YIPS Discussion

[DaveLeeNC]

1 hour ago, getitdaily said:

If you had a really bad inside takeaway in the full swing, would you only seek an instructor who had and overcame the same swing flaw?

 

In many cases the YIPS (at least in putting) is not just a swing flaw - it is a very different issue having basically nothing to do with swing mechanics. So ignoring advice from folks with no experience with this issue(s) is (in some cases) a very different animal from requiring personal experience with every swing flaw that you fix. 

 

dave

Edited November 24, 2020 by DaveLeeNC

[Obee]

1 hour ago, RichieHunt said:

I've had very random bouts with the yips whether it be putting or chipping and I've seen various golfers have them.  I will say that whenever I go thru chipping yips it's because I focus too much on technique instead of just hitting the shot and carrying the ball to the target.  

 

But in the end, my experience with any yips and what I've seen from golfers that have them is that there is usually a serious mechanical flaw, often times well before impact.  When I see something like throwing yips in baseball, it's often times about the player getting injured and greatly adjusting their mechanics due to the injury.  Then they get health and their mechanics are so off that they can't overcome the errant throws.  I think the same applies with golf except you're less likely to be injured.  For some reason or another, the golfer starts to utilize mechanics that are out of the range that one can hit consistently hit quality putts with.

 

Generally what I see in golf is it's usually a clubface issue.  Golfers that have been playing for a while develop an ability to better square the clubface.  But if it gets severely open in the backstroke then they end up not being able to square up the face using their normal methods and everything starts to short circuit from there.

 

 

 

 

RH

Richie,

 

With chipping yips, I agree with you. 
 

But putting yips are not chipping yips.

 

I also briefly experienced throwing yips in both high school and college baseball.

[cav5]

I've suffered a mild case basically my whole life. Can get out of it for one or two rounds then creeps back in. In tournaments I don't even pick a line anymore, just feel and go. Aiming a ball or cup out just F's me even more. 

 

I drive the ball on a tour level but struggle the closer I get to the hole. Could be a 60 yard wedge or a 3 footer for par. I'll do the tough part of lagging a 50 footer to 3 feet then miss that one. If I was good at those I'd probably be a +3 lol. I think its all about keeping your eyes in OFF mode, just hard to do LOL. Shooting 2 over par with with no birdies and a few three putts is commonplace for me.

[Badknee]

1 hour ago, cav5 said:

I've suffered a mild case basically my whole life. Can get out of it for one or two rounds then creeps back in. In tournaments I don't even pick a line anymore, just feel and go. Aiming a ball or cup out just F's me even more. 

 

I drive the ball on a tour level but struggle the closer I get to the hole. Could be a 60 yard wedge or a 3 footer for par. I'll do the tough part of lagging a 50 footer to 3 feet then miss that one. If I was good at those I'd probably be a +3 lol. I think its all about keeping your eyes in OFF mode, just hard to do LOL. Shooting 2 over par with with no birdies and a few three putts is commonplace for me.

I have to agree with the lag putting. I have no problem from 20-30 feet getting it close and actually making a few...but the next putt is a totally different animal. I thought about this after contemplating my misspent youth this morning...😉What's the difference between the lag putt and that 3-4 footer? I have to think it goes from putting to a spot in the apex on the long putt to looking at the cup? Your mindset says you should make it...you better make it too "god..dont miss it". Think I'll try putting to a spot behind the hole and see if it can just get in the way. By the way not trying to high jack the OP's thread. Apologies.

[Circaflex]

On 11/22/2020 at 12:18 PM, Zitlow said:

This might help, The next time you're facing a pressure putt close your eyes and use your imagination. Picture yourself in an idyllic setting with a waterfall, birds chirping, butterflies fluttering around, beautiful flowers and five scantily clad international supermodels serving you wine, feeding you grapes and rubbing your feet. 

 

"Grandma wants me to be happy... Shutup Happy, dont feel bad about me. I got my hand back see. You've only just begun... to liveeeeeee"

 

Happy Gilmore happy place - YouTube

[596]

I developed putting and chipping yips about 3 years ago after starting a medication.  I only took those meds for about 30 days and had to stop them they messed me up so bad.

 

As far as putting was concerned, I could actually miss the ball with the putter.  Same with chipping.  I could dig a ditch 6" behind the ball or miss it by 3" over the top.  I almost quit the game.  Before this I was averaging about 28 putts per round.  I could chip up a storm.  I chipped to 3 feet from anywhere.

