Overcoming The Full-Swing Yips
The yips can drive your out of the game of golf. Standing over a five-foot putt knowing there is a good chance you will miss creates intense anxiety.
This leads to tension and over control of the stroke causing your to flinch or jab at the ball.
Imagine how difficult it is to play with the full swing yips! Yes, the yips can manifest in any part of your game.
The yips or even excess tension can affect your putting, chipping, pitching, or full shot.
The yips cause golfers to overthink and over control their strokes…
Over control leads to tension, the death grip, and wobbly legs.
The real fear: you are suddenly aware that everyone is watching you and the fear of embarrassment is overwhelming.
A game your once loved turns into agony when you have the yips and worry about how others view your game.
The yips are almost a taboo topic for golfers. Most golfers don’t even like to watch another golfer struggle with the yips for fear they may contract the yips by osmosis.
Henrik Stenson had a difficult stint with the yips. Stenson was touted as one of Europe’s most promising golfers as a rookie due to his skill with the long clubs.
But in the middle of his rookie year, the yips started… The full swing yips took what was once his strength and turned it into an unrelenting foe.
STENSON: “Driving the ball long and long irons were always the strong part of my game. When it all fell to pieces, that was the part I was struggling with the most. I couldn’t hit three football fields with my driver… I was in a pretty dark place.”
Stenson, now 40, has returned to being one of the game’s most consistent strikers and won both the 2016 BMW International Open and the 2016 Open Championship.
What helped Stenson to overcome the full swing yips and return to his successful ways?
Stenson had the belief that the yips were not permanent. He had the mental fortitude to focus forward in order to work through the full stroke yips. That doesn’t mean he will forever hit the ball straight and true. What it does mean is that he is in control of his play rather than the yips controlling his game.
STENSON: “It’s all about getting out of bed and keep working away and trying to be better. Sometimes you improve, but it doesn’t necessarily mean your results are going to improve over a period of time. But at some stage you kind of catch up, and you can get the rewards for your hard work. Given the ups and downs I’ve had in the past, it’s not like I’m going to get worried if I’m not producing the results I want. I’ve got patience.”
Tips For Beating the Full Stroke Yips:
What you believe, you will receive. If you believe the yips are an incurable affliction, you will either hate the game or retire from the sport.
You must stop searching for physical remedies and denying the mental part of your game. The first step to overcoming the tips is to accept that it’s a mental phenomenon.
Fear of failure and embarrassment are the main culprits, not your putter, grip or mechanics. You mechanics only change because of your mind.
Work to swing freely every shot of every round–that’s your main objective to overcome the yips…
Learn all of my secrets to breaking the yips cycle!
Related Golf Psychology Articles
- Kevin Na Battles the Full-Swing Yips
- The Role of the Mind in the Golf Yips
- How Danielle Kang Overcame the Yips
Overcome The Yips and Enjoy Golf Again!
Breaking The Yips Cycle Video and Workbook program is ideal for any amateur, collegiate, junior, and tour professional golfer who wants to break out of the putting, chipping, or pitching yips.
Golf coaches and instructors would also be wise to teach “Breaking The Yips Cycle” principles to their players who struggle with tension in their swing or the full-blown yips. This program is perfect for any golfer who wants to improve performance by swinging freely again!
My yips lead to my inability to put the club directly behind the ball I feel I have to put the club 2 to 3 inches over and outside of the ball. Can you help? Please!!!
Are you hands shaking so much that you are afraid to hit the ball when you set up with the putter?
I developed the yips several years ago and I’ve sadly given up golf.
with
My problem is that during a full swing, mainly with woods but with long irons as well, my brain tells my wrists to turn in, causing the club head to close. The ball responds and goes low and left every time.
I’ve tried lots of remedies but the problem persists. It actually is painful as I try to force the club head to remain true. Muscles tense and I have to give up.
I’m not a great golfer but I do understand this is a mental thing. Just can’t make it stop!
Any suggestions?
Try hitting balls with your eyes closed. Another option is to take practice swings with your eyes closed and ask someone to put a ball in the path between swings when you don’t realize it.
I have been struggling with full swing yips ( pulling the trigger) for 6 years. What happens is after my practice swings that feel good, i address the ball then at the top off my backswing it freezes and cant complete the swing. I have tried closing my eyes, singing, humming, even doing math, anything to trick my brain into not thinking about the swing. Sometimes it works but most of the time it does not. I played of 6 before this began and now 6 years later i play of 16. I love the game but this has destroyed my game, any suggestions.
I can hit balls at the practice net without a problem, my practice swing is exactly as I want it, but when I address the ball either on the tee box or fairway I freeze over taking the club away, I tense every muscle in my body, my legs wobble all over the place. My putting is fine. I am at the stage of quitting the game, I know the problem is mental but I just can’t crack it. Help!
Make sure you have one positive image of the target or swing cue over the ball. If not, you’re not ready to hit the shot and have to adjust.
I can relate to Darren , giving it one last shot this year , 3 in my younger days now cant break 90 , stripe the ball on range and decelerate at ball on course , its all in my head for sure , any thoughts
thank you
warren in canada
Same guy on the range with the same swing as the guy on the course…. You have to trust your swing on the course. Make sure you take a full ripped practice swing next to the ball–hold onto that feeling and replication it over the ball. I don’t have a quick fixe for the yips, but I do know it’s often about fear of embarrassment and worrying too much about what others think.
you are right on there for sure , I will keep working at it ,is there any certain process or number counts you can suggest as I address and pull trigger? I read in one article to count backwards from 100. Thanks for response
warren
Less thinking is always better when it comes to the yips. Set up, look at the target, and go ASAP.