As we continue our conversation about the Yips, and I get feedback from readers of the blog, I think it would help to organize our thinking and define some of the terms. "Yips" has come to describe all aspects of a shaky putting stroke you can't trust. Basically and for the sake of our discussion there are three categories of yips. Ranked by severity they are...
Neurological. Involuntary uncontrolled movement. The medical term is dystonia and as it applies to putting, task based - focal dystonia.
Psychological. In plain sports terms, a choke. Fear of the task, fear of bad result. We often see this in pressure situations or with perfectionists with unreasonable expectations.
Mechanical. I think of this as a reactive putting stroke. Basically you get the club in a bad position and your body reacts to try to correct it. Steering or mid-stroke fixes are hard on your nerves. feels like you have the yips, but an improvement in mechanics and the disappear as quickly as they started.
The term yips has become the "hot take" for golf. To say Tiger Woods or Jordan Spieth have the yips, when they are just dealing with mechanical issues, is a way to draw attention to yourself, I guess.
Why does this matter? Because as you look for a solution it helps to know the cause. I think the best timeline to find a fix is to start with the simplest reasons to deal with, mechanical. So initially, we will evaluate the mechanics, the learn to deal with the fear and trust the feel, finally if that hasn't solved the problem, we will talk about changing the movement pattern and try to rewire the system to complete the task.
The only thing that can stop you is frustration. As a support system I am here for the duration. I may not have the immediate answers, but I have a system to find them.
Neurological. Involuntary uncontrolled movement. The medical term is dystonia and as it applies to putting, task based - focal dystonia.
Psychological. In plain sports terms, a choke. Fear of the task, fear of bad result. We often see this in pressure situations or with perfectionists with unreasonable expectations.
Mechanical. I think of this as a reactive putting stroke. Basically you get the club in a bad position and your body reacts to try to correct it. Steering or mid-stroke fixes are hard on your nerves. feels like you have the yips, but an improvement in mechanics and the disappear as quickly as they started.
The term yips has become the "hot take" for golf. To say Tiger Woods or Jordan Spieth have the yips, when they are just dealing with mechanical issues, is a way to draw attention to yourself, I guess.
Why does this matter? Because as you look for a solution it helps to know the cause. I think the best timeline to find a fix is to start with the simplest reasons to deal with, mechanical. So initially, we will evaluate the mechanics, the learn to deal with the fear and trust the feel, finally if that hasn't solved the problem, we will talk about changing the movement pattern and try to rewire the system to complete the task.
The only thing that can stop you is frustration. As a support system I am here for the duration. I may not have the immediate answers, but I have a system to find them.
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