 

I tried everything with putting.  Name a grip, name a thought, name a stroke, I tried it.  The only thing that worked for me was changing to the claw grip.  I hate it though.  After 3 years there are days where I can use a regular grip from about 5 feet in.  Then there are days I can miss from 1ft with a regular grip.  I have to stay with the claw.  I'm still a pretty good putter using the claw grip.

 

Chipping......My chipping yips got to the point that I could not chip at all, nothing nada.  I could miss the ball facing a 10ft chip.  I spent hours and hours and hours trying different thoughts, technique, clubs, you name it, I tried it.   I now use the claw grip when I chip.  Works great, except its tough to dial in distance compared to using a regular grip.  Again, there are days when I can chip using a regular grip.  I all depends how the body is reacting that day.

 

A few recommendations for yips...

Change your grip

Look at the hole when you putt

Look at a piece of grass behind the ball and focus only on that until the ball is 5 feet or so away

Close your eyes when you practice

 

Everyone is different.  You have to find what works for you, not anyone else.

[Jim Waldron]

I work with golfers (and sometimes athletes from other sports) everyday, from all over the planet, who suffer from yips, and have created a very successful program that cures the yip impulse completely for 90% of my students.

 

There is a lot of mis-information out there in the golf world about the yips: what they are, and how to fix them.

 

Here is a bit of what I have learned in 30 years of teaching golf for a living, with a significant chunk of that time (especially the past 10 years) devoted to curing the yips.

 

1. there are many types of yips, in the three shot categories: long game, short game and putting. Example: unable to start the takeaway, backswing yips, unable to start the forward swing, transition yips, release/impact yips, even finish yips.

 

2. the yip can manifest in the Pivot, upper arms, forearms, wrists or fingers - basically any part of the body.

 

3. Yips are 100% involuntary - which is why they are so frustrating. Your conscious mind - until educated  and trained in proper focus and awareness - is not able to stop them from happening. In fact, any effort to stop the yips will usually make them worse, and can in fact actually trigger the yip.

 

4. Two root causes: 99.5% are slow gradual onset, and the other rare form is instant onset. The latter almost exclusively advanced players and pros who suffer a traumatic meltdown mid-round, often due to inexperience at that point in their career in leading a tournament, the pressure causes one or more consecutive blow up holes = loss of the lead, shame, anger, etc and then the yips show up next round.  Gradual onset is due to a particular type of shot that is often badly missed due to some mechanical or tempo or balance issue, which over time erodes confidence, till one day you have ZERO confidence with that club or shot. The unconscious mind responds to that lack of confidence by creating the Yip Impulse, which ironically, has the positive intention to help you to NOT hit that bad shot.  Problem is unconscious mind does not have the ability to recognize the real world and shot outcomes, it is a "Process Machine" only. Which is why the yips tend to repeat once they get rooted in your psyche.

 

5. Emotions, awareness/focus, pre-shot routine and mechanical changes are part of the cure.  Long term, the ultimate cure is to learn how to de-couple your self esteem from shot outcome and score. Which involves learning how to switch off fear and switch on confidence. Short term, you learn how to recognize your triggers and then learn how to control your mental state so that your mind no longer creates those triggers in the first place. PSR helps to lower the emotional intensity and also helps to calm the mind, which are two proven ways of avoiding the yip triggers.

 

6. In general, with some exceptions (mainly poor short game technique), mechanical changes alone do not have a very good track record, except sometimes in the short term due to placebo effect.

[Soloman1]

I had the yips for a couple of years so bad 35 years ago that I was reduced to putting left-handed, cross-handed, wore cart mitts and closed my eyes when I putted. If I had a putt hanging on the lip, I could have had a 6-footer coming back.

 

I started looking at the hole (the exact blade of grass on the edge of the cup where I expected the ball to fall in) for putts under 10 feet or so.

 

I was looking at the expected result and not the process.

 

For me, that fixed it. I don't have to do it now, except in rare situations on some 3-4 footers. It may not work for you, but I made six birdies today and burned the edge of a few others.

[bogeypro]

Last year, I developed the full swing yips.  I actually quit golf for 2 months.  I think it was because I had been really working on my swing mechanics.  I had gotten too technical.  My mind was too cluttered.  I could barely take the club back.. had no feel and no idea where the ball was going.  At the time, I was about a +1 handicap.  

