What Are Yips

Mayo Clinic Research Continues to Unravel the Mysteries of Yips

The yips, the baffling condition affecting a significant number of already anxious golfers during putting or chipping, may be a movement disorder and not only the result of undue pressure to perform at the crucial moment of a stroke. In fact, in some cases the affliction can be likened to writers’ or musicians’ cramps, according to Charles Adler, M.D., Ph.D., neurologist and researcher at Mayo Clinic. His latest research on the yips was recently published in the journal Movement Disorders .

Dr. Adler and his colleagues at Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University suggest that in a subset of golfers, involuntary muscle contractions are to blame, resulting in what he calls “golfer’s cramp.”

The annoying condition (sometimes described as “twitches” or “jerks”) that can ruin an otherwise successful round of golf was often thought to be psychological. Dr. Adler said that the overall effect of this study is to try to identify golfers who have a neurologic rather than a psychological cause to their yips.

In the study, 25 golfers who complained of the yips were compared with 25 who did not. The golfers were matched for age, gender and golf handicap. All were asked to perform putts of varying lengths on an outdoor putting green while the electrical activity in their muscles was measured. Wrist movements were measured using electromyography (electrodes placed on the skin of the forearms) and a video camera recorded their putting strokes. A specialized glove, a wireless device with tracking sensors, was used to measure hand and finger movements of the right hand. Seventeen of the golfers exhibited involuntary movements during putting.

In this group of golfers the major finding, on analysis of the glove data, was that the golfers with an involuntary movement had a significant increase in pronation/supination (rotation of the hand). Many also had co-contraction of muscles that extend and flex the wrist.

“Other hand movements of the golfers did not show significant differences,” said Dr. Adler. He stressed that golfer’s cramp likely only explains a subset of people who suffer from the yips.

“These findings are critical as the next step is to identify treatment options for these golfers. Our plan is to identify golfers with golfer's cramp and study various treatment strategies to see if we can improve the putting and reduce the movement disorder,” Dr. Adler said.

Putting Yips Just What Are The Causes… | GolfingYips

– Putting Yips Just What Are The Causes?

Golf Putting Yips – What Are The Causes? – By Jack D A Brown

If you are suffering from the dreaded Golf Putting Yips, then you have my fullest sympathy. I have seen first hand how devastating this awful affliction can be. Not only does golf putting yips visibly ruin your golfing performance and enjoyment of the game, but it can also significantly dent your general confidence in other areas of life as well.

The worst part about having golf putting yips is that there appears to be no warning signs! it just seems to manifest itself out of no where and suddenly your golfing experience is no longer fun but a living nightmare.

So what causes Golf Putting Yips?

Putting aside the technical issues of putting for a moment, the main difference between the good putter and the poor one is confidence! I am sure at some point in your golfing career you have experienced that wonderful feeling of standing over a putt and knowing in your mind that you are going to hole it, even before you have made a stroke! And sure enough the putt drops!

There are a few that would put this down to psychokinesis (the ability of the mind to move an object without physical means) however, in my opinion I believe what is really happening is that you are in a positive state of mind, which in turn will enable you to create your best possible putting stroke and therefore you are giving the ball the best chance of finding the bottom of the hole.

Golf putting yips is caused by the fear of missing or failing to make the putt, your state of mind is negative and your brain is telling you that there is no possible chance of ‘holing that 4 foot putt’. This fear creates a spasmodic reflex action in the hands and will tend to affect the shorter putts, as these are the putts that one would normally be expected to make and are the ones that cause the most embarrassment when missed!

Every experience that you have in life is stored somewhere in your brain! Most of these memories will have been forgotten, as they made no particular impression. However, a traumatic missed putt or a series of missed putts that may have cost you in competition or caused you embarrassment are stored away in your active recall memory, which comes back to haunt you, when you are in a similar situation. Golf putting yips loves this and thrives on these situations!

For suggestions on how to help cure your golf putting yips, please feel free to visit my Golf Putting Yips page. If you are serious about taking your putting game to the next level, then you might also be interested in checking out my Review of the Top 3 Golf Putting Ebooks available online.

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