Putting Yips Thread

[dagolfer]

I normally shoot in the high 40's during a nine hole round. I have about 6 weeks till school golf tryouts come around. I would like to try to be shooting under 45 consistently by then. I am highly capable of it, but i have these random yips at times. Yesterday i had an 70 yard shot into a green to set up a birdie opportunity and i bladed the shot and ended up double bogeying the hole. I have they other times while hitting irons into a green i mis hit it and it cost me birdie or par. but it is only one or two times during around and it kills my score. What should i do? Just hit the ball and don't think about the birdie opportunity that i will have? I think i try to hard in these situations, please help.

[LottaBalata]

I would def. say that your adrenaline gets going when you start thinking, "HEY! I could make birdie here!"

You stand over it too long, you put too much thought into it.

For me, I TRY, to treat every shot the same. Whether I'm saving double bogey, or I'm trying for birdie.

I always try to keep my pre-shot routine the same. Which includes a few whispers in my own ear. . ."Keep your head down and level, slow take-away, stay down on it, and release the club."

That's my own pre-shot. If you work on a consistent pre-shot routine, it shouldn't matter where or what kind of shot, or what score you're going for--you should be more consistent.

Also, get some lessons if you can afford it and have someone show you exactly what's up!

GLUCK

[JMReynolds]

  LottaBalata said:

I would def. say that your adrenaline gets going when you start thinking, "HEY! I could make birdie here!"

I had this problem when I was in High School doing my 1st tryout. Over analyzing situations gets you into a lot of trouble. Great advice also in this post; maintain the same pre-shot routine regardless of the situation, you'll find yourself with more GIR and Fairways hit off the tee box, leading to those lower scoring rounds you desire =]

[BSweet]

I looked it up on Wikipedia and they describe it like a medical condition. I don't think I've ever "yipped" a putt. They say a lot of older players experience this "condition", and I am only 20 years old.

Have you ever experienced yips and if so how do you fix it?

Personally I think it's mental and caused by lack of confidence.

[klaymon]

It's a mental condition (like you said, lack of confidence or fear) with physical manifestations such as jabbing at the ball. A friend of my father-in-law had them when he putted. He ended up trying a belly-putter and it apparently took care of it.

[mikelz]

  BSweet said:

I looked it up on Wikipedia and they describe it like a medical condition. I don't think I've ever "

I bolded the words you never say to a golfer.

There's another one that begins with S. I hope nobody else responds so I won't have to see this subject line again ;)

[Andy_Mac]

it just recently became a recognized as a condition I believe... its basically a nervous twitch on short putts causing you to miss them.

[BSweet]

If you shank the ball that's acceptable. Single digit handicappers hit the occasional hosel rocket. A full shot is much more complicated than a putt. Putting is simple. Straight back...straight forward...like pool. The yips are a joke.

[Naterater]

Just ask Johnny Miller about it!!

[Andy_Mac]

  BSweet said:

If you

Another chapter of words a golfer should never say.

[RemyM]

Ask Johny Miller, because he had them bad.
Dig up Shell's Wonderfull World of Golf where he played Jack Nicklaus at the Olympic Club. It got so bad they stopped showing him putt. He had about seven 3 putts. I think Jack beat him by 10 shots.

[dagolfer]

Pre shot routine is pretty good it is just i get pumped up and it is the letting go of basic fundamentals that cause the bad shots. I figured i just have to get over the ball and just hit it with no extra thought involved.

[iacas]

  BSweet said:

The yips are a joke.

You started the thread, dude. Methinks the joke lie elsewhere, and that you're tempting the golf gods enough that you're likely to come down with them. Good luck!

They're not a joke to those afflicted with 'em. Hank Haney had 'em with his driver for awhile, IIRC. So did Brad Faxon.

[Bogie Hokie]

I had the problem with thinking too much the other day. I had to this point 5 pars in a row, the first time I have accomplished this many pars in 9 holes, let alone in a row. So I am on the green again in two on the par 4 7th hoping to make a 6th consecutive par. I knock the first putt close, 2 feet from the hole. Easy, right? I eye up the shot, it will break left so aim right edge. I'm thinking to myself, 6 in a row! I line up the shot and pull it left, right over the edge. I bogey the hole as well as the 8th and double the 9th.
I shot a 41 on the back nine, my best 9 ever although I really wanted to shoot under 40.

[BSweet]

  iacas said:

You started the thread, dude. Methinks the joke lie elsewhere, and that you're tempting the golf gods enough that you're likely to come down with them. Good luck!

I don't understand how you can "yip" a driver??? lol.

[worst_shot_ever]

Since you asked, assuming you want a serious answer and assuming I'm not out of order for quoting, here's what Stan Utley has said about them:

"From what I can figure, the yips come from a subconscious effort to try to correct an error in the stroke. For example, your brain subconsciously knows that you're aimed wrong on a two-footer, and tries to short circuit your muscles to correct it. Have that happen more than a few times and it'll wreck your confidence. It's certainly hard to get rid of totally. I'm not going to say it's never a mental thing, or never a nervous thing, but I'll say that it's usually some kind of flaw in the stroke itself that leads up to it. I think a player who strokes it better or different has a good chance to overcome it. Better technique leads to more consistent contact, which will help anyone's confidence increase."

-- Stan Utley, The Art of Putting p.104 (Gotham Books 2006).

[BSweet]

  worst_shot_ever said:

Since you asked, assuming you want a serious answer and assuming I'm not out of order for quoting, here's what Stan Utley has said about them:

I now understand what a yip is in terms of putting, but I don't understand what a yipped drive is? What is the result?

[iacas]

  BSweet said:

I now understand what a yip is in terms of putting, but I don't understand what a yipped drive is? What is the result?

Perhaps you could go to google and type something like "driver yip hank haney" in and see where it takes you. The first link that appeared when I did that was pretty helpful.