Anyone really cure putting yips?

[upanddown]

Hi.. anyone really cure putting yips and now putt fine now conventionally?  To me, changes like saw grip, long putter, putting left handed, etc aren't cures, they are just work arounds and less effective approaches.  I never yip practing putting, taking a putting lesson etc and putt better conventionally than any other method I've tried.

 

thanks

[naval2006]

Jim Waldron.  Been on this forum for a while. I don’t know now. 

[Socrates]

Cure?  No, I don't think anyone really cures the yips.  Get them under control - Yes.  Had the yips at least 4 times in my days.  First time around I got it under control by controlling my though process on what was makeable and what was reasonable.  Pelz's book on putting really helped.  Practiced putting without a hole for months and just working on the process.

 

Next few times I resorted to putting left handed for periods of time to reset the brain.  Longest span of time LH was 2 years.  Never once have I yipped putting LH for some reason.  I finally found a RH putter head, length and grip combo that I really feel good with.  Been yip free for about 3 years now.  When I feel a yip stroke now, it is all about rushing the stroke.   Do I putt poorly sometimes?  Of course.  But I work on the process of making the stroke and not the result and that usually clears things up.  A big change a number of years ago was changing the stroke pace to one that does not accelerate through the ball.  Smooth back.  Smooth through.   Speed is based on length of swing. 

 

If things ever go bad again, my LH Scotty is waiting patiently in my basement.  Been there for 5 years now.  Getting dusty.

[Petethreeput]

Jim has a program, and I am not privy to the process, but of course it’s possible.  As Monty says, the yip is a response to swing flaw.  I believe it is tied to release inconsistency leading to speed differences.

 

While the other grips may be a band aid, the key to putting is confidence. A grip change can lead to improved confidence. I decided to try LHL to get through it 4 years ago with the intent to go back as soon as I could stand over a 4’er knowing it was going in. Never did go back.

 

I do know a guy who went from 2 to 9 and couldn’t hit a 6” putt. It took 4 years, but he is back to a 2 and putting well without any changes, so it can be done.

[Soloman1]

Yes, I did.

[bladehunter]

2 hours ago, upanddown said:

Hi.. anyone really cure putting yips and now putt fine now conventionally?  To me, changes like saw grip, long putter, putting left handed, etc aren't cures, they are just work arounds and less effective approaches.  I never yip practing putting, taking a putting lesson etc and putt better conventionally than any other method I've tried.

 

thanks

Getting it  under control is the goal.  
 

usually happens on a short putt with some break.  During a pressure situation.  For me usually left to right break .  I’ve combated it with moving the ball up in my stance , and taking my left thumb off the grip and placing it over my right hand.  This makes a right hand only stroke.  Makes sure I release the head. I only do this on those type putts.  It reminds me to feel my right hand working to release the head.   My flinch is a hold on with my left hand. This leaves the face wide open.  It’s rare. But I’ve just eliminated the feel of a strong left hand. Haven had a flinch since.  Which also helps the mind retrain itself even more to not doing that.  

Edited October 24, 2021 by bladehunter

[596]

I got them so bad a few years ago that I could actually miss the ball when putting.  I almost quit golf.  I've tried everything.  Through 2 years and many hours of trial and error, I can putt with a normal grip.  Though I use a claw grip when I play on the course still, I can putt normal grip after about 2 years.  

 

After changing to the claw grip, I'd spend some time at putting practice trying to get my normal grip stroke back.  I started with tiny 1 foot putts, and I'd miss lots of those!!  I slowly over many many months moved slowly further out.  It's taken literally 2 years to get semi comfortable again with a normal grip.  I also noticed that after 100s of hours of practice that my stroke was way too inside.  If I stroke more outside the line, at least its the feeling, my stroke is much smoother and straighter and yips are very minimal.   I also found that the yips were caused by not turning shoulders in the swing.  If I use the shoulders and turn more I can putt with a normal grip.

[Zitlow]

The best cure is to stop obsessing about it. 

[otto6457]

One of my best buddies recovered from the serious yips.  Got to where he couldnt even move the club back.  He actually started crying one afternoon because he was so embarrassed. He had tried everything he could think of and it just kept getting worse.  

 

I wish I could relate some magical cure he found or some new process he worked out.  But he quit golf for 8 years and when he came back, he no longer had the yips.

 

He's not a great putter now, but his stroke is quite normal looking and he enjoys playing golf again.  We never talk about his history with the yips and he never practices his putting.  He's been back now for a little over two years with no issues.  Maybe the long break was the key, or maybe something totally unrelated was the key.  I know it's nice to see him laughing and goofing around on the course again.  He's genuinely one of the nicest guys I've ever known.

[ShortGolfer]

It was for something else but I cured yips by throwing darts and calculating what target to throw to next in my head.

[Haroputt]

I think yips are from overacelleration   compensation to the stroke from whatever going on in the head.  There too much bad instruction about needing to accelerating into ball with putting.  Sometimes a different setup or grip will help create a way to stroke so the speed of putt is more even with any excessive pressing on the accelerator pedal “yip” 
I don’t think it’s necessary to look conventional anymore with putting. So if it works why go back?

