Short game yips

[PingAnser]

My short game has been giving me real trouble for a few years now, my chipping and pitching is really poor. I am hitting a lot of thin and fat shots, I have no confidence at all. My handicap is 5, which is the lowest its ever been, mainly due to a hot putter. I have had a few lessons the last few years, which went well but when i'm on the course its back to the duffs. I chip and pitch well when i'm practising but cant bring it to the course at all. I totally tense up over every shot, its not a pressure thing either, just out for a few holes with my mates and still I duff pitches. I have tried chipping with just my right hand like Jason Palmer and this works fairly well but I really want to fix my short game.

Have any of you had similar problems or beat the short game yips? Any help or tips would be greats, thanks

 

[delc]

Try and keep your swing slow and rhythmical, and let the club do the work. Also keep your head still and your eye on the ball.

 

[WinBase]

My short game has been giving me real trouble for a few years now, my chipping and pitching is really poor. I am hitting a lot of thin and fat shots, I have no confidence at all. My handicap is 5, which is the lowest its ever been, mainly due to a hot putter. I have had a few lessons the last few years, which went well but when i'm on the course its back to the duffs. I chip and pitch well when i'm practising but cant bring it to the course at all. I totally tense up over every shot, its not a pressure thing either, just out for a few holes with my mates and still I duff pitches. I have tried chipping with just my right hand like Jason Palmer and this works fairly well but I really want to fix my short game.

Have any of you had similar problems or beat the short game yips? Any help or tips would be greats, thanks

its amazing how many people report they have the same. I don't need to tell you its a mental & confidence thing but how I worked through it years ago was to play as many short shots as glorified putts & pitch and runs with a 7 iron as possible until I gained in confidence that my ball was at least going somewhere towards the hole and not in 3-putt land every time. I have a clubmate who was once a scratch player and ive seen him take a 'full putter' from about 70yds regularly, better a fuller shot with a sand or Lob wedge IMHO. he was a notoriously bad chipper and took about 8 years off the game (for an unrelated reason) and now he's returned he's a different man and has no problems, so I assume its because he doesn't have all that anxiety build up reinforced week after week. I wouldn't suggest doing what i've seen many do, and that's play cross-handed, 1 handed, grip the club right down etc, as that's no long term solution. GL

 

[13Aces]

Had/have exactly the same. H'cap went from 5 out to 8. The yips along with other personal reasons resulted in me stopping playing competitively.Now I play with a few mates just for fun - but I still count my score and play full rules and be annoyed when I score poorly.
The chipping yips in particular stayed for a while but are now disappearing ( today I was really good from just off the green).And yes, like yourself, when practising without a target I never yip/duff a chip
Several things I did which I think helped me:
(1) Had my first ever putting lesson.
(2) Bought 2 Vokey wedges with only 8* bounce
(3) Read the book "Dream On"-many interesting passages.
(4) Watched the pros duff/thin a few also
Good luck - you can beat this.

 

[delc]

Try and keep your swing slow and rhythmical, and let the club do the work. Also keep your head still and your eye on the ball.

I should add that I have also had problems with chipping. After playing the game for 50 odd years I have recently discovered that it is more about rhythm and timing than technique. I had too much 'hit' in my method, which often caused duffs and thins right across the green. Just keep it gentle and let the club do the work, as I said above.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

You don't have the yips, you either have poor technique or are most likely just think about it too much. My guess is that you are either worrying about the result or thinking about technique. Clear your head the same as you do when putting and you'll be fine

 

[HomerJSimpson]

You don't have the yips, you either have poor technique or are most likely just think about it too much. My guess is that you are either worrying about the result or thinking about technique. Clear your head the same as you do when putting and you'll be fine

Exactly this. My short game woes are well documented on here and I've had numerous lessons from different pros, tried different methods (linear, hinge and hold, conventional etc) and worked hard in practice where it can be exceptionally good. Get me on the course, and my head is full of thoughts and nonsense and I hit it fat or thin and confidence will evaporate in a jiffy. In practice, not a thought and on the course I'm a mess. Definitely not the yips and I wonder as Hawkeye summises if the OP is thinking and trying too hard

 

[fundy]

Been through this to some degree, current short game is hugely dependent on bump and run and using a hybrid round the edges from anything other than a great lie. On the ractise ground I have every shot, seemingly far less so on the course

The technical problem I have is the left arm/hand stops and fights the right hand, hence why at times Im better just chipping with my right hand! (and yes theres all the background of negative thoughts)

One video that helped me a great deal and Im trying to put into practise is to keep a small y straightish left arm, bent right arm and to keep the right arm pushing through. As a practise swing I often do this with only the right hand on the shaft but with the left hand in front and keep it travelling in front of the right hand and shaft so teaching it not to fight. Makes the action smoother for the real shot (Video below talks about it in the middle of a video on hitting spinny pitches)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSI5RcACBSs

Interesting video from Butch re the left arm stopping too

http://video.golfdigest.com/watch/lessons-with-butch-harmon-better-chip-shots

 

[the_coach]

My short game has been giving me real trouble for a few years now, my chipping and pitching is really poor. I am hitting a lot of thin and fat shots, I have no confidence at all. My handicap is 5, which is the lowest its ever been, mainly due to a hot putter. I have had a few lessons the last few years, which went well but when i'm on the course its back to the duffs. I chip and pitch well when i'm practising but cant bring it to the course at all. I totally tense up over every shot, its not a pressure thing either, just out for a few holes with my mates and still I duff pitches. I have tried chipping with just my right hand like Jason Palmer and this works fairly well but I really want to fix my short game.

Have any of you had similar problems or beat the short game yips? Any help or tips would be greats, thanks

you rotate back around a steady head, engine for movement being the chest with lightly connected upper arms to the chest wall, soft hands soft forearms.
but then as the chest turns back through the shot/ball,the lead shoulder has to keep turning away from the chin, so the chest on completion faces target or slightly left of.

stop the left shoulder turning & the hands/arms will flip into or at impact so thins or fats.

as you not looking to 'generate' distance in pitching/chipping, in the same ways you are in the full swing motion, the hips, chest, arms so hands & handle (to that keep the handle moving through the motion) all move more as one smooth motion.

things to maybes look out for - wouldn't have the ball position ways back that encourages a too steep pick up with a little ways too much wrist set, then you got ways too steep approach to into the ball. ball around middle of stance with hands just over the front of the ball so not much of a shaft lean, get hands ways ahead at set-up with big forwards leaning shaft & you are setting up an oversteep arc both back & through.

both pitching & chipping (specialist shots & shots form deeper rough apart) requires a shallower medium swing arc to get middle of the face on ball consistently good.
too steep approach in you can dump the leading edge into the ground do that a bunch of times & you react & come off the shot some so skull it.