The yips....

[Barking_Mad]

My playing partner has the yips and anything around 2 feet or so is just a guaranteed miss. I try to give stuff where I can just to avoid him invariably missing the putt as it's painful to watch half a dozen times a round, nevermind have! Despite his complaints each round he won't do anything about it. So here I am....

I'm guessing it's more of a mental issue than a physical one, although his stroke is really bad. He's also a really poor chipper of the ball - similar issue, an overactive right hand that twitches at the ball.

Anyone any experience of overcoming them?

 

[irip]

My playing partner has the yips and anything around 2 feet or so is just a guaranteed miss. I try to give stuff where I can just to avoid him invariably missing the putt as it's painful to watch half a dozen times a round, nevermind have! Despite his complaints each round he won't do anything about it. So here I am....

I'm guessing it's more of a mental issue than a physical one, although his stroke is really bad. He's also a really poor chipper of the ball - similar issue, an overactive right hand that twitches at the ball.

Anyone any experience of overcoming them?

My mate had this and like you it was awful to watch.
It started making me go twitchy if I watched too often.
He almost turned the face of the club sideways when making contact with the ball.
He got a couple of lessons off a pro who completely changed his putting grip.
He is ok now although still putting is the worst part of his game and it looks really uncomfortable with this new grip

 

[rulefan]

I had the problem a few years ago. I obtained a two faced putter and switched to LH for shorter putts (< 4'). No problem since.

 

[Barking_Mad]

My mate had this and like you it was awful to watch.
It started making me go twitchy if I watched too often.
He almost turned the face of the club sideways when making contact with the ball.
He got a couple of lessons off a pro who completely changed his putting grip.
He is ok now although still putting is the worst part of his game and it looks really uncomfortable with this new grip

Yeah he does the same thing, his right hand twitches and the putter face rotates about 45 degrees left. I think hes now at peace with the face he has the yips as the club ball hitting and club throwing has stopped

Might suggest he uses a pencil grip

 

[Swinglowandslow]

I had them until recently, and in my case it was my brain telling me I mustn’t go past the hole so I was decelerating like mad , even on , in fact mostly on, very short putts.
I eventually really concentrated hard on going slowly back far enough to seem too far for the distance ,and then same speed as far forward. That way I stayed on line.
It was weird because long putts, I was as good as the next guy!

 

[irip]

Yeah he does the same thing, his right hand twitches and the putter face rotates about 45 degrees left. I think hes now at peace with the face he has the yips as the club ball hitting and club throwing has stopped

Might suggest he uses a pencil grip

My mate ended up with a form of the pencil group, especially adapted to suit him, he looked like he was trying to strangle a Python .
The pro definitely earned his money with him.

If we was just having a knock he would always give someone a very generous putt on the 1st hole in the hope it would set the tone for the round

 

[Klimski]

Suggest that he look at the hole in short putts. Might help

 

[PhilTheFragger]

maybe launch a campaign to make the hole bigger............

I'll get my coat

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

The YIPs is a funny one there are a million foxes but each will be individual to the person suffering. Look at Matt Fitzpatrick chops left hand below right.

Langer had that weird arm lock grip and won the Masters. Then went Broomhandle and has dominated the Seniors tour.

Ultimately he needs to accept the issue and then seek professional help and be willing to go down that rabbit hole and find the solution that does it best for him. If it were me I think I’d be be trying a broomstick putter and praying

 

[Crow]

Stand the other side of the ball, put your dominant hand behind your back, use your non-dominant hand with a crayon grip, close your eyes, put a lucky rabbit's foot behind your ear, hum the theme from Blue Peter.
You should be cured.

 

[Mandofred]

Kotahi grip.....what I call a double thumb grip....others call it palms up.

 

[Orikoru]

Standard answer really but you need to change the process by either trying a different grip (pencil/claw or left hand low), or going left-handed. There are at least 4 players at my club that I've played with who play righty but putt lefty.

 

[Klimski]

Standard answer really but you need to change the process by either trying a different grip (pencil/claw or left hand low), or going left-handed. There are at least 4 players at my club that I've played with who play righty but putt lefty.

Agreed. Do something different. Like looking at the hole. Take the mind off technique

 

[Hobbit]

Not personally but I played with a guy who suffered. He changed to left below right with some success. The biggest improvement for him was when he decided to switch to left handed. He was just your average club putter after that.

 

[Bagger Vance]

I don’t have the yips but I have been missing a few short putts recently. I use a pistol grip and a conventional right hand below left grip. Yesterday I tried what might be described as a two thumb grip with my right hand sitting completely over the left so that my thumbs are side by side pointing down the grip. Results were good so I’ve ordered a thicker superstroke which should work better for my new hand placement

 

[Hobbit]

If my putting went off the boil it was, generally, because my eyes weren't directly over the ball but an inch or so inside it. This created a parallax view when aiming at the hole.

 

[Depreston]

If my putting went off the boil it was, generally, because my eyes weren't directly over the ball but an inch or so inside it. This created a parallax view when aiming at the hole.

Yeah i get lazy with this too. have got into the routine of checking this more and standing a bit closer.

my strike and pace control has improved massively

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Yeah i get lazy with this too. have got into the routine of checking this more and standing a bit closer.

my strike and pace control has improved massively

I stand quite close to the ball and open so my dominant eye is over the ball and allows me to follow the path of the ball without looking up or rising out of the stroke.

 

[Depreston]

I stand quite close to the ball and open so my dominant eye is over the ball and allows me to follow the path of the ball without looking up or rising out of the stroke.

When i checked (by dropping a ball from my right eye) i was way inside, probably off having a bit of a sitting down posture. almost now feel like i'm leaning over the ball.

no wonder i could miss my line and the entire hole way too often from close range

 

[Bagger Vance]

On the practice green this morning I tried looking at the hole. Worked quite well but you need to have a lot of faith in your stroke!