Putting help

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bcoak

bcoak

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I can putt with a shovel on the practice green but get the yips on the course. I know it is mental but I have to get over it to score better. I have tried claw, cross, and others but do not have the same feel as with a normal address. Any help thoughts appreciated.
Also, any good putting instructors in MA?
 
vjsinger

vjsinger

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I have heard that the yips stem from an inability to aim correctly. If you aim wrong, your hands instinctlvely know it and flinch to start the ball online. After years of aiming wrong the golfer has no other choice..are you a right aimer or left aimer? I'm a right aimer and I constantly have to monitor, with a laser trainer, indoors, where I aim the blade.
 
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softconsult

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Most people don't aim where they think they are aimed. Most people I have played with do not really read greens very well, if at all. I say that yips stem from fear of missing and maybe from standing frozen over the putt too long. Another cause could be failure to master distance control. The more of these skills you attain, the less your uncertainty level.

Sounds good, but even then Putting component sometimes fails to show up on a given day.
 
bcoak

bcoak

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Interesting. I know there are some neurological effects that impart the yips but I am also hoping that mechanical plays a role as well. I am confident in my distance control, but agree that aiming could play a role. I also read on a well known putting teachers site that he thinks the yips can be cause by keeping the putter head too low going back.
Brian, thoughts? Ever cured anyone?
 
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golfball323

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I suffer from the yips. I have gone to the pencil grip and it has eliminated it. Unfortunately, it is taking a long time to get proficient at it.

Has anybody on here who has actually had the yips been able to get rid of them and go back to conventional?

ANYBODY??!!
 
ZAP

ZAP

New
I would start with an aiming aid of some sort. I had some success with putting a ball down an aluminum straight edge. Trying to make the putt stay on the rail. Then I bought a putting tutor from Pelz and it has helped some too. I could not believe how far left I was aiming.

If all else fails borrow a putter and putt opposite handed for a while. Maybe the switch will put less pressure on your to perform and allow you to get out of your own way. When you switch back after a couple of rounds it may be good.

Just some things to try.
 
bcoak

bcoak

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golfball323 said:
I suffer from the yips. I have gone to the pencil grip and it has eliminated it. Unfortunately, it is taking a long time to get proficient at it.

Has anybody on here who has actually had the yips been able to get rid of them and go back to conventional?

ANYBODY??!!
Click to expand...

I got rid of them for one season.
 
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Mike O

New
Yips

I grew up on slow greens and was also taught to "hit and recoil" - hence I had/have a jabby putting stroke - however, never had the yips. My putting posture is bent over a lot and handsy. 25 years into the game I thought I would try to change to a Ben Crenshaw/"Professional" putting stroke - taller posture - lengthened stroke and slower tempo - not so much because I was putting horrible - but just to not get comments about my "jab putting stroke" or to have a "Professional Putting Stroke". That started 6 years of bad putting and at the end - a few years of the YIPS - at times SIGNIFICANT YIPS- for those that really know what I mean. For me - I went back to my "childhood" putting stroke - the jab - and have putted much better - with a putter that I used when I was a kid and which I like the look of and am confident with. Can I still get the YIPS on pressure short putts - yes - but they don't create a situation where I miss the putt. Cary Mumford on his website has some information on the YIPS caused by Anxiety. Personally, my experience would tell you that "fixing your aim" will have nothing to do with fixing your yips - if aim was the issue you'd have the same problem on the putting green. The more pressure you put on the making or missing the putt the more the YIPS come out to play. Sunday I shot my best round ever- 63 and tied the course record - had no problem with putting. From one who has had the YIPS - I'm not saying I know how to fix them - I just thought that maybe there might be something in my story that potentially could help you. They are a nightmare - once inflicted I'm not sure you are ever "cured" - just a recovering addict taking one day at a time. And especially when you have them - it's a viscious circle in that impact becomes a very scary situation to approach.
 
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bcoak

bcoak

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Putted left handed on practice green last night. Aim seemed better but optics for distance is strange. Actually using my normal rh grip left handed so feels pretty natural. Wonder if I can confuse my brain. What a great sport!
 
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softconsult

New
What is your normal grip? Reverse overlap? Is the shaft aligned with your left forearm? Do you have the grip up the lifeline of your left hand? Are your forearms level with each other viewed from down the line? Ball position? Do you peak at the results early?

Just some of the questions you might ask yourself to help decide whether a contributing factor could be something as simple as gripping the putter in a manner that gets your small muscles too involved it the stroke.
 
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vjsinger

vjsinger

New
softconsult said:
What is your normal grip? Reverse overlap? Is the shaft aligned with your left forearm? Do you have the grip up the lifeline of your left hand? Are your forearms level with each other viewed from down the line? Ball position? Do you peak at the results early?

Just some of the questions you might ask yourself to help decide whether a contributing factor could be something as simple as gripping the putter in a manner that gets your small muscles too involved it the stroke.
Click to expand...