 

I literally had to start over from the beginning.  It started with a new preshot routine.  I learned the swing from impact backwards versus traditional sequence of takeaway, backswing, etc..  

 

it's been a long road this year, but I've had great improvement.  I hope to get back to where I was before the yips.  

[swagee]

On 11/21/2020 at 7:29 AM, DaveLeeNC said:

I have never been a good putter (on a handicap adjusted basis). A good while back a case of the yips showed up (DOB 1949). In my case it was like there was an invisible force that would move the clubface right before impact, but the face would swivel on the shaft and I would not feel that happening. It was a short and long putt issue that was much reduced on the practice green. I 'fixed it' with a claw grip. 

 

I think it is sneaking back in as (on a much smaller scale) I am again encountering this (smaller scale) directional problem. And I don't know how to 'work on it' as it (at the moment) is not a practice green phenomenon. 

 

So I guess I need a mechanical change that is bigger than the one that I have made such as a legal broomstick putter or maybe crosshanded, or possibly that thing that Bryson does. 

 

But just trolling for comments or other perspectives - thanks. 

 

dave

 

ps. A very good golfer (now deceased) who was a friend of a friend encountered that late in life and solved it by putting left handed (actually used a Bullseye type putter and putted long putts righty and short ones lefty (or the other way around - not sure). 

 

Hi Dave,

I can relate to that, mate. I used to experience the yips u just described, and quite often too. I tried different putting grips but kept going back to the same conventional one due to muscle memory.

Then I realized it's not how I grip the club, but rather my wrists' action that ultimately affect the club face at impact. 

Hours of deep thoughts later, I had an eureka moment: GRIP SIZE. The smaller the grip size, the more pressure u have to apply to keep ur club and wrists firm. However, applying more pressure to a putting stroke is disastrous since u'll lose all feelings. So u fix that by relaxing ur hands. But relaxing ur hands with a small grip size is equal to loosing grip, which leads to the club slightly moving in ur hands, and ur wrists subconsciously move to counter these movements. Hence the yips...

I started to notice more and more pros switching to larger grip sizes. And I did too. It gives u a firmer grip with less pressure, hence the winning formula. Even the Tiger experimented with it a few months back. 

With that said, try to change the grip size and see if it works. 

I hope it does.

Cheers

[peterjackson]

I agree that if you are looking for advice on the yips, it's best coming from someone who has both experienced them and fixed them. For what it's worth. I'm in that camp. I struggled for decades but found a way out. Here is my summary of what was important to me:

1. Identify exactly what your yip is. In most cases it's the wrist of your dominant (right) hand misbehaving
2. Choose a radically new grip (you need a radical change to reset things) which limits the movement of your problem hand. e.g. If it's your right wrist like me, consider the claw or pencil grip. There are many alternative grips, but just make sure you use one that removes your problem area's ability to get involved. It may feel weird but you'll get used to it.
3. Choose a putter that will limit the effects of a yip. Typically, that means something high MOI, slightly heavier, maybe counterbalanced, probably face-balanced, probably a mallet rather than a blade. Consider armlock putting too. Bigger grips may help.
4. Develop a consistent, automatic routine that has no pauses, no opportunity for your conscious brain to get involved.
5. Think only of your target when you're on the course (not easy)
6. Play like you're a kid and you don't care (this is the hardest bit!)
7. Yippers are hesitant and negative. Be positive: When you practice putting, play games that force you to hit the ball past the hole
8. Acceptance: Loads of good putts miss. Most tour pros miss most of their putts. It's normal. Rate yourself only on whether you made a decent stroke and stuck to your routine, not on whether you holed the putt
9. Yips occur at impact, not on the backswing. Yippers flinch at impact. There are several techniques to minimise impact; routine, looking at the hole, closing your eyes, imagining your target in your head, focussing on where the clubhead should be at the end of the stroke....

I think these are the main issues. I went from a middle-aged 5 handicapper who hated putting and considered giving up golf, to a plus handicapper who played in (British) Open Championship Final Qualifying in 2017. It's possible to eradicate the yips from your game, but the best way is to combine as many of the above techniques as possible. It's dangerous to be dependent on a single fix. I hope this helps a little.

 

[DaveLeeNC]

OP here, BTW. 

 

This is playing out in an interesting fashion. My next round is tomorrow and I have no idea if YIPS will be an issue or not. I was messing around on the carpet at home (no YIPS, of course) contemplating what I would do if they showed up on Friday. Then I remembered an old (formerly high end) putter that has been in the garage for a number of years. 

