The yips is a condition that includes involuntary tremors, freezing or jerking of the hands during golf shots, such as putting and chipping. Initially the yips was thought to be purely psychological and related to anxiety or stress. Now researchers believe the yips may also have a physical cause.
Although the exact reason golfers experience the yips is not known, the various possible causes include:
- Nerves, anxiety or "choking" that many athletes experience during high-stress competition
- Overuse of the muscles involved in fine-motor control and precise movements
- Focal dystonia
According to Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. Aynsley Smith, anxiety can make the yips worse, but it appears that there is also an underlying physical component for many golfers who experience the yips.
Some golfers get symptoms that look like the yips, but these are likely due to anxiety, nerves or choking in high-pressure situations. Many athletes, students and public speakers experience this sort of stress-related response.
The yips, however, refers to a very real physical condition called focal dystonia. Dystonia is a neurologic disorder characterized by involuntary movements or spasms of small muscles. These symptoms are also seen in professional musicians and others who repeatedly perform movements requiring fine motor skills. We all experienced something similar if we've ever had a "writer's cramp" after holding a pen or pencil for a long period of time.
In golf, putting requires precision and fine motor control of the small muscles that control these movements. In this case the yips may be related to overuse and fatigue of these small muscles.
In dystonia, an abnormal motor pattern that involves the nervous system can develop, which results in the jerking or tremors that occur. This can be difficult to treat because the brain needs to be retrained to perform the desired movement pattern. In order to do this, it may be necessary to work with an experienced neurologist.
Luckily, dystonia is quite rare and the majority of golfers who suffer from what they think are the yips, are in fact, simple nerves, which can be modified by using a few sports psychology tricks and techniques such as:
Source:Adler CH, Crews D, Hentz JG, Smith AM, Caviness JN. Abnormal co-contraction in yips-affected but not unaffected golfers: evidence for focal dystonia. Neurology. May 2005.
Stinear CM, et al. The yips in golf: multimodal evidence for two subtypes.Med Sci Sports Exerc. Nov 2006.
