Yips - Anyone had them and cured them

Had a horrid time with them. Tried cack handed and the claw.
For me it was the right hand taking over and a big break down of the left wrist. Still happens now and again if I don't concentrate on keeping back of left hand straight.
Was thinking of getting a longer putter and using it like bryson, running up the left arm.

I find the claw uncomfortable but it does eliminate the yip for me. Long putts, esp if theyre uphill, are my trigger. I miss short ones too but I dont yip them. The long ones, I have to resort to the claw.

Johnny Miller had the same issue, he called it the reverse yips. Said it ended his career.

You need to break the mental link with the physical act of hitting the ball (be it putting or chipping or even driving)

Sometimes it can be something like changing your grip or even looking at the hole rather than the ball, but its not a physical problem, these physical changes are attempting to overcome the psychological problem by breaking the link.

If its with the putter I would try putting while looking at the hole or even putting left handed.

Goldenjohn wrote: »

Putting

Typo above, try putting while looking at the hole instead of the ball

ShivasIrons wrote: »

The 'Yips' or an involuntary action when putting or chipping are exceptionally rare, so rare that it's very very unusual to see a genuine case.


Most, as in nearly all, cases of the 'yips' stem from poor technique and can be easily cured.

Would disagree with the latter half of this. Yips can affect any level of player, so cannot be dismissed as simply the result of poor technique. Too many world class players have either been affected or had their careers ended because of them, and it goes beyond chipping and putting. Driving yips ended Seve's career. Ditto David Duval, both former world number 1s, the latter of whom was ranked at one time in the late 90s as the best driver of the ball in the world via the total driving stat.

Hal Sutton got the chipping yips and that did for him. Johnny Miller's putter issues Ive already mentioned. Langer can only putt with the long putter now, but he of course won many times with a standard length putter and a conventional grip and technique in the 80s.

The yips are utterly psychological. Bernhard Langer has been the player he is on tour, surrounded by the best coaches, playing partners and practice facilities in the world for long enough to know exactly what technique he needs to employ to hit a 10 foot putt with a standard putter. But the yips means he cant do it. The technique is fine but then breaks down because of a mental 'jolt' that strikes the player, usuallly on the downswing but sometimes evolving to the point where even getting the club back becomes difficult. That Tiger Woods managed to overcome his own purported dose of the chipping yips to the point where he won the Masters in their aftermath is testament to the power of his golfing mind and tenacity, because almost nobody gets them at that level and recovers to that extent.

Anybody whos had them to any extent will know what it is to literally fear walking up to a drive, a chip or a putt because of the yips. Until you go through them properly, the concept of them must seem almost ludicrous, but they are devastating and way beyond a simple error in one's technique.

Goldenjohn wrote: »

I got so frustrated I putted with a wedge for a few holes, changed to various styles of putter, I’m now putting left below right which brought some success but had a few yips on Sunday after a few weeks yip free.

I'd definitely try looking at the hole, you almost trick your brain into not knowing when to yip.

Similar story to many of the above posters. Got the putting yips, was all in the right hand for a RH putter - the key (for me) was to take the right hand out of the stroke as much as possible.

One thing that worked for short while was to keep the same grip, but grip ultra tight with the LH and ultra light with the RH. That worked for a while before I shook them off.

A year later, they returned with a vengeance. This time I changed to claw, again all LH with the RH just sitting there for balance (literally only have 2 fingers of the RH on the putter - see Sergio and Phil). This got rid of the yips overnight, but had an adjustment period to get the stroke solid and the distance control back where it was.

Still don't think I putt as well as the old pre-yip grip, but gives me confidence that I won't yip. I reckon I need to get practicing a bit more with it.