Golf Tips » September 2004: One cure for the dreaded “yips”
I was recently paired with a golfer who did not have a good putting round. I noticed that he was very nervous over his putts and at first I thought he was nervous playing with me, so I told him to relax and enjoy himself. He then told me that he had been experiencing the "yips" or a nervous twitch as he stroked his putts for quite some time.
The "yips" reflects a mental breakdown in the subconscious whereby the golfer has had so many failures from that dreaded four foot range that he puts undue pressure on himself. He sees the miss as a weakness and a measure of his self esteem. The great Ben Hogan suffered terribly towards the end of his career with this affliction.
An expert in this field recently said that in order to overcome this, you have to change everything—putter-stance and grip—and start all over again. This creates a "new" picture in the subconscious and the golfer has to start practicing his putting all over again as if from the beginning. The putter and stance I will leave up to you (try several) but here are a few suggestions for grips that will help you make a smoother stroke.
Normal putting stance and grip.
Recently Mark O’Meara switched to the "saw" grip after experiencing the yips and resurrected his career. The left hand grip is normal but the four fingers of the right hand extend like a saw with the hand in the position seen below. The right wrist is then locked in a constant position. This grip (and the others pictured) take the right hand out of the putt and allows the shoulders to once again control the stroke, thus eliminating the yips completely.
Mark O’Meara’s "Saw" grip.
Modification of the "saw" holding the putter,
with only the thumb and index fingers of the right hand.
Chris De Marco’s "claw" grip. Just close the fingers of the "saw" grip.
The "claw" grip locks the right hand into place and you use the right forearm like a piston and move it back and through.
Try these putting grips that seem to be so successful on the PGA Tour and see if one of them helps you.
If you have questions about any of our golf tips, please feel free to call us toll free at 1-800-624-4653. Read all of Mel's tips in the Golf Tips Archive.
What if you could bring Mel Sole right into your own home to analyze your swing and offer drills to improve your technique and mechanics? Video Golf Coaching is your ticket to better golf!
