How Senior Golfers can Cure Golf Chipping Yips (Video) - by Dean Butler
How Senior Golfers can Cure Golf Chipping Yips (Video) - by Dean Butler

Okay, I wonder how many people out there have the golf chipping yips. Well, unfortunately I have them, but it's one of those sorts of conditions, very, very similar to putting. It’s a nervous sort of condition, it's a jerky action, it's a stabby action. But when people are playing a chip and they get a yip, this is how it looks. They get over the ball and they tend to come and go with no backswing whatsoever, because they have got no confidence or they tend to go back and then from here, jerk back into it.

So you can see the first thing that is jumping out hopefully of this, there is no rhythm. And we have got to have rhythm in the golf swing, whether it’s chipping, putting, or bunkers or whatever the part of the game is. So yips is basically a nervous condition, it's tension, it's your heart beating faster, it's all that scenario, it's pressure building. So you got to get rid of the pressure and get rid of the nerves. So the first thing we want to do is go over to this ball and think right, I’ve selected my club for the shot. I'm going to play a chip and run with a 7-iron, let's go through the set-up. So get the setup right, ball position in the middle, feet a little bit closer than normal, a little bit – it’s closer than the shoulder width, left foot back slightly, with the weight on the left hand side. So now we have got the setup right. We know we're in the perfect position. Now from here, we have got to concentrate now, concentrate on swinging the club back with the shoulders, backwards and forwards. So there is no wrist activity, wrist activity would create a sort of jerkiness, a stabbing, a picking, a flicking, a jabbing. We want to kind of get away from that sort of scenario, so from here swing it back with your shoulders backwards and forwards. And concentrate on the pendulum, this is so crucial here, it's all about timing. Get yourself over the ball and concentrate on the pendulum backwards and forwards. If you get the yips, your tendency is have it to catch the ground first or to catch the top of the ball, that's what happens when you do the yips with chipping. So here we are over the ball, and we are going to concentrate now on nothing else, but my rhythm. That's all I'm going to do, my rhythm, so from here keep the weight 60-40 on left-side and from here swing with the shoulders, hands forward, tick tock. And you can see that’s one of the most perfect strike. I haven’t caught the mat, which would have been the ground, I haven't caught the top of the ball. I have just gone tick tock, the club started on the ground, because I kept my arms straight and I swing by my shoulders, the club was going back nice and low to the grass, coming back nice and low and the loft of the club has done the job for me. It's thrown the ball and there is the release. Now I am not going to try and tell you that yips is going to be cured overnight. But what you have got now is the knowledge of what it was that was causing it, that nervousness, the jabbiness and so on. And what I want you to do is to go away now and work on the setup and then from that, concentrate on the rhythm. Remember that pendulum, get it into your mind, tick tock, tick tock and you should feel a lot more relaxed. If you feel more relaxed, your breathing will be a lot easier and you will get much, much better results. Remember, focus on the swing rather than the result. If you focus on the result and the shot, then you will be too much and kind of grossed into what you are trying to do. Your setup is the key, if it looks good, you can see where I am getting you into. Now just focus on the rhythm of the swing, that's all I want you to do. And with a little bit of practice and positive thinking, no negative thoughts, you will make good progress in curing that chipping yip once and for all. 2013-10-28

Okay, I wonder how many people out there have the golf chipping yips. Well, unfortunately I have them, but it's one of those sorts of conditions, very, very similar to putting. It’s a nervous sort of condition, it's a jerky action, it's a stabby action. But when people are playing a chip and they get a yip, this is how it looks. They get over the ball and they tend to come and go with no backswing whatsoever, because they have got no confidence or they tend to go back and then from here, jerk back into it.

So you can see the first thing that is jumping out hopefully of this, there is no rhythm. And we have got to have rhythm in the golf swing, whether it’s chipping, putting, or bunkers or whatever the part of the game is. So yips is basically a nervous condition, it's tension, it's your heart beating faster, it's all that scenario, it's pressure building. So you got to get rid of the pressure and get rid of the nerves. So the first thing we want to do is go over to this ball and think right, I’ve selected my club for the shot. I'm going to play a chip and run with a 7-iron, let's go through the set-up.

So get the setup right, ball position in the middle, feet a little bit closer than normal, a little bit – it’s closer than the shoulder width, left foot back slightly, with the weight on the left hand side. So now we have got the setup right. We know we're in the perfect position. Now from here, we have got to concentrate now, concentrate on swinging the club back with the shoulders, backwards and forwards. So there is no wrist activity, wrist activity would create a sort of jerkiness, a stabbing, a picking, a flicking, a jabbing.

We want to kind of get away from that sort of scenario, so from here swing it back with your shoulders backwards and forwards. And concentrate on the pendulum, this is so crucial here, it's all about timing. Get yourself over the ball and concentrate on the pendulum backwards and forwards. If you get the yips, your tendency is have it to catch the ground first or to catch the top of the ball, that's what happens when you do the yips with chipping. So here we are over the ball, and we are going to concentrate now on nothing else, but my rhythm.

That's all I'm going to do, my rhythm, so from here keep the weight 60-40 on left-side and from here swing with the shoulders, hands forward, tick tock. And you can see that’s one of the most perfect strike. I haven’t caught the mat, which would have been the ground, I haven't caught the top of the ball. I have just gone tick tock, the club started on the ground, because I kept my arms straight and I swing by my shoulders, the club was going back nice and low to the grass, coming back nice and low and the loft of the club has done the job for me.

It's thrown the ball and there is the release. Now I am not going to try and tell you that yips is going to be cured overnight. But what you have got now is the knowledge of what it was that was causing it, that nervousness, the jabbiness and so on. And what I want you to do is to go away now and work on the setup and then from that, concentrate on the rhythm. Remember that pendulum, get it into your mind, tick tock, tick tock and you should feel a lot more relaxed. If you feel more relaxed, your breathing will be a lot easier and you will get much, much better results. Remember, focus on the swing rather than the result. If you focus on the result and the shot, then you will be too much and kind of grossed into what you are trying to do.

Your setup is the key, if it looks good, you can see where I am getting you into. Now just focus on the rhythm of the swing, that's all I want you to do. And with a little bit of practice and positive thinking, no negative thoughts, you will make good progress in curing that chipping yip once and for all.