Desperate!!! Help with chipping and putting yips!!

[Rix]

Hey Spy’s!

Looking for ANY help with the yips. I have just about exhausted the yip cure content in the YouTube video vault and can’t find anything that helps. I will practice and something feels great, go to the course and it crashes as soon as I hit one bad chip or putt. 
Was scratch 15 years ago, now 66 years old and a 7 hdcp. Could easily be close to scratch again if I was just average around and on the greens. I’m on the verge of quitting due to frustration

As an example, played yesterday. Hit 13 out of 14 fairways. Only hit 11 GIR but the 7 missed greens were missed within 10-20 ft. Missed 4 birdie putts inside 10’, 2 putted for my only birdie. Only got up and down once and made one double due to hitting one chip 2 feet! 
HELP!!!

left out my 3 three putt greens….

Edited April 26, 2023 by Rix

[StrokerAce]

this is one of the best short game videos I've ever seen (and I watch A LOT of youtube vids!)

also a tip I heard that's worked for me is try 'softening' your left arm. 

 

[Kenny B]

Difficult to provide meaningful advice since we don't know what's causing your issues, just like your search of YT found many "solutions".  Rather than ask us; ask your pro.  

However, most people tend to "flip" their chip/pitches, myself included, because we release full shots so many times before we get the green and that feel continues into short game shots.  I'm sure you have practiced these shots over and over, but out on the course, you get one opportunity and it's difficult to mentally pull off the practiced shot.

Personally, I like a more Steve Stricker minimal wrist shot rather than a Phil Mickelson hinge and hold shot.  It's more repeatable for me.  Rather than swinging the club through delicate short shots, I've found that soft hands and allowing gravity to start the downswing produces good shots when I use the bounce of the club.  I play a 60º with 12º bounce off firm turf for most shots around the green.  I am working on incorporating a putting stroke with my 48º PW when near the green.

[StrokerAce]

2 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

Difficult to provide meaningful advice since we don't know what's causing your issues, just like your search of YT found many "solutions".  Rather than ask us; ask your pro.  

However, most people tend to "flip" their chip/pitches, myself included, because we release full shots so many times before we get the green and that feel continues into short game shots.  I'm sure you have practiced these shots over and over, but out on the course, you get one opportunity and it's difficult to mentally pull off the practiced shot.

Personally, I like a more Steve Stricker minimal wrist shot rather than a Phil Mickelson hinge and hold shot.  It's more repeatable for me.  Rather than swinging the club through delicate short shots, I've found that soft hands and allowing gravity to start the downswing produces good shots when I use the bounce of the club.  I play a 60º with 12º bounce off firm turf for most shots around the green.  I am working on incorporating a putting stroke with my 48º PW when near the green.

Raymond Floyd told Tiger in this video to get the heel as high as you can when chipping. Sound advice that I've tried and it works; but I agree with @Kenny B, hard to problem solve without knowing what's causing the problem

 

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

Had this issue chipping a few years back. No advice on putting but as for chipping get the planemate. Even if you just use the first few protocols for chipping it works wonders. I still use it as a muscle memory for chipping, works great.

[AndySP]

2 hours ago, Rix said:

Missed 4 birdie putts inside 10’, 2 putted for my only birdie. Only got up and down once and made one double due to hitting one chip 2 feet! 

Because I’m no psychologist, one thing to consider is that PGA pros only make 40% of 10’ putts and 23% from 15’. A scratch golfer makes about 30% of 10’ putts. https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/the-stats-behind-a-scratch-golfer

Maybe your expectations are too high? Have you tried tracking your stats with a strokes gained app like golf metrics to see where everything lines up?

 

this was a good listen too:

https://golfsciencelab.com/the-yips/

 

 

[Caddie1966]

1st.  I feel your pain.

Not sure what the issue exactly is but when I have had this problem, I have made sure to put my hands on the club in a putting grip even for pitches from inside 50 yards as well as chip shots.  I also exaggerate the putting grip to have my club grip as far toward my thumb pads as possible that way the wrists don’t break down the last element is to keep the club heel off the ground and to keep my arms tight to my torso.  It’s much like the Peter finch video cited above.  I review that video when I start to stumble.  Helps me a lot.

