I've got a nasty case of the Y*ps!!!

[Bigvivec]

I wrote this last Sunday when I was deep in the throes of the yips...really and truly, body would actually recoil in the stroke...had been that way off and on for a month...wrote this and practiced a few things earlier this week and the yips have disappeared and I got my stroke back...putting this up because although it should be on the banned words list, it is a good topic to discuss...


I’ve got the yips…

Not something that I wanted to admit to myself, but I have a full blown case of the yips…and the more I try the worse it seems to get…
I have struggled with the putter before, but never to this degree…I am missing short putts like it is my job, and pulling and pushing the longer ones all over the green…
I “cheated” today, playing with two putters, one my usual and the other a very heavy mallet style that is T shaped with obnoxious alignment lines…started with that one and rolled a birdie putt and a par save of 10’…then it started again…switched back and forth until things settled in the back 9 and I finished with a sembalance of a stroke, but I have never experienced my putting gone so badly awry…I literally jerk up with my left side at impact on the short putts, and over the last few rounds have tried everything including putting one handed, cross handed (left below right), different set ups, multiple practice strokes, and the two putters today…I can’t even get it right at home on the carpet…
Any suggestions?

[coralpro]

Try and insure you are relaxed after taking your stance and always tell yourself before you release it that this one is in the hole. I've never experienced the yips per say unless I feel uncertain of the read. If I tense up during the stroke due to uncertainty then the putt could be pushed or pulled. I consider myself a real good putter and almost always stand up at each putt with the certainty it is going to drop. Doesn't always happen but it allows me to swing freely with no tension. I try to feel as though the club is so loose in my grip that it almost wants to drop from my grasp.

[straightshooter]

Belly putter? Try it with a wood, just to see if you can swing smoothly that way.

[mr3856a]

I have a buddy who's had a case of the chipping/wedge ____'s (I refuse to even write the word) for months now. He's actually resorted to chipping and pitching one-handed. I think it's mental. Whenever we talk about golf, he talks about his ___'s. Whenever he's facing a chip, he brings up his bout with the ___'s - RIGHT BEFORE HE HITS THE SHOT! He's got himself CONVINCED he's got the ___'s, and as such, he's got the ___'s.

I can't even bear to listen to him anymore. We all tell him, "Dude, just STOP TALKING ABOUT IT. You're convincing yourself you can't chip!"

It's annoying to listen to all the time.

I think it's partly mechanical with him, but I don't want to say a word, because I don't want to be involved. I think part of it stems from the fact that he has a WICKED strong grip for his pitches (and mind you, he's a good player, an 8 or so), and I think that just shuts the club down through impact. It's no wonder the *$&% thing won't go in the air.

[JPsuff]

.



There are many types of "yips", but the most common is the result of a combination of too long a backswing and then a decelerating stroke as you swing towards the ball. And all of this stems from a preoccupation with hitting the ball instead of hitting the target.

Try shortening your backswing and work on acceleration.

Here's how I do it and it works like a charm!

First, set yourself up somewhere in "yip" range, say, about 4 to 6 feet from the cup.

Next, setup for your putt as you normally would. Then, from your address position, DON'T TAKE A BACKSWING instead, simply "push" the ball toward the hole from that position. This will educate your muscles and your mind as to how a proper and accelerating through swing should feel. Once you've developed a feel for that through swing, start working with the idea of making your through swing double the length of your backswing.

If you take the putter back, say, 3-inches make sure your follow through is at least 6-inches. If your backswing is 6-inches, your follow through should be 12-inches and so on. All of this teaches acceleration and you'll quickly develop a feel for moving the ball toward the target rather than just tapping it, or slowing down as you approach impact.

The whole idea is to become target oriented and not ball oriented. Most "yips" happen because we're thinking about hitting the ball and then we start to worry about nonsense like mechanics, or aim, or stance or any of the other ten thousand things we think of as we try to do it. By thinking only about "pushing" the ball to the target, you eliminate the concept of hitting the ball altogether and replace it with the idea of moving the ball to a destination. Once you do that, everything else our body is supposed to do to make that happen, happens all by itself, because we're not "thinking" about it.

If you were to stumble over something, you don't begin to analyze what you need to do to catch your balance, right? Instead, your body just does it naturally because the only thing you ARE thinking about is not falling.
Likewise, if all you're thinking about is dropping the ball into that little 4 1/4-inch hole in the ground, your body will know what to do to make that happen, you just have to get out of its way and let it do its thing.


This is the only "drill" I've ever used for putting and it never fails to work its magic and it keeps me putting like a champ.


Try it, Big. I guarantee it will help!


-JP

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by JPsuff

.



There are many types of "yips", but the most common is the result of a combination of too long a backswing and then a decelerating stroke as you swing towards the ball. And all of this stems from a preoccupation with hitting the ball instead of hitting the target.

Try shortening your backswing and work on acceleration.

Here's how I do it and it works like a charm!

First, set yourself up somewhere in "yip" range, say, about 4 to 6 feet from the cup.

Next, setup for your putt as you normally would. Then, from your address position, DON'T TAKE A BACKSWING instead, simply "push" the ball toward the hole from that position. This will educate your muscles and your mind as to how a proper and accelerating through swing should feel. Once you've developed a feel for that through swing, start working with the idea of making your through swing double the length of your backswing.

If you take the putter back, say, 3-inches make sure your follow through is at least 6-inches. If your backswing is 6-inches, your follow through should be 12-inches and so on. All of this teaches acceleration and you'll quickly develop a feel for moving the ball toward the target rather than just tapping it, or slowing down as you approach impact.

The whole idea is to become target oriented and not ball oriented. Most "yips" happen because we're thinking about hitting the ball and then we start to worry about nonsense like mechanics, or aim, or stance or any of the other ten thousand things we think of as we try to do it. By thinking only about "pushing" the ball to the target, you eliminate the concept of hitting the ball altogether and replace it with the idea of moving the ball to a destination. Once you do that, everything else our body is supposed to do to make that happen, happens all by itself, because we're not "thinking" about it.

If you were to stumble over something, you don't begin to analyze what you need to do to catch your balance, right? Instead, your body just does it naturally because the only thing you ARE thinking about is not falling.
Likewise, if all you're thinking about is dropping the ball into that little 4 1/4-inch hole in the ground, your body will know what to do to make that happen, you just have to get out of its way and let it do its thing.


This is the only "drill" I've ever used for putting and it never fails to work its magic and it keeps me putting like a champ.


Try it, Big. I guarantee it will help!


-JP

I have tried it all...

I have gone to the practice green with books laid open on the fringe...

The accelation thing...tried it, and was putting the ball at least as far by the hole as I was from it originally...

I didn't mention it until now because I was hoping that it would go away on it's own...

...and then after posting this it did...it was like the y*ps never existed and I am putting great again...just tweaked my grip a little and dropped my right shoulder...

...funny game...