 

This Taylormade Rossa Monza (maybe some other names as well) started out in life as a bargain ebay purchase - part of a abandoned experiment with broomstick putting back when it was legal. I ultimately rejected that putting style and cut the putter back to belly putting length. I think that I would putt better with a live porcupine than with belly putting. I admit that I have not tried it, however. Still looking for a conforming porcupine 😀

 

But this putter is now the correct length for "Matt Kucher/Bryson D. style putting". So I tried it on the practice green yesterday with mixed results (I would not say discouraging). Then when I went back to a conventional putter, that felt incredibly unstable. So I am going to give anchored to the forearm putting a try and it is more based on that stability feel than on YIPS considerations. 

 

dave

[peterjackson]

1 hour ago, DaveLeeNC said:

OP here, BTW. 

 

This is playing out in an interesting fashion. My next round is tomorrow and I have no idea if YIPS will be an issue or not. I was messing around on the carpet at home (no YIPS, of course) contemplating what I would do if they showed up on Friday. Then I remembered an old (formerly high end) putter that has been in the garage for a number of years. 

 

This Taylormade Rossa Monza (maybe some other names as well) started out in life as a bargain ebay purchase - part of a abandoned experiment with broomstick putting back when it was legal. I ultimately rejected that putting style and cut the putter back to belly putting length. I think that I would putt better with a live porcupine than with belly putting. I admit that I have not tried it, however. Still looking for a conforming porcupine 😀

 

But this putter is now the correct length for "Matt Kucher/Bryson D. style putting". So I tried it on the practice green yesterday with mixed results (I would not say discouraging). Then when I went back to a conventional putter, that felt incredibly unstable. So I am going to give anchored to the forearm putting a try and it is more based on that stability feel than on YIPS considerations. 

 

dave

just look out. You might need a bit more loft on it, because the Kooch style delofts the putter. Most armlock putters are around 7degrees. Good luck

[DaveLeeNC]

@peterjackson - I noticed that. Positioning the ball a bit further forward helped a bit. Could be a long term problem. Have to wait and see. Thanks.

 

dave

[The Pearl]

Anybody try or solved the YIPS using side-saddle/face-on putting?  

 

It seems like an obvious solution other than 99% of people could not get over the "stigma".

 

 

[Obee]

1 hour ago, The Pearl said:

Anybody try or solved the YIPS using side-saddle/face-on putting?  

 

It seems like an obvious solution other than 99% of people could not get over the "stigma".

 

 

 Randy Haag certainly overcame his enough to win many, many tournaments as a top amateur/mid-am/senior am. He still struggles with them from time-to-time, though. Side-saddle combined with a claw grip on the bottom would seem virtually yip-proof, but you never know.

[cardoustie]

I had them years ago (right hand flip) and went to the "semi-long" putter

 

Used a 44" Yes Natalie for about 4 seasons ... that I anchored just above my stomach and putted from a crouched over position ... my right hand was pencil grip.    My putting in 1 week went from a disaster to making everything.  Only negative was Texas wedges and really long putts initially

 

When anchoring ban came in I simply stayed with a heavy head in my putters and kept my right hand in pencil fashion

 

I am now what my friends call a sl-tty putter .. I'm young Stads .. I think everything inside of 20 feet should drop and I will take anyone on in a putting contest

 

You could also get a long putter and keep it just off your chest like Adam Scott and Bernhard Langer .... 

 

 

[peepee]

I had them for 2 yrs. It's so demoralizing and embarrassing. I laugh when I hear people who have never had them try to give advice.

 

I haven't yipped a putt in a long time. I wud say Peter Jackson post is entirely accurate and sums up my successful approach also.

 

The one key difference is I focused totally on tempo and counted to 6. I always strike on 6. 

Edited November 26, 2020 by peepee

[peterjackson]

1 hour ago, Obee said:

 Randy Haag certainly overcame his enough to win many, many tournaments as a top amateur/mid-am/senior am. He still struggles with them from time-to-time, though. Side-saddle combined with a claw grip on the bottom would seem virtually yip-proof, but you never know.

He seemed to putt just fine (side saddle) when he beat me in a playoff to get in the British Senior Open in 2018!

[DaveLeeNC]

12 hours ago, peterjackson said:

It's possible to eradicate the yips from your game, but the best way is to combine as many of the above techniques as possible. It's dangerous to be dependent on a single fix. I hope this helps a little.

