Tiger has the yips?

[Alex B]

He was just missing more greens. Only natural to have fewer putts when your GIR % is lower, as Alex B posted. And vice versa, if he's leading the tour in GIR then his putts per round will go up. That's why I hate that stat. Tiger was then and remains the best mid range par putter I have ever seen.

Yes, but remember: the putting numbers that I posted are putts

per GIR , not total putts (which, I agree, is a nearly pointless stat). But, if two players are equal putters, the one who hits it closer to the hole will have fewer putts per GIR. Players who hit the ball closer to the hole in regulation will also generally have more GIR, because they are better ball-strikers. Therefore, my hypothesis was that Tiger will have slightly fewer putts per GIR when he is hitting more GIR) because he is hitting the ball closer to the hole on average. Although the number or percentage of GIR is removed from the putts-per-GIR stat (that's the point), the numbers are still related. Basically, my point is that not all GIR are equal. For example, although putting is the best part of my mediocre game, I average more than 2 putts per GIR. Why? Because I'm a bad ball-striker, on the few occasions when I do hit a green in regulation, I'm generally 40 feet away. Someone of my putting ability who averages 20 feet away from the hole each GIR will have a lower putts-per-GIR average than I. So, since both total putts and putts-per-GIR do not accurately measure a player's putting prowess (although the latter option certainly comes closer to the truth than the former), what is the best way to do so? I suggest noting players' percentages from distances: player A makes 95% of putts from 0-5 feet, 55% of putts from 6-10 feet, etc., al the way up through 30+ feet. Using a formula, we could boil these raw numbers down to an objective reading of a player's putting performance. Two notes about my suggestion: 1. Weird things can happen with these stats. I remember reading that Brad Faxon ranked 2nd on tour one year in putting average from 10-15 feet, 3rd from 20-25 feet, and in the 100s from 15-20 feet. Bizarre. 2. I would also propose keeping separate stats for birdie putts, par putts, etc. Another article from a few years back noted that amateurs are more likely to make 10-footers for birdie than for par, whereas pros are far more likely to make 10-footers for par than for birdie. (I may have flipped amateurs and pros... watch out.) Detailed stats like this can be fun... for example, if player A makes 95% of 0-5 footers for birdie but only 83% for par, does that mean he's a bit of a gagger? If player B has two-putted all but 2 of his 42 eagle putts during the last three years, is he content to just lag it up a tap in for birdie? Does he lack the killer instinct? Obviously, it's possible to over-read these numbers (see note 1), but they still are fun and sometimes surprisingly meaningful. Any suggestions for another method to analyze putting skill? Tweaks or critiques to mine?

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

My bad. Yes, I was referring to total putts. However, my general point remains the same. Tiger doesn't have Johnny Miller disease. Or some early symptom of it.

[iacas]

Plus, seeing as how the yips are a mental problem, not a physical problem, it's unlikely Tiger will ever have them.

Ding ding ding ding!!! We have a winner.

Putting isn't horribly physical. Equating the yips to the full swing is dumb.

[pjsnyc]

A fun article to read I suppose, tho I'm gonna have to disregard it because 'the golf swing of the future' looks a lot like how I USED to swing my driver (banana slices that go maybe 180 yds at most).

All these stats (while useful to follow your own game to see where you might want to improve) equate to paralysis by analysis when looking from the outside in...I mean cummon - the article is basically saying Tiger sucks at putting when we all know this can't really be true. He hits em when they count (Dubai and the Arnold Palmer this year to name a couple) and we all know Tiger's mental game is boss.

[bunkerputt]

In honor of this Prichard guy, I came up with my own conjecture, followed by some proof, followed by a money-making scheme:

Conjecture: "All golf instruction is completely wrong"

Proof: Golf instruction is directed at those who need instruction and are trying to improve. But the average handicap hasn't gone down at all in the last 30 years. Therefore, all of this instruction hasn't mattered at all because it is completely wrong.

Money-making scheme: Send me money and I'll gladly teach you absolutely nothing, which implies, according to my way of reasoning that you'll improve.

Incidentally, "my way of reasoning" is also called Denying the Antecedent .

[The Recreational Golfer]

Tiger missed an awfully lot of short putts this weekend. Saturday he missed from two, four, and six feet. Yesterday on the back nine, I forget which hole, he missed from under three feet. There might have been others over the weekend I haven't heard about.

It used to be that those short putts were money. He just didn't miss them. Period. Now, you watch because there's the chance that he will.

So I ask, does Tiger have the yips? Say what you want about his swing, but I have never seen him miss the kind of putts like he has so far this year. This weekend's performance was painful to watch.

