Putting yips - a greater pain

[AliB]

I expect this has come up before, but not since I joined the forum.
I can putt quite well from a distance, and am even quite happy from the fringe, but as soon as I'm under pressure(looking for a par, or trying to avoid a double bogey) my short putting goes to the dogs. Hardly unusual. But what can I do? Have tried working on set-up and various mental tricks. I keep wrecking my round with these three-putts - especially one today on the eighteenth, which, since I'd already missed the green in regulation, spoiled an otherwise respectable medal round.
Agony!
AliB

 

[shanker]

Ali
Take Gary Player and Annika Sorenstam's advice. Keep looking down till you hear the ball drop into the hole. It works (usually!). Seriously though, I'm sure we miss because we move or look up when putting. BTW, enjoyed your blog. Especially the SHEWEE!

 

[RGuk]

OOohh, I know this, unfortunately.

I feel that it is common to "steer" the ball much more when under pressure. From under 6 or so ft, I think of all putts as straight putts, and that my intention is to get it 12"-18" past the hole. Getting nervous and dollying the ball up to the cup is a sure-fire way to miss the odd one.

Two drills I worked hard on for 3 or 4 years were
1) tapping in 2-3 footers with no backswing and keeping the putter head aimed at the hole regardless of how much follow through I need to use.
2) find a snaky one (that's outside the hole) pick a spot of grass by the side of the hole and hit it straight at that spot. Learn to trust your read of the break and strike it smoothly with a good "roll".

Ultimately, despite being a very poor putter (for my general ability) I learnt a) to trust myself hitting it firm b) there's no substitute for a good lag putt and c) the more you practice 360 degrees around the hole on a non-flat area of the practice green, the better you become at overiding the natural desire to steer short ones.

Keep your head/eyes over the ball, lots of short ones and use flag sticks/skirting boards/club shafts to hone the straightness of your stroke for short-ish putts.

Dave

 

[John_Findlay]

I had a doze of these for a wee while, AliB and found the best solution was to go cack-handed. Stops any wrist break-down at all and is surprisingly good on long distance putts, too.

Been putting left hand low all year now and don't plan on ever going back to conventional. Has so many advantages as far as I'm concerned.

The other (mental) trick was to ignore the result but concentrate on puttting the best stroke on the ball that you can. Once the ball leaves the putter ignore the result because there's nothing you can do about it

 

[viscount17]

Strange that, the first time I ever picked up a putter I used it 'cack-handed' and have never done anything else. Can't do anything else that way.

My belief is that doing it this way stops you swinging the club on an arc, especially if you lock the left elbow.

 

[BunkerMentality123]

I sometimes suffer from the same, and sought advice on the problem, from my clubs better putters.

For the short ones I now tend to set up as a stright putt using a tick tock motion in my head, same distance back and through and generally keep looking at the spot from where the ball has left to avoiding lifting/turning my head.

Seems to work the majority of the time and prevents the steering that most people refer to!

Hope it works out for you.
----------

Grip it --- you know the rest.

 

[Gasp]

When you practise try looking at a point 6 inches in front of the ball and hitting the putt. Keeps your focus away from the ball, and keeps your head still.

Good luck. It's hell but it will get better. Just a case of finding what works for you.

 

[USER1999]

Doesn't sound like the yips to me, just a crisis of confidence. You need to practise short putts like crazy, such that you build up the confidence to whack them in without thinking. Sometimes a grip change helps, but sounds like practice is better for you.

Proper yips are a nightmare. It is like an electric shock in your hands as the ball is hit, that makes your fingers and palms clench, and the ball could go anywhere. Not a nice thing to have. Can't be cured by practice or keeping your head still. Only solution is to move the hands such that the trigger point in the hands is not in contact with the putter. At this point a different grip is essential.

 

[AliB]

Thanks all, some good suggestions.
I do try not to concentrate on the hole and to keep my head still. A lot of the time it works, so murphthemog may be right. But thanks for the grip advice - might be worth a try.
Practice? - ah yes, that thing you do between rounds (oops - giving myself away here!)

AliB

 

[AliB]

Shanker - glad you like the blog - spread the word!

cheers and good golfing

AliB

 

[MacMachattie]

When I'm having trouble with the short ones I often notice it's because I'm forgetting to breathe properly. I stand over it, tense up and hold my breath, the tension builds and it's almost impossible to make a fluid stroke. Just take three good deep breaths as you settle over the ball.

 

[AliB]

MacHattie
read your reply just before I played today and had some success with breathing! Tried hitting the ball as I exhaled which seemed to keep my body and brain relatively still. Got some good ones in. Let's see if I can do it under pressure!

cheers

AliB

 

[viscount17]

Rather than putting while you exhale try the target shooting trick. Simply extend the natural pause in your breathing cycle between breathing out and breathing in (this is the only consistent part of breathing - when you're not stressed). Don't do it for long, just the second or two it needs to the stroke off.
Oh and remember, calm breathing is in through the nose out through the mouth - slowly

 

[AliB]

Yeh. that's sort of what I was doing, just didn't explain. It makes you get on with it too, rather than agonise over the ball!
Haven't really tried the left handed thing yet - would need to practise.

Cheers