Dear DM1234,
The best person to answer this question is my friend
Dr Christian Marquardt of Science and Motion. Perhaps he will weigh in with a response. Meanwhile, here is something to chew on from me:
The "yips" are a movement disorder most closely associated with the dominant hand and a repetitive motion. Apparently, a yip problem can be incipient or faintly beginnng and later progress to a worsened manifestation. Usually, the yips affect some golfers after a couple of decades of golfing.
The suggestion is that the accustomed manner of putting relies upon a pattern of brain pathways and activations that is repetitive, but that with long use this pattern begins to experience problems. Exactly what sort of problems in the neurological sense is not well understood, but it seems to be clearly dependent upon the repetitive activation of neural pathways. personally, I get the impression that a golfer who focuses intently on "impact" with the ball as the moment of truth in the stroke tends to develop a timing of the dominant hand that becomes increasingly sensitive to the moment of truth as the putter approaches the back of the ball. This hypersensitive criticality, perhaps combined with "pressure" and an anxiety-loaded history of bad experiences, overloads the dominant-hand's system. So it seems that the yips typically go along with a golfer using "sensitive hands" and a "hit" stroke with a dose of perfectionism thrown in, complicated by performance anxiety and bad memories.
Here's the latest research, from November 2006:
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Nov;38(11):1980-9. Links
The yips in golf: multimodal evidence for two subtypes.
Stinear CM, Coxon JP, Fleming MK, Lim VK, Prapavessis H, Byblow WD.
Human Motor Control Laboratory, Department of Sport & Exercise Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. c.stinear@auckland.ac.nz
"ABSTRACT: PURPOSE: To determine whether a model of two subtypes of yips is supported by evidence from a range of physiological, behavioral, and psychological measures. METHODS: Fifteen golfers who experience yips symptoms while putting (mean age 58.1 yr, SD 13.6 yr), and nine golfers with no yips symptoms (mean age 39.6 yr, SD 19.3 yr) were recruited. Participants completed a golf history questionnaire to determine their playing experience and the nature of any yips symptoms experienced. In experiment 1, participants performed a putting task while electromyographic data were recorded from the forearm flexors and extensors and biceps brachii, bilaterally. The task was performed in two sessions, under low-pressure and high-pressure experimental conditions. The high-pressure condition was intended to increase anxiety through the use of a monetary incentive, video-taping of performance, and the presence of a confederate who provided negative feedback. Participants' state of anxiety was assessed using a questionnaire before each of the experimental sessions. In experiment 2, participants completed a task that required the inhibition of an anticipated response. Their accuracy and ability to inhibit their response was determined. RESULTS: The golfers who experienced yips could be categorized according to whether they reported mainly movement-related symptoms (Type I) or anxiety-related symptoms (Type II). The Type I group exhibited greater muscle activity during putting and greater errors and less inhibition of the anticipated response task. The Type II group exhibited greater changes in cognitive anxiety and normal performance of the anticipated response task. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence in support of two yips subtypes. Type I is related to impaired movement initiation and execution, whereas Type II is related to performance anxiety."
Hence, one way "around" the problem is to develop a new and different pattern of neural pathways and activations, such as a new form of grip, a new style of putting, a different strategy for moving what body parts in what fashion to make the stroke. A more "frontal assault" on the problem to allow you to continue using the same basic pattern of neural pathways and activations (the same basic "style" of putting or the same regular technique) is sort of the "holy grail" of a number of folks trying to "cure" the yips.
Some use a traditional "sports psychology" approach to the yips (e.g.,
Tom Kubistant), while others use less traditional approaches like
Lynn Francis' EFT or that of
Stephen Ladd (like psychological accupunture without needles, tapping key "energy points" on the body to change the emotional-psychological registration of the body's problem),
straight hypnosis like that of Dr Bee Epstein-Shepherd, NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) like that of
Dr Nicholas Rosa, or heart-brain synchronization as in the
HeartMath approach and a
nutritional brain-supplement approach. And some seek a more traditional "western medicine" approach to therapy or cure (e.g.,
Mayo Clinic "sports medicine" team investigating a smorgasborg of "interventions", as they say in sports science departments). [For the view that the "yips" and "choking" are not the same and should not be conflated, see
Dr. Putt's article.]
Partly, it seems that switching to the non-dominant hand compels use of a different pattern of brain pathways and activations to get the job done.
I would advise using the experience of getting free of the yips putting left-handed as a general lesson that getting away from the old pattern is probably a fruitful approach to helping resolve or ameliorate the problem. Taking this general lesson and coming up with other new patterns to try out may result in you settling on something you're pretty effective at. So experiment with a "hitless" smooth shoulder stroke (think differently about what body part to move to make the stroke, specifically going for a "dead hands" style), or try a different tempo putting right-handed, or try a modification of your usual right-handed grip form, and the like. Because people suffering the yips usually make one sort of "bad" stroke when a ball is present on a putt that matters versus either a practice stroke that doesn't matter or a stroke when there is no ball present, you can also practice making strokes without a golf ball and then making the same sort of don't-care-that-a-ball-is-there-this-time stroke on short putts that matter. Similarly,
GolfWorks researchers recently concluded that the modern trend towards shorter putters with heavier putter heads has helped "smooth out" strokes and allieviated some golfers' yips problems.
The yips seem to be a popular topic right now. You can read
Hank Haney's new book for some ideas, and you can also check out the current issue of Golf Illustrated for an article with many of the same ideas.
Cheers!
Geoff Mangum
Putting Coach and Theorist
PuttingZone.com
Golf's most advanced and comprehensive putting instruction.