What Causes the Yips in Golf?

If you’ve ever felt your hands unexpectedly jerk, twitch, or completely freeze over a short putt or simple chip shot, you’ve experienced one of golf’s most frustrating and baffling afflictions: the yips. The good news is you are not alone, and it's not a sign that your golf game is broken forever. This guide will walk you through what the yips really are, where they come from, and most importantly, what you can do - starting today - to get them out of your game and play with confidence again.

What Are the Golf Yips, Really?

The yips are best described as an involuntary muscle contraction that interferes with the fine motor skills needed to execute a golf stroke. It’s not just about getting nervous and missing a pressure-packed putt, it’s a distinct, physical glitch. For some, it's a small, jerky jab. For others, it's a "flinch" or a moment where the hands and arms seem locked in place, unable to start the stroke smoothly. While most common in putting, they can also show up in chipping and even full swings.

The feeling is confusing because you consciously know what to do. You want to make a smooth, quiet stroke, but your body seemingly gets a different command. Famous champions like Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, and even Tiger Woods (in his chipping) have publicly battled the yips. This isn't just a D-flight golfer problem, it can strike anyone, at any skill level. Understanding this helps remove the embarrassment and allows you to approach it as a solvable problem, not a personal failing.

Psychological or Physical? The Root Causes of the Yips

For decades, golfers and coaches have debated the source of the yips. Is it all in your head, or is something else going on? The answer, it turns out, is likely a mix of both. The latest thinking suggests the yips fall into two main categories, and sometimes they overlap.

Category 1: Performance Anxiety and Overthinking (The Psychological Side)

This is the classic explanation, and for many golfers, it’s the primary driver. It’s the fear-based yip. This happens when the fear of missing a short shot becomes so big that it hijacks your nervous system. Think about it: a 3-foot putt should be simple. But when you add the pressure of saving par, not looking foolish in front of your buddies, or breaking 80 for the first time, your brain goes into protection mode.

This creates a vicious cycle:

• The Trigger: You miss a short, easy putt. It’s frustrating, but it happens.
• The Fear: The next time you face a similar putt, the memory of that miss creates anxiety. You start thinking, "Don't miss this one," or worse, "Don't yip it."
• The Physical Reaction: Your brain interprets this fear as a threat, triggering a subtle "fight-or-flight" response. Adrenaline increases, your heart rate quickens, and importantly, your muscles tense up - especially the small, fine-motor muscles in your hands and wrists that are so important for putting.
• The Result: That muscular tension causes the jerky, involuntary stroke. The very act of trying not to yip creates the tension that causes the yip.

This is further complicated by over-analysis. When a putt starts to feel scary, we often retreat into mechanical thoughts: "keep an eye on the ball," "straight back, straight through," "firm wrists." By focusing so intently on the tiny details, we disrupt the natural, subconscious flow of a smooth stroke.

Category 2: Focal Dystonia (The Neurological Side)

What if the yips aren't just fear? Some research suggests that, for some golfers, the yips are a form of focal dystonia. That’s a medical term that sounds scary, but it’s actually a way more helpful way to look at the problem. Focal dystonia is a neurological condition where years of repetitive, precise movement can confuse the brain's signals to a specific group of muscles.

Think of it like this: your brain has a well-worn path for your putting stroke. You've practiced it thousands of times. Over time, that neural pathway can become "overloaded" or "scrambled." Suddenly, when you ask your brain to send the "smooth putting stroke" signal, it sends a corrupted file instead, resulting in conflicting commands (tense! relax! go! stop!) being sent to your hand muscles all at once. The result is a jerk or a freeze.

This explains why the yips are "task-specific." You can sign your name, button your shirt, and eat with a fork using those same hand muscles without any issue. But the moment you assume the posture for a putt, the dystonia kicks in. This idea is a relief for many because it separates the issue from their mental toughness. It isn't a lack of courage, it may be a neurological glitch Brough on by dedicated practice.

Actionable Steps to Beat the Yips

Whether your yips are more psychological, neurological, or a blend of the two, the good news is that there are practical strategies that attack the problem from both sides. Here are some of the most effective fixes you can try.

Mental and Focus-Based Fixes

These techniques are designed to bypass the fear circuit in your brain and give it a different, calmer instruction to follow.

• Change the Objective: Stop trying to make every putt. Your only goal on a short putt is to make your best possible stroke. If you put a good, committed roll on the ball, that is a 100% success - regardless of whether it drops. This removes the outcome pressure that fuels the yips. Celebrate good strokes, not just made putts.
• Look at the Hole, Not the Ball: This technique, used by players like Jordan Spieth, is incredibly simple and effective. Line up your putt as normal, take your practice strokes looking at the ball, but when you step in to hit it, keep your eyes focused on the hole. This turns a mechanical action into an instinctive one, much like tossing a ball a short distance. You're focused an the target, not the twitchy mechanism in your hands.
• Hum or Sing: It sounds weird, but it works. Gently humming a simple tune (like "Happy Birthday") or counting "1-2" during your stroke occupies the analytical part of your brain. It acts as mental "white noise," preventing the negative, yip-inducing thoughts from taking over.
• Use a Strong Pre-Shot Routine: A consistent, dependable pre-shot routine is your anchor. It gives your mind a familiar process to lock onto. When you do the same thing every time - line up, take two practice strokes, step in, look, and go - it makes a pressure putt feel just like the thousands of practice strokes you’ve made without thinking.

Physical and Technical Fixes

These adjustments are all about bypassing the scrambled neural pathway. If the brain’s “normal putting” signal is broken, you give it a completely different signal to send.

• Change Your Putter Grip: This is the number one physical fix for a reason. By changing how you hold the putter, you activate different muscles and send a new message to your brain. This "pattern interrupt" is often enough to stop the yip clean in its tracks.
  • Left-Hand Low (Cross-handed): Places your non-dominant hand lower on the grip, which tends to quiet down the hands and promote a more shoulder-driven stroke.
  • The Claw/Pencil Grip: There are dozens of variations, but the core idea is to take your twitchy right hand almost completely off the putter. It rests on the side of the grip to guide it, not power it.
  • Prayer Grip: Both palms face each other on either side of the grip, which encourages the hands to work as one quiet unit.
  Experiment with all of them. One will likely feel more natural and give you immediate relief.
• Change Your Putter: A new tool can inspire a new mindset. Moving from a traditional blade to a heavier mallet putter can promote a smoother pendulum motion. A counter-balanced or arm-lock putter takes the hands and wrists almost entirely out of the stroke, forcing bigger muscles in the arms and shoulders to take over.
• Use Your Opposite Hand: If you're a right-handed golfer, try putting left-handed for a bit during practice (or vice versa). You won't make much at first, but it quickly reminds your brain what a smooth, yip-free stroke feels like because you have no built-up "mental scar tissue" from that side.

Final Thoughts

The yips are a real and solvable challenge rooted in a mix of mental anxiety and physical wiring. By understanding where they come from, you can untangle the fear from the physical reaction and actively work on new techniques to bypass the issue. Be patient with yourself, embrace experimentation, and focus on committing to a smooth stroke rather than trying to force the ball into the hole.

A big part of overcoming pressure-related issues like the yips is to play smarter, more confident golf so that every shot doesn’t feel like a life-or-death situation. What we've created with Caddie AI is a tool to help you do just that. By getting quick, simple course strategy for every shot or taking a quick photo of a troublesome lie for advice, you can remove the guesswork that leads to big numbers and immense pressure on your short game. When you feel confident about your decisions all over the course, it's amazing how much freer you feel standing over those short putts.