2 Tips to Cure the Yips

Are you a player who gets more anxious the closer you get to the hole? The free flowing Driver and Iron swings start to get short and yippy as the hole becomes clearer to your eye?

If you do some research on the yips, you might come up with many reasons that can cause them.  A lot of them are very complex, but in my opinion, the Number 1 cause is anxiety about the result of the shot, which causes a rapid heart rate and panic.  These emotions will cause a sudden hit at the ball and one of your hands will yip.  If you are reading this, you probably know that anything can happen as a result.

Step One – Find the Problem Hand

You need to identify which hand the yip is in. Hit chips or pitches with each hand; it will be obvious to you which hand has the yip.

It’s a little complex but basically your brain uses Neuro pathways to make chipping swings.  With some players, this starts to misfire in a certain hand.

When you find the problem hand, you will need to change the position of the hand.  This change requires the brain to create a new Neuro Pathway to make the movement, stopping the misfire, and hopefully curing the yip.  Something that is certain is that if you do not change something, the neuro pathway will not change, and it will be impossible to cure your yips.  This is why you see so many players who have the yips using the claw grip in putting.

Suggested Grip Changes

Right Hand Under – Place the palm of your right hand underneath.  It will be a strange grip.

Left in the Palm – Rather than placing the club in the fingers of your left hand, hold the club in the palm.

Extreme Cases

Reverse Handed – If you yips are extreme, and you have tried everything else, try reversing your hands on the club.  It is extreme but has worked for some.

One Handed – Again, in extreme cases, try hitting chips with only one hand.  You will need to practice it a little, but you might just find that at least you chip better with one hand than 2!

Step Two – Re-Training

You have now changed your neuro pathway misfire, but your habit of hitting at the ball and the emotion of anxiety will still be there, so don’t expect perfect results instantly. You will have to do some hard work to retrain the swing, and reduce your anxiety.

Because of the stress of the yips and the hundreds of bad shots you will have hit, you will have an impulse to hit at the ball and lose tempo during the swing.  Here are 2 tips to reducing your anxiety during the shot, helping you to keep your tempo constant and smooth through impact.

Zone Out

Commonly, yippers stare at precise parts of the ball.  You will need to take your mind off the ball and the result so you can get better. In fact, if you can learn to zone out of the shot, rather than focus so hard on the ball, you might find that you move through impact with more freedom.  What I mean by zone out is to look at the area the ball is in, rather than directly stare at the ball.   Your image of the ball and area should be like a badly focused camera.  It might sound extreme, but it’s worth a try if you have had the yips for a long time.

Breathing Out

• Take a deep breath at address before making your swing.
• During your swing, breathe out of your mouth slowly at a constant speed.
• This method will help reduce your anxiety and heart rate.  Also, the constant breathing out speed will help you keep you tempo constant, taking away that hit and yip at impact.
• Some players prefer humming constantly with the same level of sound during the swing rather than breathing out. If you hit at the ball, you will heard a change in the note of the hum.

If you are still struggling, it’s time to search out a good sports psychologist, but you should know that it could take time practicing these techniques to fix your problem.  Also, do not be afraid to find your own way to reduce your anxiety, and smooth out your tempo.  This is a quote from a Professional player who cured his yips.

“After I got the root cause of the technical reason for my yips, I had to do a lot of retraining. For an entire golf season, I hit almost every chip on the course while looking at my hands instead of the ball. For me, no change to my technique worked until I had a different visual stimulus”