 

[CB Lobo 4 Life]

Hey Rix, 

 

I can totally sympathize with you. I feel like I was in that same position last year where all I could seem to do was blade my 60 over the green every time. For me, I did a few things:

1. I bought a new wedge. Now this might not work for everyone but for some reason, I think the mental change of finding a better wedge that I loved just changed everything for me! (I needed a change badly, I found out the bounce on my prior club was way too low)

2. I am someone who suffers from BIG mental issues on the course so I found the video below the BIGGEST help for me. 

3. I then just practiced my wedges for a week straight following what was taught in the video. 

 

I am in no way a professional but more than happy to share some things that have helped me. I hope any of the above help you!

[Thin2win]

My best advice would be to make your chipping simpler.  Probably use a less lofted club,  take your wrists out of it and choke down.

If I'm just off the green, I'm taking basically a putter stroke,  keeping the heel of the club high(as mentioned above). And I'm using just enough loft to carry the ball onto the edge of the green and roll out from there. 

It's a lot harder to screw up a PW or 8i bump and run than a 56 or 60 fly to the hole.

[Rix]

10 minutes ago, Thin2win said:

My best advice would be to make your chipping simpler.  Probably use a less lofted club,  take your wrists out of it and choke down.

If I'm just off the green, I'm taking basically a putter stroke,  keeping the heel of the club high(as mentioned above). And I'm using just enough loft to carry the ball onto the edge of the green and roll out from there. 

It's a lot harder to screw up a PW or 8i bump and run than a 56 or 60 fly to the hole.

Thanks…already do this when possible but has gotten so bad that I can’t even control it using a six iron. Go to shot for decades was using an eight iron to carry the ball just on then roll like putt….

[Rix]

25 minutes ago, Chris Binnie said:

Hey Rix, 

 

I can totally sympathize with you. I feel like I was in that same position last year where all I could seem to do was blade my 60 over the green every time. For me, I did a few things:

1. I bought a new wedge. Now this might not work for everyone but for some reason, I think the mental change of finding a better wedge that I loved just changed everything for me! (I needed a change badly, I found out the bounce on my prior club was way too low)

2. I am someone who suffers from BIG mental issues on the course so I found the video below the BIGGEST help for me. 

3. I then just practiced my wedges for a week straight following what was taught in the video. 

 

I am in no way a professional but more than happy to share some things that have helped me. I hope any of the above help you!

Thanks. I started watching this but could only take so much of Frankie…. I might revisit it again though. Wedges are Vokey SM8 & 9’s with 10-12* bounce. I’d be hard pressed to change away from Titleist

 

 

[CB Lobo 4 Life]

3 minutes ago, Rix said:

Thanks. I started watching this but could only take so much of Frankie…. I might revisit it again though. Wedges are Vokey SM8 & 9’s with 10-12* bounce. I’d be hard pressed to change away from Titleist

 

 

Yeah, I can understand that. I tended to just ignore Frankie and focus on the Psychologist haha. I loved what he said though about calming yourself down by how you do your pre-shot routine, and he later on talks about rethinking how you approach your approach shots haha. Yeah, I don't blame you about the wedges. With you having been in the "scratch" handicap world I would be hard-pressed to give you any explicit technical advice. For me personally, I had to start changing my mind because I knew I had the technique I just needed to change how I thought about it.

[Rix]

4 hours ago, AndySP said:

Because I’m no psychologist, one thing to consider is that PGA pros only make 40% of 10’ putts and 23% from 15’. A scratch golfer makes about 30% of 10’ putts. https://www.golfmonthly.com/features/the-stats-behind-a-scratch-golfer

Maybe your expectations are too high? Have you tried tracking your stats with a strokes gained app like golf metrics to see where everything lines up?

