How to Stop the Yips in Golf

That sudden, involuntary jerk in your putting stroke or that flinch on a simple chip shot can feel like a devastating betrayal by your own hands. The yips are maddening, confusing, and can turn a game you love into a source of anxiety. But they are not a life sentence for your golf game. This article will guide you through understanding exactly what the yips are and provide clear, practical strategies you can use to tame them and get your confidence back on the course.

What Exactly Are the Yips?

Before you can fix them, it helps to know what you’re up against. The yips aren't just a case of "bad nerves." They are often described as a psycho-neuromuscular problem where your brain and muscles stop communicating effectively during a specific motor task. Think of it as a glitch in your swing’s software. This glitch manifests as an involuntary twitch, spasm, or freeze, most commonly in short-game shots like putting and chipping where fine motor control is needed.

Many golfers feel a sense of shame, thinking it's a sign of mental weakness, but that isn't true. The yips have plagued some of the greatest players in history, from Ben Hogan to Tom Watson. They aren't a reflection of your character, they are a specific, treatable performance issue. The first step to beating them is to stop treating them like a dark secret and start seeing them as a problem with a solution.

Understanding the 'Why': The Fear Loop

The yips are born from and sustained by a vicious cycle of fear. It often starts with a few missed short putts or a couple of bladed chips under pressure. No big deal at first. But then, you start thinking about it. Standing over the next short putt, your conscious brain pipes up: "Don't screw this up. Don't leave it short. Whatever you do, don't yip it."

This internal monologue creates performance anxiety, which triggers your body's "fight or flight" response. Your heart rate increases, your muscles tense up, and your fine motor skills deteriorate. Your brain, trying to "help," overthinks the once-automatic motion of the putting stroke. This conscious interference with a subconscious motor pattern is what causes the jerk or freeze. The putt misses, and the fear loop is reinforced. Your brain now associates that shot with anxiety and failure, making the next attempt even harder.

To stop the twitch, you have to break the fear loop. The following strategies are all designed to do just that by interrupting the pattern and giving your brain a different task to focus on.

Actionable Drills and Techniques to Stop the Yips

There is no single fix for the yips, because what works for one golfer might not work for another. The goal is to experiment with these techniques and find the one that feels right and gives you back a sense of control. Don't try all of them at once. Pick one or two, commit to them on the practice green, and then take them to the course.

1. Change Your Grip

This is often the most effective and immediate fix. By changing how you hold the club, you activate different muscles and neurologies that aren't tied into the "yipped" motor program. It’s like creating a fresh start for your hands.

• Lead-Hand Low (Cross-Handed): This is a popular anti-yip putting grip. By placing your lead hand (the left hand for a righty) below your trail hand, you essentially quiet the dominant trail hand, which is often the source of the twitch. This naturally encourages the shoulders to rock the putter in a pendulum motion, taking the twitchy muscles in the hands and wrists out of the stroke.
• The Claw/Pencil Grip: There are many variations, but the principle is the same. The trail hand sits on the putter in an unconventional way - like holding a pencil - so it can only guide the club instead of forcefully manipulating it. This takes away its ability to "punch" at the ball.
• Left-Handed Chipping: If your yips are in your chipping, try hitting a few practice chips playing "left-handed" (if you're a righty). You won't be good at it, and that’s the point. It reminds your body that it's a T swinging motion. Then, switch back to your normal stance trying to replicate that same feeling of the clubhead just swinging past the ball.

2. Engage the Big Muscles

The yips live in the small, fast-twitch muscles of your hands and wrists. To beat them, you need to hand control over to the big, steady muscles of your shoulders, back, and torso. You want your entire upper body to move as a single, connected unit.

Drill: The Putter-Tuck

On the practice green, take your setup. Press the grip of the putter firmly against your lead forearm. Your goal is to make a stroke where the putter grip never separates from your arm. The only way to do this is to rock your shoulders back and through. This drill physically locks your wrists out of the stroke and forces your larger "rocking" muscles to take over. Hit putts of 3, 5, and 10 feet like this until the one-piece takeaway feels natural.

3. Shift Your Visual Focus

Staring intently at the golf ball can increase the anxiety loop. You’re focusing on the object of your potential failure. By changing what you look at, you can trick your brain into focusing on the goal, not the mechanics.

Drill: Look at the Hole

This feels strange at first, but it can be incredibly liberating. Set up to your putt as you normally would, take one last look at the hole to get the line, but as you begin your stroke, keep your eyes on the hole. Do not look back at the ball.

This has two benefits:

1. It forces you to trust your stroke, because you can't micro-manage it.
2. It shifts your intention from "making a perfect stroke" to "getting the ball to the target." This is a huge mental shift.

Start with very short putts to get the feel for it and then gradually move farther back.

4. Disrupt the Rhythm

The fear of the yip often causes golfers to freeze over the ball, creating more and more tension. A continuous motion can prevent this buildup of tension and stop the conscious mind from having a chance to take over.

Drill: Constant Motion Putting

Instead of coming to a complete stop before your takeaway, try a technique where you are in constant, slow motion. Let the putter head waggle slowly back and an inch or two as part of your pre-shot movement. The putting stroke itself then simply becomes a slightly longer extension of this gentle, continuous motion, flowing from the backswing waggle into the stroke and through to the finish.

5. Detach from the Outcome

Sometimes, the greatest pressure cooker is your own expectations. You believe you must make every 3-foot putt. When the stakes feel that high, your body tenses up. The fix is to redefine what a "successful" putt or chip is.

On the course, stop thinking about sinking the putt. Change your goal to simply starting the ball on your intended line with good speed. That's it. Your new mission is "a good roll on my line."

When you have a yip-inducing chip, your only goal is to make solid contact and get the ball anywhere on the green. Just taking the "hole" out of the equation mentally can release an enormous amount of pressure, freeing your body to make a much smoother motion. When you give yourself permission to not be perfect, you're much more likely to make a relaxed, effective stroke.

6. The Simple Power of Breath

Never underestimate the connection between your breathing and your nerves. Short, shallow breathing is a hallmark of the stress response. You can manually calm your entire system - including your twitchy hands - by controlling your breath. Before you take your stance, take one deep, slow diaphragmatic breath. Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of four, and then exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of six. As you exhale, feel the tension release from your shoulders and arms. This one small action can stop the anxiety spiral before it even begins.

Final Thoughts

Overcoming the yips is a process of breaking old patterns and building new, more resilient ones. It requires patience and a willingness to try different approaches without judgment. Remember, this is a beatable problem, and the solution is to shift your focus from the fear of a bad stroke to the process of a smooth, relaxed motion.

A big part of that process is minimizing other mental pressures on the course. With Caddie AI, you can take the guesswork out of your strategy, leaving you with more mental energy to focus on your technique and a confident mindset. By getting simple, smart advice on hole strategy or club selection, you can stand over every shot with less uncertainty, commit fully to your swing, and give yourself the best possible chance to let your smoothest stroke emerge.