Cure Your Putting Yips For Good

Next to the shanks, putting yips are the worst thing that can happen to your game...and your sanity.

Initially, putting yips are caused by mechanical issues with your putting stroke. But these putting issues quickly manifest into your subconscious...

...Even if you fix your mechanical putting stroke issues, your newly found lack of confidence will often trick you to yip.

The harder you try and make the putts, the more putts you yip.

Want to stop your yips for good? Here's how...

The Source of Putting Yips

Yips are initially caused by a fundamental issue in your putting stroke. 95% of the time, you yip a short putt because:

You break your wrists
You try and "steer" the putt
You decelerate through the stroke
You look up too early (yes, this can be an issue with putting, just like a full swing)
You jab at the putt - you don't have a fluid putting stroke

Breaking Your Wrists

The proper putting stroke comes from the shoulder and arms. Never the hands or wrists. To be an effective putter, your wrists must remain locked throughout the entire putt.

If you break your wrists, you'll likely yip your little 3-5 foot putts every time.

Here's a simple putting drill to help keep your from breaking your wrists...

Take five balls to the practice green and pick a flat, three foot putt. Using only your right hand (if you're right handed), putt five balls in the cup in a row from three feet.

With only one hand on the club, at first, you'll really feel your wrist break. Use enough tension in your forearm to lock the wrist in place. Don't grip the putter too tightly! Keep your wrist locked by putting with some tension in your forearm.

Once your wrist continues to stay locked, introduce your other hand on the grip. If your right wrist stays locked, your left wrist won't budge.

Putt another five balls in the cup in a row using both hands. Remember to keep those wrists locked!

"Steering" The Putt

Steering occurs when you consciously try and guide the putt into the hole by steering the putter through the stroke. Unfortunately, this steering leads you into a ditch - either to the right or left of the cup!

Once your putter hits the ball, there's nothing more your putter can do to help the ball get into the hole. Its job is done! The ball is well on its way! Stop steering!

The problem with steering is that it starts right before the putter makes contact with the ball. Ironically, your guidance actually pushes or pulls the ball off of the target.

Steering generally occurs when you watch the putter instead of the ball. Here's a quick tip to cure putting yips caused by steering your putts...

Take a few balls to the practice green and find a flat, five foot putt. For a solid fifteen minutes, putt the same five foot putt with a bit of a twist...

Don't focus on the ball or the putter. Keep your eyes on the hole for the entire stroke.

Line up the putt but before you take the putter back, keep your eyes fixed on the hole. Don't look at anything except the hole for the entire stroke.

Trust me, this will feel weird at first. But after a while, you'll start to trust your stroke again and will stop trying to steer your putts into the hole.

Deceleration

Do you often stub or snag your putter on the ground? This is a clear sign that you decelerate your putter through the stroke. This is the opposite of what you should be doing - accelerating.

Putting deceleration is a frequent cause of putting yips. It's most often caused simply by a lack of confidence.

While curing deceleration woes is easy, it does take some time. During your recovery period you may find yourself blasting your putts by the hole until you get used to the proper putting pace.

Here's what you can do...

Find a flat, 10 foot putt at the practice green. Take 50 practice putts as follows:

Take the putter back only an inch from the ball and hold it for 2-3 seconds. Firmly accelerate through the ball from your held putter position.

With only an inch between your putter and the ball, the only possible way you can get the ball to the cup is if you accelerate confidently through the putting stroke.

Practice this little drill a few times and you'll be accelerating like a race car driver! Just don't overdo it! Nobody enjoys a 10 foot putt coming back to the hole!

Looking Up

Lifting your head to watch the putt is a huge issue and causes many'a putting yips. When you look up on your putts, you change, however slightly, the direction of your putt.

A proper putting stroke uses the shoulders and arms. Your shoulders and arms turn around your spine. What's connected at the end of your spine? Your head!

When you lift your head in your putts, you slightly alter the positioning of your spine and thus alter the positioning of your arms and shoulders.

Since your head moves forward to watch the putt, so does your spine, shoulders and arms. 95% of the time you'll yip the putt to the right.

Fix this issue (and your putting yips) with this putting drill mind trick...

Find a 10 foot, flat putt at the putting green. Mark the position with a tee. Place five balls next to the tee.

For 100 putts, putt the ball to the hole but never look to see if the ball goes in the hole. Keep your eyes focused on where the ball used to be.

Don't look up. Never.

You'll know if the ball goes in the hole - you'll be able to hear it.

Since you're using 5 balls, you'll need to cycle through this exercise 20 times to reach your 100 putts. Just remember - don't ever look up!

Jabbing Putts

The last key culprit for putting yips is when you jab at your putts. Instead of a fluid back and forth motion, you end up chopping at the ball in a quick, jerky motion.

Jabbing putts is usually caused by excessive wrist breakage. It's really difficult to jab at a put when your wrists or locked. As such, you may want to combine the following drill with the one outlined above under the Breaking Your Wrists section.

Take a few balls to the practice green and find a relatively flat, 5-7 foot putt. The key to this drill is to establish tempo. Don't be concerned at first with how many putts you make. The putts will drop - you just need to concentrate on developing a fluid putting stroke.

Without the ball, take the putter back in a slow, deliberate motion...count, "One thousand one" for the backstroke.

Don't stop the stroke at the back but rather follow through in the same, fluid motion...count, "One thousand two".

Repeat this process without stopping a few times. You should start to feel a pendulum action. Like you're a grandfather clock.

Back..."One thousand one"...and through..."One thousand two"...and back..."One thousand one"...and through..."One thousand two".

Once you feel a nice fluid motion to your putting stroke, use the same pendulum motion with the golf balls. You may hit the balls way past the hole at first. That's normal. Just continue to work on your tempo and adjust the distance of your backstroke accordingly.

Obviously as you have shorter putts (say, a three or four footer), you'll need to be careful that you don't take the putter back too far and crush your putt past the hole. But the key here is tempo. Once you get rid of your jabbing, choppy putting stroke, your putting yips will be long gone.

Putting Yips and the Mental Game

So far we've outlined a few drills to help get rid of your putting yips through better putting mechanics. But there's still an important element that we need to address - your brain. More specifically, your confidence.

You see, once you get the yips, it's really easy to lose confidence in your short putts. You psych yourself to yip the putt before you even take the putter back.

The mental aspects of your putting woes can be devastating. Just because your fix your mechanics, your continued lack of confidence may sabotage your putts.

Unfortunately, this part of the recovery process simply takes some time. Continue to work on the proper putting fundamentals. As you start to make more putts, your confidence will return.

The best advice I can give, and it's not a quick fix, is to intently focus on the proper mechanics during your short putts as opposed to whether the ball goes in or not.

I know that's hard. Believe me, I've been there many times. But by focusing on the proper putting fundamentals, you accomplish two very important things...

Number one, you continue to concentrate on proper putting. As you train your muscles, they'll start to "remember" what to do on their own.

Number two, you divert your attention away from missing the putt and instead concentrate on something else - the proper stroke.

Curing putting yips takes some time. But persevere - analyze what you're doing wrong that causes your yips. Isolate this area of your putting and practice until you get it right.

Incorporate the necessary drill or drills into your consistent practice routine. This will help you avoid a nasty, recurring bout of the yips.

Now that you've conquered your putting yips, learn more putting tips here.