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YIPpee! A thread for discussing putting yips

McLovin

McLovin

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I did a search and there were some older threads about the putting yips, so I wanted to just start a new one. I'm putting it in Freddie's swing tips sub because it is something I think lessons/instruction can fix, and also Freddie is quite possibly one of the best putters I have ever played with so his advice is very appreciated.

We can talk about all sorts of things related to the yips. Talk about them as your work through them. Tell stories of how you fixed them. Give advice on how others can tackle their own issues. My first post below will be about my struggles a few years ago, how I "fixed" them, how they're back, and what I'm planning on doing to fix them.
 
for awhile i thought i was a pretty good putter. i putted left-hand low, and had good pace. i putted with a scotty newport 2 forever, and loved it. over the years my stroke got more and more to the inside, but i could square it nicely and consistently.

a few years ago it happened, seemingly out of nowhere. the yips. my right hand would twitch and impact, causing issues with contact, direction and speed. it was so demoralizing. i bought different putters. went to a SPI instructor. and spent all kinds of time practicing.

eventually i overcame them (or at least thought i did) by doing three things.

first, i bought a putting arc and a sindelar clip. i would rig everything up, and practice the stroke both indoors and out. it helped somewhat.

second, i devised my own practice setup. place a tee about an inch behind the putter, and about 1/8" inside the stroke arc, then practice taking the putter back and through without hitting the tee. this kept me more sbst than the strong arc i had developed.

and third, i focused heavily on alignment. feet, knees, hips, and shoulders, and ball position. this has always been the hardest, and quite honestly i think it was the root cause of all my problems.

i thought i had it licked. they were gone for a couple years. no issues at all. until this week...
 
i was putting great with an odyssey 7s. like, GREAT. i caught a wild hair to buy a nice putter to display in my 2018 morgan cup bag. of course i had to game it for a little while, right?! i put a bgt stability shaft in it, and on the practice green it was absolutely money. i was so excited!

then i played a round on wednesday, and it happened. on the first green my right hand fired at impact, and i've not been able to shake them yet. putt after putt, a yip. played 9 holes again yesterday, more of the same.

this morning i went out and set up my tee drill. no yips. i started putting from different locations, and i find i'm yipping the most on left to right breakers. i keep coming back to alignment as the culprit, so i'll keep working on the tee drill, and dedicate my practice to using the line on the ball and focusing on alignment.

let's hope i can get this back on track!
 
c.a.eleric said:
i was putting great with an odyssey 7s. like, GREAT. i caught a wild hair to buy a nice putter to display in my 2018 morgan cup bag. of course i had to game it for a little while, right?! i put a bgt stability shaft in it, and on the practice green it was absolutely money. i was so excited!

then i played a round on wednesday, and it happened. on the first green my right hand fired at impact, and i've not been able to shake them yet. putt after putt, a yip. played 9 holes again yesterday, more of the same.

this morning i went out and set up my tee drill. no yips. i started putting from different locations, and i find i'm yipping the most on left to right breakers. i keep coming back to alignment as the culprit, so i'll keep working on the tee drill, and dedicate my practice to using the line on the ball and focusing on alignment.

let's hope i can get this back on track!
Click to expand...

When you're practicing do you do anything that adds pressure to your drills (e.g. must make 8/10 from this distance before moving on)?
 
When i start to get punchy or jerky with my putter I usually spend some time on the green using my practice stroke to hit golf balls. I absolutely hate when that happens, but usually it comes around green speed changes.
 
JohnSinVA said:
When you're practicing do you do anything that adds pressure to your drills (e.g. must make 8/10 from this distance before moving on)?
Click to expand...

a drill was given to me when i worked with the spi instructor to put some pressure on the outcome. i wouldn't say it worked very well tbh. i will yip on a 50' putt for birdie just as easily as i will on a 5' putt for triple. the circumstance does not seem to matter for me.
 
c.a.eleric said:
I did a search and there were some older threads about the putting yips, so I wanted to just start a new one. I'm putting it in Freddie's swing tips sub because it is something I think lessons/instruction can fix, and also Freddie is quite possibly one of the best putters I have ever played with so his advice is very appreciated.

We can talk about all sorts of things related to the yips. Talk about them as your work through them. Tell stories of how you fixed them. Give advice on how others can tackle their own issues. My first post below will be about my struggles a few years ago, how I "fixed" them, how they're back, and what I'm planning on doing to fix them.
Click to expand...

Compared to 20 years ago, there are so many putter design options (heavy heads, large diameter grips, long shafts etc...), when paired with alternative grip techniques (versions of the claw, forearm lock etc...)there is no sensible reason for one to suffer much from putting yips.
I expect that in future years chipping yips will be more of a common struggle than putting yips.
 
When in doubt, buy a new putter.
 
I feel like I have the same problems you have from time to time, inside takeaway and jerky release, and there’s only one thing I can do to right the ship as long as the alignment is good. I just have to focus on putting with my right shoulder and try to forget about everything else. Shoulder comes up to take the club back, then drops back down, keep everything else quiet, make putts:)
 
c.a.eleric said:
i was putting great with an odyssey 7s. like, GREAT. i caught a wild hair to buy a nice putter to display in my 2018 morgan cup bag. of course i had to game it for a little while, right?! i put a bgt stability shaft in it, and on the practice green it was absolutely money. i was so excited!

then i played a round on wednesday, and it happened. on the first green my right hand fired at impact, and i've not been able to shake them yet. putt after putt, a yip. played 9 holes again yesterday, more of the same.

this morning i went out and set up my tee drill. no yips. i started putting from different locations, and i find i'm yipping the most on left to right breakers. i keep coming back to alignment as the culprit, so i'll keep working on the tee drill, and dedicate my practice to using the line on the ball and focusing on alignment.

let's hope i can get this back on track!
Click to expand...