 

this was a good listen too:

https://golfsciencelab.com/the-yips/

 

 

Thanks for the input. My expectations aren’t very high. From where I hit it on a decent day, I could substitute a 10 handicap golfer from 10 feet from the green and in and they would shoot 75 or better 90% of the time. My short game and putting handicap is 15+. I know how to shoot decent scores, I’ve been there. With the yips, it just isn’t possible and I’m about to quit….

[Rix]

2 minutes ago, Chris Binnie said:

Yeah, I can understand that. I tended to just ignore Frankie and focus on the Psychologist haha. I loved what he said though about calming yourself down by how you do your pre-shot routine, and he later on talks about rethinking how you approach your approach shots haha. Yeah, I don't blame you about the wedges. With you having been in the "scratch" handicap world I would be hard-pressed to give you any explicit technical advice. For me personally, I had to start changing my mind because I knew I had the technique I just needed to change how I thought about it.

I think that is the hardest part to accept. I KNOW WHAT TO DO, but don’t physically make myself do it when it matters. I can practice a new thought and feel and it goes great. I can putt on a chalk line or my RainDrop putting line and make 7/10, 8/10 10 foot putts. Get me on the course and I may start with a couple decent strokes (or chips) but then hit one questionable one and my mind goes crazy. Sucks so bad…

[Thin2win]

42 minutes ago, Rix said:

Thanks…already do this when possible but has gotten so bad that I can’t even control it using a six iron. Go to shot for decades was using an eight iron to carry the ball just on then roll like putt….

Hrmmmm. You might be beyond hope. 

Have you tried the ping chpr?

[BH18]

Try “heads up” putting - looking at the target instead of the ball.  Helps with yips and might help everyone with speed control. I haven’t tried it with chipping but it might work with that too. 
 

feels strange at first, but trust me, you won’t miss the ball. 

[BH18]

Speaking from personal experience, you’re never fully ‘cured’ but you can put the yips into remission. 
 

Regarding putting, two things that have helped with me.  1 - see above about heads up putting. This is huge.   2 - try lead hand low or claw/pencil grip. 
 

As far as chipping goes, try hitting a bunch of chips using only your right hand. Just let the weight of the club fall and be nice and fluid, then the proper release just happens. This will get you engaging the bounce properly. Then try to keep that same feeling with two hands on the club. 

one more thing I’ll add, and this is harder to achieve - you have to not care as much.   I bet you don’t yip as much or even at all when you’re just practicing.  Need to find a way to take that to the course.   There’s no silver bullet, but for me it was a combination of things.  One, my kids got older and I was able to play more rounds.  This made each round seem a little less important and I played more ‘just for fun’ rounds with less pressure.  Two, I had a few bad things happen in my real life that put things in perspective and made me realize how unimportant a golf shot is in the grand scheme of things.   Maybe for some people meditation would help, I’m sure it’s different for everyone.  But for me anyway, the yips were stress/pressure induced, and learning how not to give a sh** really helped.

 

[BH18]

20 hours ago, Thin2win said:

My best advice would be to make your chipping simpler.  Probably use a less lofted club,  take your wrists out of it and choke down.

If I'm just off the green, I'm taking basically a putter stroke,  keeping the heel of the club high(as mentioned above). And I'm using just enough loft to carry the ball onto the edge of the green and roll out from there. 

It's a lot harder to screw up a PW or 8i bump and run than a 56 or 60 fly to the hole.

I think it’s such an individual thing. For me trying to take the wrists out of it would make it worse.  I’ve struggled a bit with this over the years, and I’d rather hit a half swing pitch shot than a no-wrist chip. Anything that’s overly trying to control the clubface is worse than just letting it flow (for me). 

[StrokerAce]

this is a weekly watch for me.... so so good. the techniques he covers in here are eye-opening...

 

[BRADSWEET]

On 4/26/2023 at 2:51 PM, Thin2win said:

My best advice would be to make your chipping simpler.  Probably use a less lofted club,  take your wrists out of it and choke down.