 

So I spent some time on the practice green today. I was using an unanchored long putter, lead hand low, claw grip, eyes closed, grip of 4 inch diameter, side-saddle, putting left handed. It is too early to judge the results as I have yet to make ball contact. 😀😀

 

dave

[Badknee]

Took the Armlock to the practice green Tues. putted looking at the hole. Inside 10-12 feet I couldn't miss didnt work well on long putts...I did that for over 3 hours till the back couldn't stand it.

 

Wednesday matches and I'm pumped with the "new me"..first hole 8 ft for birdie does a 360 and stops on the edge..I tell myself good putt just didnt fall...3 putt 2...3 putt 3..one putt 4 for bogey...5 3putt..

6..6 ft for birdie straight up the hill dont even touch the hole...7..3putt from the fringe wont talk about 8 dbl..9 3 putt 15ft. I'm wound tighter than a cheap timex at this point. Screw looking at the hole.

 

10..3ft for birdie and I can barely pull the putter back...I wallowed it in on the edge..11 3 1/2 ft for birdie...dont even touch the hole...one of the other players says "your letting the toe come over" 12..3 putt..13..12 ft straight down the hill for birdie just have to get it started and boom right in the heart..14 10ft birdie..dont touch the hole and another guy says you're putter face is lined up right of the hole by quite a bit...wth..few holes ago it was the toe coming over..maybe a subconscious effort to counter the toe coming over?

 

Missed a 3 footer for par on 15..16 was a bust bogey and 3 putted 15 from about 20 ft. We couldn't finish because of rain. I'm afraid I've gone down the rabbit hole with this problem. Long lag putts are a breeze, it's the next one at this point that practically causes a panic attack.

 

While having Thanksgiving dinner my daughter asked why my hands were shaking, I hadn't noticed that myself but she asked what were the medications I am taking since being discharged from the hospital a few months ago with heart problems. I'm taking 6 different ones a day and some twice so maybe there's some side effects I need to check up on. Have to go in Monday and have a Cardioversion and hopefully wont have to keep taking all of them. 

 

Long winded post I know but until you've actually experienced "the yips" 😭

Edited November 27, 2020 by Badknee
Spacing

[bluedot]

15 hours ago, peterjackson said:

He seemed to putt just fine (side saddle) when he beat me in a playoff to get in the British Senior Open in 2018!

 

Randy Haag is probably THE guru of side saddle putting, and I think side saddle is probably the best chance for a "cure" to really terminal cases of the yips.  I agree with peepee; a lot of guys give advice about what they THINK are the yips, but they are really just talking about terrible putting.  You have to have 'em to understand the difference.

 

I've had 'em, AND I putt side saddle, but the two aren't really a cause-effect deal.  I had dealt with the yips thru using a giant grip on the putter with my hands in a two-thumb grip and the wrists "pre-broken" at about a 45* angle to the shaft.  I went side saddle a number of years later simply because I wanted to see if there was a way to make more putts, and I do.  When I try to putt conventionally now, I feel like I have a bag over my head; I can't see anything!

 

But as a yip cure, side saddle works, I think, because you are getting rid of one hand and the need for the hands to work together precisely as they have to in conventional putting.  Really, I think all the various other things people try, from left hand low to the claw/saw to arm lock, are ALL just attempts to become more "one handed" when putting.  The really weird one, at least to me, is the unanchored broomstick, simply because facing the hole using binocular vision and swinging your arm the same way you do when you walk, or bowl, or throw a wad of paper at the trashcan, is so natural.   And there is NO wrist break in side saddle, no worry about your body moving; none of that stuff; you just swing your arm. 

 

Disclaimer: there is NOTHING that is yip-proof if your case is severe enough.  But if that's you, it's about other stuff in your life besides golf, which I think have to do with self-image, how you want to be perceived by yourself and others, fear of failure, stuff like that.  If those are the true issues, rather than technique, they'll have to be dealt with some way or another, or they'll creep back in under pressure no matter what technique you are using.