The more I keep reading your posts the more I'm convinced we may be the same person :D

I'm still yippy with short putts. I can nail them on the practice green but then on the course I miss on the right. I finally took video of my stroke a couple weeks ago and realized my feet are unbelievably open and I take the putter way inside to out which causes the push. I have a lot of work to do to get comfortable with the new setup and I ended up missing a couple of shorties again last night. It's so uncomfortable changing my setup.
 
Switch to the claw grip. It's almost impossible to yip with that grip since your dominant hand has almost 0 to do with the stroke, its just resting on the side of the grip.
 
Lions81 said:
Switch to the claw grip. It's almost impossible to yip with that grip since your dominant hand has almost 0 to do with the stroke, its just resting on the side of the grip.
Click to expand...

Tell that to my father : )
He had them so bad he nearly quit the game and was using the claw at the time. It was so tough to watch when we played at the Morgan Cup that he literally 4 putted every single green with Jose and Mike. Finally they got him working on something and it has fixed it, but the claw did not fix it for him.
 
JB said:
Tell that to my father : )
He had them so bad he nearly quit the game and was using the claw at the time. It was so tough to watch when we played at the Morgan Cup that he literally 4 putted every single green with Jose and Mike. Finally they got him working on something and it has fixed it, but the claw did not fix it for him.
Click to expand...

Interesting. That's honestly the first time I've heard of someone doing it with the claw. Was his left hand causing it rather than the right?
 
JB said:
Tell that to my father : )
He had them so bad he nearly quit the game and was using the claw at the time. It was so tough to watch when we played at the Morgan Cup that he literally 4 putted every single green with Jose and Mike. Finally they got him working on something and it has fixed it, but the claw did not fix it for him.
Click to expand...

Did you tell him you once saw a guy from South Dakota that rivaled his putting skills?
 
When I get yippy....I concentrate on keeping my elbows mainly my right side tight on my side. This keeps me from being to "handsy". I also have a pistol type grip and really make sure the right side of the grip is flat in my right palm which is facing the target like my right palm is the putter face.

I feel I roll the ball much better this way....for me.
 
well, it’s bad enough that i canceled my round on monday. when golf stops being fun you stop playing golf.


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c.a.eleric said:
well, it’s bad enough that i canceled my round on monday. when golf stops being fun you stop playing golf.


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Click to expand...

D#$n that must be really bad to cancel a round.
Work thru it, it will come back to you..
 
Lions81 said:
Interesting. That's honestly the first time I've heard of someone doing it with the claw. Was his left hand causing it rather than the right?
Click to expand...

A large twitch in either hand will cause it, regardless of skilled used, meaning traditional, claw, etc.

In his case his LH was causing it.

He has switched to an armlock and not looked back.
 
still plugging away. sometimes the stroke is damn near perfect, other times it's a twitchy mess.

on the practice green this afternoon i may have found something, but time will tell. the ball was creeping too far forward in my stance. with both eyes directly over the ball, i was able to make really good strokes consistently. i'll keep working on ingraining this ball position and see what happens.
 
c.a.eleric said:
well, it’s bad enough that i canceled my round on monday. when golf stops being fun you stop playing golf.


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Click to expand...
Omg, I'm booking a flight right now! Fun, yep i got that

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Stupid is, stupid does... what the heck is a yip?

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I am a Psychologist (Ph.D). Sports psychologists have tried various theories about the yips with limited success. Recently, it was noted in the literature that surgeons have been plagued by them as well as golfers. It is called, focal dystonia. Many clinicians believe they are caused by trying to control motions that should be automatic. For example, directing your hands to move on the steering wheel with mental commands while you are driving. It confuses the neuro system. I think if you simplify the stroke and not try too much to manipulate it, things could get better. Look at the hole, draw your eyes back to the ball and begin the back stroke when your eyes reach the ball. I worked with a great player who had the chipping yips and I had him toss balls to a hole on the practice green and let him get a sense of freedom and letting the motion happen rather than thinking too much about the process. Hope my 2 cents help.
 
i’ve been practicing hard and seeing some pretty good stuff on the practice putting green. but today’s 9 holes was pretty disappointing. i did have a few good strokes that weren’t too yippy, but overall i still have a long way to go.


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i can't help but laugh, i think it's actually gotten worse. i tried a pencil grip on the practice green today and seemed to go ok. i'm playing in a tournament tomorrow with a buddy whose partner canceled. i have zero desire to play because i know how bad it's going to be on the green.
 
c.a.eleric said:
i can't help but laugh, i think it's actually gotten worse. i tried a pencil grip on the practice green today and seemed to go ok. i'm playing in a tournament tomorrow with a buddy whose partner canceled. i have zero desire to play because i know how bad it's going to be on the green.
Click to expand...

Putt one handed. Get the nerves out. I’ve seen you putt, what I’m reading is all mental because you can roll the rock pretty decently.
 
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