Quick Fix For The Yips

Nothing grabs the attention of golfers like the word "yip." It sends a chill down the spine of anyone who has experienced it, and even some who haven't — yet. Statistics show that 26 percent of all golfers possess some form of a yip. That means that at least one player in every foursome has a yip.

The main problem with the yips is that few people understand them. Most players who have them don't realize it. Even if they do, many of them feel helpless because they do not understand how to fix them.

The typical response from a playing partner, instructor or sport psychologist is, "It's all in your head," or "Just relax over the putt and trust it." A yipper will tell you those words of wisdom do not work for fixing the yips. My hope is that I will be able to shed some light on the subject and help you cure the yips if you have them or prevent them if you don't.

Yips aren't only for golfers. Any motion can be yipped. There have been major-league baseball catchers who have been forced to quit because they couldn't release the ball to get it back to the pitcher correctly. These catchers' hands just would not open.

Some basketball players have a foul-line yip. It has been well-documented how hall-of-famer Rick Barry overcame foul-shooting struggles with an unorthodox, underhand style. During the 1978-79 season, he missed only nine foul shots the entire year.

Some writers cannot get their pen to the paper. This is usually referred to as writer's cramp.

There are also violinists who have yips while playing that will not allow them to slide the bow across the strings. Some of them have even gone to extreme lengths to cure their yips. They have tried everything from medication to Botox injections to surgery. Luckily, golfers don't have to go to those extremes.

There are two different types of impact yips — acceleration and directional. An acceleration yip is when the golfer has no control over the amount of force that is applied to the ball at impact. A directional yip is when the golfer has no control over the angle of the clubface at impact.

If you watch a lot of yippers, you'll notice that they have several things in common, such as a directional yip, a yip with the right hand only (for right-handed players), no yip in the backswing or in the practice swing and a tendency to resist rotation with the putter. They also seem to prefer heavy putters and downhill putts.

Many golfers have a yip but do not realize it. They just think they are bad putters. A good way to determine if you have a yip is to take the yip test. Hit some short putts using just your right hand on the putter. If you have the yips, you will feel your hand flinch and the putter wiggle during your stroke. If there's no flinch, then there's no yip.

Once the yip has been diagnosed, it's then time to fix it. In order to cure the yips, you must be willing to be creative, patient and persistent. Fixing the yips is unlike fixing the full swing. If a student is slicing and I give him a stronger grip, he will immediately stop slicing. When dealing with the yips, I never know quite how it will play out. Every case is a bit different, and no two cures are the same. But there are several common denominators in fixing the yips.

The first is that the golfer must confuse the mind. What I mean by this is that almost like hitting control-alt-delete on your computer, you must reboot your brain. To do that, you need to confuse your mind. This is one of the few times in golf when being radical is actually good. When you take a radical approach to fixing the yips, you short-circuit the mind, which in turn, gives you a clean slate to rebuild a confident stroke.

The easiest way to create a new mental pathway is through drills. The goal is to dampen the tactile importance of impact and to catch the brain off-guard.

Varying your grip is the most common fix for the yips. Many of today's top professionals have an unusual hold on the putter. The key here is to get your right hand on the putter differently. The best way to do this is to turn your right hand perpendicular to the clubface, as in the claw or saw grip. Your left hand remains the same. This will help dampen or even cure the yip in many cases.

Another helpful drill is to shift your eyes to the hole before the putter hits the ball in your downswing. This will help to distort the moment of impact. Because you are looking at the hole when the ball is struck, you will not know exactly when the ball will be hit. If you don't know when impact will happen, then you won't know when to yip.

Hitting putts with the toe of the putter also can help you develop a yip-free stroke. Turn your putter so that the flat spot on the toe is facing the target and make your normal stroke. This is so radically different from what your eyes are used to seeing that it won't have its usual yip references and can help smooth out your stroke.

A good way to confuse your mind and cure the yips is to have a friend or instructor bend down and hold the ball that you are about to hit. He then has the option of intermittently picking the ball up just before you hit it or letting go so you can hit it. Not knowing if there will be a ball there is a great way to surprise the mind and dampen your impact.

I would also recommend practicing your putting with foam balls. This allows you to hit a ball without the sensory feedback of impact. Since a light foam ball creates no sound or resistance to the putter, it gives your brain nothing to yip against.

Finally, hitting putts while trying to intentionally mishit the ball offers a great way to short-circuit your yip because your goal is no longer to hit the putt perfectly. It lessens the anxiety of impact. Try to "top" the ball toward the hole. If you can miss the putt without a yip, then you have succeeded. After dampening the yip, you can then alternate between trying to mishit the ball and trying to make the correct stroke.

If you have been diagnosed as a yipper, you must first understand your problem and then take some time to work on it. Try each of the drills mentioned above and see which one "hits" for curing your yip. Also, feel free to experiment with your own variations of these drills. I guarantee you'll soon be on your way to being yip-free.