technique leads to better results. Head off to a golf coach before a psychologist.

Kingswood Rover

I was an atrocious chipper about 15 years ago, it had been one of my strong points and it actually in a way caused me to fall out of love for the game, i did not play for 8 years when i came back playing i was very conscious of how was i going to prevent this from re occurring.Similar to the poster talking about something new and new neural pathways i made a non negotiable decision with myself only to chip with an 8 iron and to practice regularly with such. It worked my confidence around the greens became bullet proof and i started using the wedge after about 6 months. When i look back at all the skulled shots i wonder what the Fcuk was wrong and realized that it must of been the yips. One good tip i used from Severiano Ballesteros was practicing chipping under a bench or chair placed about 20 feet with a seven iron keeping the ball air born as it goes under, it forces you to commit to the shot. Another tip i would give is take your 8 iron and practice loads around the greens of your home club and then bring the thoughts of all those lovely practice chips you executed when in a similar spot into competition....right i am off to cut the grass.

Quahog217

ShivasIrons wrote: »

The yips are rarely just mental. A technical fault occurs first which leads to poor results and then the resultant mental issues.

In order to cure them you need to fix the technical fault as well as the mental issues together. Fixing just the mental issues will still leave the technical problem and the mental issues will come back.

When you mention that you chip will right hand only, this implies that your problem isn't 100% mental. That a change in technique leads to better results. Head off to a golf coach before a psychologist.

I have tried a few different coaches and the last guy who is one of the top coaches in munster agreed that it was a mental flaw and thought the best way forward was to try a completely new technique, almost like learning to chip all over again, such as left hand low, right hand only or switching to left handed chipping.
I think I need to give him a call and make plan.

Quahog217

Kingswood Rover wrote: »

I was an atrocious chipper about 15 years ago, it had been one of my strong points and it actually in a way caused me to fall out of love for the game, i did not play for 8 years when i came back playing i was very conscious of how was i going to prevent this from re occurring.Similar to the poster talking about something new and new neural pathways i made a non negotiable decision with myself only to chip with an 8 iron and to practice regularly with such. It worked my confidence around the greens became bullet proof and i started using the wedge after about 6 months. When i look back at all the skulled shots i wonder what the Fcuk was wrong and realized that it must of been the yips. One good tip i used from Severiano Ballesteros was practicing chipping under a bench or chair placed about 20 feet with a seven iron keeping the ball air born as it goes under, it forces you to commit to the shot. Another tip i would give is take your 8 iron and practice loads around the greens of your home club and then bring the thoughts of all those lovely practice chips you executed when in a similar spot into competition....right i am off to cut the grass.

Thanks for the reply kingswood, I chip using my hybrid mostly now and have become very good at it, my main problem is pitching. Give me a simple pitch over a bunker and the fear of god enters my body and the results are horrendous. A few nice smooth practice swings, then a tense dippy wristy stabby flick at the ball which not only results in a double bogey but so much embarrassment aswell.

Russman

Purely IMO, so take it with a pinch of salt. I think if its a fear thing then the best way to get past it is to put things in perspective. If you blade/duff it, what's the worst thing that can happen ? You shoot a bad score or lose a hole/match. Your friends and family will still like you, the world will keep turning and there will be another round next week.
Likewise, if you play a good chip, you'll have a good score or hole, and next week people will mostly have forgotten.
The worst that can happen isn't so bad and the best isn't all that great either. Your score is just a number don't let it define you. Try to free yourself up and play like when you were a kid. Try to hole the chip shot instead of make contact or get it on the green.

From a technique point of view, if you've had a few lessons presumably your technique is ok, so maybe just try to be very positive with every chip/pitch and to heck with the consequences and see how that works. I don't mean blasting it 10 feet past all the time, just pick the shot you're going to hit and hit it. Like a penalty taker picking which side he's going to hit it and committing to that, no matter what the keeper does.

Quahog217

Russman wrote: »

Purely IMO, so take it with a pinch of salt. I think if its a fear thing then the best way to get past it is to put things in perspective. If you blade/duff it, what's the worst thing that can happen ? You shoot a bad score or lose a hole/match. Your friends and family will still like you, the world will keep turning and there will be another round next week.
Likewise, if you play a good chip, you'll have a good score or hole, and next week people will mostly have forgotten.
The worst that can happen isn't so bad and the best isn't all that great either. Your score is just a number don't let it define you. Try to free yourself up and play like when you were a kid. Try to hole the chip shot instead of make contact or get it on the green.

From a technique point of view, if you've had a few lessons presumably your technique is ok, so maybe just try to be very positive with every chip/pitch and to heck with the consequences and see how that works. I don't mean blasting it 10 feet past all the time, just pick the shot you're going to hit and hit it. Like a penalty taker picking which side he's going to hit it and committing to that, no matter what the keeper does.

Your totally right, I do try this and sometimes it works. Its funny because im often standing over a pitch shot thay doesnt matter in the slightest, and I will still get tense over it even though im telling myself to just hit it and that it doesnt matter.
I noticed watching the Canadian open at the weekend that graham de laet has the chipping yips. Dont know if any of you guys saw it, it tough to watch a pga tour player going through it but I have to say it made me feel a little bettet.