[saevel25]

Nope, i don't think so. Alot of it, i think was him not being firm in the center, he treid to play more break on those fast greens. Also, some of those putts i think he got a bit complacent.

[inthehole]

How about after one of his missed puts, he ran up to it & hit it in from just about as long (2 ft or so) WITH ONE HAND without even squaring up to it.      That was rediculous ... could you imagine if he missed that non-chalont putt - it was no tap in ?!?!      That would have been epic - and probably would have cost him more golf fans than his scandal last year ....

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by inthehole

How about after one of his missed puts, he ran up to it & hit it in from just about as long (2 ft or so) WITH ONE HAND without even squaring up to it.      That was rediculous ... could you imagine if he missed that non-chalont putt - it was no tap in ?!?!      That would have been epic - and probably would have cost him more golf fans than his scandal last year ....

Putting with one hand is part of his practice routine (at least it used to be) , so really not that risky.

[BallStriker]

Ridiculous.....this is Augusta National (a la 16 on the stimp meter if you believe Brad Faxon's estimation).....If you watched every putt from every player in the field (like you had the opportunity to do with Tiger), you would see PLENTY of short misses and would think half the field has the yips......

[walk18]

Ridiculous.....this is Augusta National (a la 16 on the stimp meter if you believe Brad Faxon's estimation).....If you watched every putt from every player in the field (like you had the opportunity to do with Tiger), you would see PLENTY of short misses and would think half the field has the yips......

+1. yips?? Come on, ridiculous question.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by walk18

Quote:

Originally Posted by BallStriker

Ridiculous.....this is Augusta National (a la 16 on the stimp meter if you believe Brad Faxon's estimation).....If you watched every putt from every player in the field (like you had the opportunity to do with Tiger), you would see PLENTY of short misses and would think half the field has the yips......

+1. yips?? Come on, ridiculous question.

Weren't they saying that the pins were all in "slightly" different places this year? He putted poorly on Saturday, at least not like his old self, but a highlight package full of missed opportunities could be put together for almost every player in the field. Not every player finished with 2-4 biries or chipped in on 18. Did they all have the yips?

[Zeph]

No. It was just Augusta and him not having practiced putting as lately.

[umpiremark]

What do you think Stevie thinks when Tiger misses .... from short range.

Tiger: "Frickin' frack, frazzle ...."

Stevie; " DOH !!! Mercedes; cross it off ...

Tiger: "Oiy, freegin', frizzle, frop ..."

Stevie: " DOH !!! Bently, cross it off ....

Tiger: "ooofff ... Yimminee crickets."

Stevie: DOH !!! Flying lessons, cross it off the list ..."

I'm no expert, but was at Augusta on Friday (before it got really hot for the weekend) ... and sitting at 15 for a while, watching those pros navigate that green (and 16 we could see from our seats). It's like putting on a hardwood floor. With breaks and bends and bumps.

[caniac6]

I think Tiger's greatest strength was his ability to make the big putt when it was most needed. Right now he is putting like an average player. If Foley is blaming this on lack of practice, Tiger needs to get a putting coach as well as a swing coach. Last time I checked, that 3 foot putt counted just as much as a 300 yard drive. It's a lot easier to get sonething out of an ok ball striking round with good putting than getting something from a good ball striking round with poor putting.

[ND Fan]

Speaking form experience... Tiger does not have the yips.  If he did he would have missed the cut by 10 shots on those greens.  What he lacks is confidence.  That's all putting is.  Did anyone see that Jim Nantz thing before the Masters on Sunday?  Those guys used the wristy old style putting  with no problem, mostly because they believed they would make em.

[zeg]

I don't think these were yips.  It seemed to me (and I think Faldo commented on this) that he was hitting his lines, just picking the wrong ones.  Yips, to my understanding, are randomly missing your line.

It's a shame for him not to be making the putts, but he is still working to get his long game under control, and even for someone who spends all day every day practicing, there's only so many hours in the day.  It doesn't seem to me that his scoring is yet limited by his putting, even if it could be a bit better.  Even Tiger can't rely on making long putts every hole, he's got to be setting up more short putts.  That's the key to making more short putts.....

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by ND Fan

Speaking form experience... Tiger does not have the yips.  If he did he would have missed the cut by 10 shots on those greens.  What he lacks is confidence.  That's all putting is.  Did anyone see that Jim Nantz thing before the Masters on Sunday?  Those guys used the wristy old style putting  with no problem, mostly because they believed they would make em.

Was that the thing with the 4 man scramble skins thing at one fo Jack's courses? Watson looked good (really good) and that long bomb Jack drained (the one where Miller wanted to use his lob wedge) was incredible. It was pure hit and hope for Jack, but he hit it with conviction.