If I'm just off the green, I'm taking basically a putter stroke,  keeping the heel of the club high(as mentioned above). And I'm using just enough loft to carry the ball onto the edge of the green and roll out from there. 

It's a lot harder to screw up a PW or 8i bump and run than a 56 or 60 fly to the hole.

This has been my approach as well. practicing this is a much overlooked skill that can really drop handicaps.

[StrokerAce]

hold the grip much lighter - a 3 instead of an 8 or 9, very light thumb pressure.

rotate, rotate, rotate - left shoulder up and around

elbows tight to your chest, left flared and pivot around

think: soft, relaxed, finesse - you don't want to drive the ball like a regular shot - use the bounce and try to hit behind the ball - it's okay to flip this shot

[MNUte]

Hopefully you've found your cure by now, but in case you haven't I figured I'd add something to the pot. 

For putting, have you tried the yardstick drill before? Having a flat metal yardstick and having to put from one end of it to the other without it falling off to either side. If you don't want to spend the dollar on the yardstick, you can also just put a piece of blue/black tape on the ground for your distance (this is also more preferable later on when you're working on longer distance putts). This drill helps you truly lock down your ability to hit a straight put. But it also helps you mentally gain confidence in your putting knowing that you're now just focusing on distance and break. 

[W Berry]

I've long suffered from the chipping Yips (20+ years).  At this point, they're mostly cured, but still creep up from time to time.  The best drills I've found are:

1)  Trail hand only chipping (right hand for righties).  Focus on keeping your chest 1-2" ahead of the ball and let the club swing.  Really feel the weight of the head.  I've actually used this technique during a round many times when the yips have been at their worst.  

2)  Practice chipping and say (out loud) "1" when the club is at the top of the backswing and "2" when the club is completely through the follow through.  Important to focus on getting the timing right on when you say "1" and '2".   This drill broadens your focus away from the ball - that's the bane of chip yippers; we focus too much on the ball and contact.

3)  Practice chipping with a ball about 2 feet ahead of the ball you're hitting and another ball about 2 feet behind the ball you're chipping.  Make sure you see both the forward and the backward ball in your peripheral vision while you hit the target ball.  Again, this broadens your focus and eliminates for excess focus on the ball and contact.

4) Hit several chips and focus entirely on the target you've picked out for the ball to land.  No thoughts on technique, tempo, etc. - simply become 100% target focused for your landing spot.

Hope these drills help.  I've actually been close to quitting the game a few times due to the chipping yips and have played 50+ years.

Here is a link to a video that I think is great for chipping yips.  Hope this helps.

https://www.google.com/search?q=drills+to+stop+the+chipping+yips&rlz=1C1JSBI_enUS1080US1080&oq=drills+to+stop+the+chipping+yips&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yDQgCEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgDEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgEEAAYhgMYgAQYigXSAQg0ODQwajBqNKgCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a8e323f3,vid:YPsXjIUTFjg,st:0

[Josh Parker]

On 6/13/2023 at 9:38 AM, MNUte said:

Hopefully you've found your cure by now, but in case you haven't I figured I'd add something to the pot. 

For putting, have you tried the yardstick drill before? Having a flat metal yardstick and having to put from one end of it to the other without it falling off to either side. If you don't want to spend the dollar on the yardstick, you can also just put a piece of blue/black tape on the ground for your distance (this is also more preferable later on when you're working on longer distance putts). This drill helps you truly lock down your ability to hit a straight put. But it also helps you mentally gain confidence in your putting knowing that you're now just focusing on distance and break. 

This is a great drill and one I use a lot for practicing at home.

[NC Golfer]

I think the chipper type of clubs help. 

[tony@CIC]

On 4/26/2023 at 10:09 AM, Kenny B said:

Difficult to provide meaningful advice since we don't know what's causing your issues, just like your search of YT found many "solutions".  Rather than ask us; ask your pro.  

@Rix, Kenny's recommendation is spot on. A 30 min lesson plus lots of practice will result in heaps more progress than trying lots of different recommendation without understanding what the issue is.