Edited October 24, 2021 by Haroputt

[Jim Waldron]

Yes - I have cured hundreds of golfers (and other athletes too) with yips, including very severe yips, think worse than Charles Barkley 

 

Yips are absolutely curable, to the point where they never return. And most of my yip students have indeed reached that point of total and permanent elimination.

 

And no - swing or stroke flaws are not the only cause of the yips: the issue is far more complex than that simplistic analysis. Swing flaws can be a trigger for the yips - one of many different kinds of triggers - but the majority of the triggers are psychological in nature, not physical.

 

Yips is a serious neuro-psychological disorder, meaning that there is an emotional and mental element, which then affects the body, ie muscles tighten very quickly.

 

Learning how to properly focus the mind, where to focus and where NOT to focus, and learning how to stop attaching too much emotion to both the shot-making process and the shot outcome are the two most important parts the cure. 

[upanddown]

3 hours ago, Zitlow said:

The best cure is to stop obsessing about it. 

Ha!  I've thought about that.. maybe I play a round, putt conventional and just not care what happens.  Putt it off the green.. 6 putt.. just don't fight it and see what happens.  Its really weird but its the fear of yipping that is the worse. I never know when its going to happen so you just worry about it.  Maybe I'll give it a shot!

[Zitlow]

@upanddownStart obsessing about making putts. Forget seeing is believing, believing then seeing is where it's at.

[Ghostwedge]

My 2 cents....

Never had the yips but been in a few putting slumps, when you put emotion into the process, that doesn't work. Try to detach yourself from the results, if you have a sound set up, stroke and putter that fits you, all you can do is stroke the putt, it may or may not go in. Then we move on.

Like Jack said "I made the putt, it just didn't go in."

[MonteScheinblum]

11 hours ago, upanddown said:

Hi.. anyone really cure putting yips and now putt fine now conventionally?  To me, changes like saw grip, long putter, putting left handed, etc aren't cures, they are just work arounds and less effective approaches.  I never yip practing putting, taking a putting lesson etc and putt better conventionally than any other method I've tried.

 

thanks

I have helped several people with the yips.  Most rotated their hips too much.

[upanddown]

25 minutes ago, MonteScheinblum said:

I have helped several people with the yips.  Most rotated their hips too much.

Monte, are you talking about what causes the yips?  I don't doubt I may have rotated my hips to much.. I also think I had my right hand too weak (on top) of the shaft vs palm facing target.  Question is..what do you do when it becomes a mental thing and you literally can't take the putter back or lose control of the putter through impact?

[prouse25]

6 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

Yes - I have cured hundreds of golfers (and other athletes too) with yips, including very severe yips, think worse than Charles Barkley 

 

Yips are absolutely curable, to the point where they never return. And most of my yip students have indeed reached that point of total and permanent elimination.

 

And no - swing or stroke flaws are not the only cause of the yips: the issue is far more complex than that simplistic analysis. Swing flaws can be a trigger for the yips - one of many different kinds of triggers - but the majority of the triggers are psychological in nature, not physical.

 

Yips is a serious neuro-psychological disorder, meaning that there is an emotional and mental element, which then affects the body, ie muscles tighten very quickly.

 

Learning how to properly focus the mind, where to focus and where NOT to focus, and learning how to stop attaching too much emotion to both the shot-making process and the shot outcome are the two most important parts the cure. 

 

I couldn’t agree more. I had them for about 5 years - increasing in severity.  The more I practiced (and hyper focused on it), the worse it got. Two things really helped me. 
 

First, I did make a grip change. Went from left hand low to claw.  This was only part of the solution. The other thing I did was to force myself to play in “uncomfortable” situations.  Played in a much wider variety of groups. Entered into some very competitive USGA events.  
 

I went from worried about my stroke to focusing on the overall process. for a while, I gave myself the luxury of not caring if the putt went in or not. I pick an intermediary target and tunnel focus on that spot - no other swing thought. If it goes in, so be it. 
 

I am now 99.9% free of the yips. Occasionally, I feel them starting to manifest with short putts. I have incorporated looking at the hole for putts in the 1 to 6 foot range - sort of like focusing on that intermediate point. I don’t even think about them anymore (partially why they don’t impact me anymore).   Breaking the psychological circle is the biggest thing in my opinion. 

[MonteScheinblum]

2 hours ago, upanddown said:

Monte, are you talking about what causes the yips?  I don't doubt I may have rotated my hips to much.. I also think I had my right hand too weak (on top) of the shaft vs palm facing target.  Question is..what do you do when it becomes a mental thing and you literally can't take the putter back or lose control of the putter through impact?

Not always, but most of the time, physical manifests itself into mental, so you have to work on both issues.  Just working on one of them doesn’t help much.

[Socrates]

8 hours ago, Jim Waldron said:

 but the majority of the triggers are psychological in nature, not physical.

 

Yips is a serious neuro-psychological disorder, meaning that there is an emotional and mental element, which then affects the body, ie muscles tighten very quickly.

