Hi I was playing a round of golf the other day and on one of the greens while putting I had what I could only describe as a spasm in my arm as I went to hit the ball, luckily I managed to pull out of the shot then went on to sink the ball. As we walked on to the next tee one of my fellow golfers said to me “it looks like you had a case of the yips on that last green”, now not being the argumentative type I agreed and went away that night and had to look up this strange thing I apparently had “yips” but before I explain my findings this was the one and only time this has happened to me and I have gone on to five or six more games of golf and not had the same problem so I am not sure my spasm was a yip but here are my findings anyway.
Yips, or The yips is an expression describing an apparently baseless sudden loss of ability in one of a number of different sports taken from Wikpedia.
Every golfer has heard of the putting ‘yips’(ha ha not me). It’s the inability to make a smooth putting stoke, particularly due to tension in the hands causing jitters, uncertainty, fear, tremors and a general feeling of anxiety while standing over short putts.
A huge number of golfers suffer from the Yips, and that includes professionals! It can be so debilitating that sufferers lose all confidence in their game and golf becomes a sport of torture rather than pleasure!
Professional or leading amateur sportsmen affected by the Yips sometimes recover their ability, sometimes compensate by changing technique, or may be forced to abandon their sport at the highest level. The yips are most commonly associated with putting and it seems to be golfers who have played for more than 25 years appear to be most prone to the condition.
Another cause of the yips may be primarily neuromuscular in nature. Some studies on the body mechanics of professional golfers show a tendency to assume awkward putting positions for extended periods of time. A fast putting surface with a left-to-right break near the hole, for example, may require the golfer to grip the putter at an extreme angle. Holding this position throughout the entire putting stroke could trigger a muscle spasm or cramp at the critical point of contact.
Ok now if your like me and did not know what the yips where now you know and after further research I found a guy who claims to be able to cure the yips and also make you a putting machine one cured so take a look at Become A Putting Machine and cure them yips.
Enjoy
Chris
Putting Aids