These are great questions. Another couple to add. Do you putt with a very connected, big muscle shoulder stroke(most TOUR players do)? Are your greens fast or slow? How do you read greens? I'd suggest finding someone who teaches AIMPOINT, it's great. I have all of David Orr's videos on green reading..really super stuff.
 
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greenfree

Banned
vjsinger said:
I have heard that the yips stem from an inability to aim correctly. If you aim wrong, your hands instinctlvely know it and flinch to start the ball online. After years of aiming wrong the golfer has no other choice..are you a right aimer or left aimer? I'm a right aimer and I constantly have to monitor, with a laser trainer, indoors, where I aim the blade.
Click to expand...

If you aim wrong your hands know it?:eek::confused: Are you sure it isn't your Brain that contols your hands?:) Geez! what an goofy statement. You should try and use your's before giving out such advice. That's why people that get beheaded can't get their hands to pick up their head and place it back atop their neck.

Maybe it's nerves, caused by the fear of missing. Who knows for sure, but one thing i do know is my hands react to the signals my brain sends out, not the other way around.
 
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vjsinger

vjsinger

New
I forgot..A drill that may help with the stroke is to go buy some bungy chord, wrap it around yourself and practice the connected stroke that way. The arms will definately feel tight to the body then.

Also, check out the research the MAYO clinic has done on Focal Dystonia and the yips, it may help. I have a couple of Brass playing friends that have overcome Focal Dystonia on their instruments with some help from teachers that specialize in it. It all came back to redoing fundamentals and re-tracing their steps of where things went wrong. It was ALWAYS a fundamental problem that started the issues. The condition just didn't appear one day for no reason. Usually it was due to being less than careful about a fundamental on their horn. They have fully recovered taking the fundamental re-tracing method. In other words, they resharpened and in alot of cases relearned their skills. Best of luck to you.
 
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greenfree

Banned
vjsinger said:
I forgot..A drill that may help with the stroke is to go buy some bungy chord, wrap it around yourself and practice the connected stroke that way. The arms will definately feel tight to the body then.

Also, check out the research the MAYO clinic has done on Focal Dystonia and the yips, it may help. I have a couple of Brass playing friends that have overcome Focal Dystonia on their instruments with some help from teachers that specialize in it. It all came back to redoing fundamentals and re-tracing their steps of where things went wrong. It was ALWAYS a fundamental problem that started the issues. The condition just didn't appear one day for no reason. Usually it was due to being less than careful about a fundamental on their horn. They have fully recovered taking the fundamental re-tracing method. In other words, they resharpened and in alot of cases relearned their skills. Best of luck to you.
Click to expand...

Another case of misinformation. Check out the causes of golf yips and you'll find out alot of useful and correct info as opposed to someone parroting incorrectly what they thought they read.
 
Richie3Jack

Richie3Jack

New
I am a believer that the yips usually start with some type of poor mechanics, be it bad aim or whatever. I think that causes some poor putts, then it creeps into your brain and things go haywire. That's just my opinion, I know Mangum and others disagree with me.

When I was in college, I was a great putter. Not the best, but really really good. Then I took 8 years off from the game, came back in 2009. Immediately I came back and started putting just like I did in college, but after awhile my putting soured and probably the worst putting I've had since I was 14 years old. Eventually I became a golfer that didn't 3-putt much, but didn't make much either...regardless of length of birdie putts.

Lately I've been putting really well. Getting closer and closer to my college days and my ballstriking is far better, thus lower scores (shot a 68-73-75-73 last 4 rounds on hard courses).

The thing that has worked for me is putting much more of my focus on speed. And I mean REALLY REALLY focus on the speed and stop worrying so much about aim and even green reading (it has been sweltering hot, so wasting a lot of time reading greens for a casual round isn't fun). I basically try to keep my speed so every putt reaches the cup and/or goes no further than 24" past the cup. Even if I make a pretty bad mis-read, if the speed is within that range I'm happy. Conversely, if I made a good read but go 3-feet past the cup I still consider that a 'bad putt.'

I think I just got to the point last year where I had a pretty aggressive speed with my putts and thought that if it went 3 to 4 feet by I had a 'that's good enough' attitude. Now it's a mega amount of focus on the speed.

The greatest putter I ever saw was a friend of mine that I used to travel to mini-tour events. Had the ugliest stroke you could ever see. And his putt speed was ultra aggressive. But his speed was remarkably consistent and I'd put him against anybody in a putting contest, hands down.






3JACK
 
westy

westy

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play.

if you can do it on the putting green before you tee off, it only takes discipline on the course to .... let go. ....
the less you think... the lower the volume of flow distortion ....
totally distract yourself. yippers i have met dont allow this.
...This is the secret to yipping.
If you yip one, you were paying attention.
Stop caring.
Stop interfering.
Stop everything.
Let it go.
You can putt totally behind your mind, just like you can drive your car.....
It will fade away, then be gone.
Just like how it snuck up on you.
It didnt burst thru your kitchen window did it....
play like a kid.
 
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