 

Learning how to properly focus the mind, where to focus and where NOT to focus, and learning how to stop attaching too much emotion to both the shot-making process and the shot outcome are the two most important parts the cure. 

Definitely physiological in nature.  Not sure exactly when the issues started, but likely from pressures to make putts that I believed had to be made (false idea about that, for sure).  Missing was unacceptable.

 

I think putting left handed allowed me to change my expectations to where I was just happy to make a decent putt and not really expect that I was going to make it.  My brain was a lot calmer.  After a while, I no longer was so wrapped up in the result and was able to return to putting right handed and maintain that attitude.

[huskydawg]

Last three rounds before a change I had 38, 46, and 40 putts.  For me, the putter head was outracing the butt end, plus I had the fear.  I was fine on the practice green but awful on the course.

 

I added a forward press last round and it dropped to 33 putts, but could have easily been 29 or 30 if I didn't barely miss a series of 6-8 footers a few inches short and dead on line.  For the longest time I was skeptical and thought forward presses open the blade, but in reality, it doesn't have to.  Plus, many good putters throughout history have done it.

 

Playing twice this weekend and I'll report back some new numbers.

[Jim Waldron]

4 hours ago, prouse25 said:

 

I couldn’t agree more. I had them for about 5 years - increasing in severity.  The more I practiced (and hyper focused on it), the worse it got. Two things really helped me. 
 

First, I did make a grip change. Went from left hand low to claw.  This was only part of the solution. The other thing I did was to force myself to play in “uncomfortable” situations.  Played in a much wider variety of groups. Entered into some very competitive USGA events.  
 

I went from worried about my stroke to focusing on the overall process. for a while, I gave myself the luxury of not caring if the putt went in or not. I pick an intermediary target and tunnel focus on that spot - no other swing thought. If it goes in, so be it. 
 

I am now 99.9% free of the yips. Occasionally, I feel them starting to manifest with short putts. I have incorporated looking at the hole for putts in the 1 to 6 foot range - sort of like focusing on that intermediate point. I don’t even think about them anymore (partially why they don’t impact me anymore).   Breaking the psychological circle is the biggest thing in my opinion. 

I agree. With true yips, especially the severe intensity form, the unconscious impulse to tighten the muscles is 100% involuntary, and always has a strong emotional component, and a mind that is in chaos and unable to focus clearly and on just one thing during the stroke or swing.

 

I have worked with scores of very good players - both ams and pros - who had zero mechanical issues in their swing or stroke, but they still had fear, anxiety and loss of confidence when playing on the course. Which triggered the yip. On the range, they could hit near perfect shots 90% of the time, then walk on the course and 90% of the shots were terrible misses. Or they could play a round by themselves with no yip and hit great shots with no bad misses, then play with a group of strangers, and the yip would return.

[jobin]

In my old age, 60 yrs, i took up whitewater kayaking with my son, then age 14. We had a great time on the many rivers of the Appalachian Mts. 

 

Oh yeah, plenty of fear involved in plunging into some unknown rapid, Class 3+, when my age. The boy had no fear in his heart, only fun.

 

I did learn one vital river truth: focus only on where you want to go, never entertain avoidance.  On the golf course many of my friends can see only the pond off to the right and such avoidance rules, and ruins, the swing.

 

When putting, I continue to focus on keeping my eyes steady on the ball and swinging the putter head thru the line. Problem these days is inches too short.  If i weren't so old now, might be my memory would be better.  Memory important in putting to get the speed correct.  If you cannot recall how far to the hole, how up/down is the slope, then missing is very easy.

[Cali Bob]

Yip cure.... Repeat your full name mentally as you stroke the putt.  "The brain cannot hold two thoughts at the same time."

 

That's the key.  You need to block the hitting or impact sensations in your hands with another thought.  Once you convinced this process works add a key start thought such as arms first, or shoulder rock first.  Mentally say it on your brain. Retrain it

I promise.. your normal putting style will return and the yips will be gone forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GungHoGolf]

Switching to the claw grip at @Obee’s suggestion fixed my “trail wrist twitch” yips instantly, and I’ve remained yip-free for over a year and am putting better than I ever have before.

 

edit: Knock on wood

Edited September 6, 2023 by GungHoGolf

[Santiago Golf]

Yep I did, I was awful at putting

 

I passed my PAT (36 holes) with 5 three putts and four putt

I had several rounds during this time with 5 or more 3 putts

 

I started learning about 

1) speed control

2) how to hold a putter

3) how to use my hands (mainly my bottom one)

4) hit alot of putts during lesson opposite handed (crazy confidence boost)

5) started to realize putting doesn't matter that much

 

4 years after my PAT, I went on a two year putting stretch where I was putting better than an Avg PGA Tour pro

[BeTheBall_]

10 hours ago, GungHoGolf said:

Switching to the claw grip at @Obee’s suggestion fixed my “trail wrist twitch” yips instantly, and I’ve remained yip-free for over a year and am putting better than I ever have before.

 

edit: Knock on wood

 

Same for me. My right hand twitch is so bad I can barely make contact with the ball if I try and putt one handed with my right hand. Claw works great though.