 

 

[nitram]

Long story short Dave, I've never had the yips, although I've been known to have a body spasm when a big $ putt is on the line. Around 15 or so years ago (back in time when the Guerin 2-Bar putter was all the rage) I went to see the old man who taught me golf as a high school junior (he's 96 now) because I was having some "yippy" type issues on some money putts and they were getting worse. He watched me putt a clock drill and a lag drill then led me to a shade tree to the side of the practice green. He basically told me there is nothing wrong with the stroke itself but I was putting too much emphasis on holing the putt. He told me to change my priorities, get back to the pre-shot routine he'd taught me,  and "focus on the roll, rather than the hole". He then proceeded to hand me one ball with a line drawn around the equator and told me to make it roll where the line doesn't bobble. This is the first time I'd seen a line on a ball.

 

From that day forward I committed not rolling a putt without the line. I even bought one of those centrifuge looking things to find the the real equator of the ball and mark accordingly. To say it took some time and a major adjustment is an understatement because my first inclination was it took the "freedom" out of my putting. But this freedom was also the root cause of my spasms. Within 90 days of rolling it like this with the focus change to the quality of the roll, I began to improve. I really don't think about the hole anymore other than a place to stop the ball. I still miss the freedom but it's a small price to pay to eliminate my spasms. 

 

Good luck brother and please keep us updated on how it goes.

 

Todd

 

 

[DaveLeeNC]

I played today (OP here, BTW) with a anchored to the forearm type putter. I learned a few things, I think, but am no closer to a solution at this point. 

 

First my over-all putting was typical or maybe a little better than the average of the last dozen rounds. Still it was five 3-putts and I made nothing longer than 2'. HOWEVER ....

 

On the practice green, as I expected, things felt really solid and controllable. And the first putt of the day was a 50' birdie putt where the stroke felt perfect, feel for the stroke was there, and I ended up with a 1' par putt. That was very encouraging. Then 2 holes later I three-putted from 22'. And the solid feel was a distant memory. 

 

But what became clear is that there is something in my putting stroke (or sense of my putting stroke) that changes on the course vs. practice green. So at least that is something to think about. 

 

I was on the 13th hole and was still not sure that there was a YIPS element to what was going on here. Bad putting is possible without the YIPS. I had a 5' par putt and missed it 6 inches to the right. I honestly felt like there must have been some small pebble on the face of the club that caused the ball to not come off the face square. I asked my playing partner and he verified that I just hit it right. Had the lights gone out at impact I would never have guessed that I had BADLY pushed that putt. Would never have guessed that I pushed it at all.  So the YIPS can definitely sneak in there, and that is good to know. 

 

For now I am sticking with my forearm anchoring and otherwise am not sure exactly how to work on this. But I have to believe that getting better in touch with that solid feel that I can achieve on the practice green will be helpful and this is possibly the same thought as @nitram suggested in the previous post.

 

dave

[Zitlow]

@DaveLeeNCYou're putting way too much pressure on yourself. 

[DaveLeeNC]

3 hours ago, Zitlow said:

@DaveLeeNCYou're putting way too much pressure on yourself. 

 

Could you please expand on what you are saying. I don't  understand the point - or maybe I don't agree with it. Just not sure what you are saying. Thanks.

 

dave

[bluedot]

11 hours ago, DaveLeeNC said:

 

Could you please expand on what you are saying. I don't  understand the point - or maybe I don't agree with it. Just not sure what you are saying. Thanks.

 

dave

 

Personal Opinions coming up:

 

1. Yippers tend to be perfectionists to an even greater degree than most golfers.

 

2. Telling a perfectionist not to worry about it, or not to put pressure on himself, or to just relax, or to not take it so seriously, or whatever iteration of that you what to use is not only not successful, but more often than not is counter-productive because it gives him one more thing to be ticked off about when he can't relax, and does worry about it, and does put pressure on himself, and just can't stop doing that.  At the end of the day, it's who he is, not just when he's putting a golf ball, but in his LIFE!  I learned this the hard way as a HS basketball coach, when it finally dawned on me that telling players who were trying too hard when they shot free throws to "Just relax!".  That was just NOT who they were, so I had to find another way.

 

3. This is a big part of the reason that once somebody has a full-blown case of the yips, a major mechanical change may well be the only way out.  Part of that is shedding scar tissue,  part of it is lowering expectations, and part of it is giving that perfectionist nature something new to work on from Square One.  But a person like that MUST clear the board and start over; they are NOT just going to take it less seriously or not put pressure on themselves.

 

 

[Zitlow]

14 hours ago, DaveLeeNC said:

 

Could you please expand on what you are saying. I don't  understand the point - or maybe I don't agree with it. Just not sure what you are saying. Thanks.

 

dave

 

No problem. Relax your mind and the putts will start falling.