How do YOU shake the putt yips?

[Maidenrules]

any ideas?

[REDFIVE]

Stop thinking start doing. When I start to miss putts and not have good feel I stop feeling and start throwing. Doesn't matter how I release or what angle the disc is at or... all that matters is that I throw the disc at the basket. In short, just throw the disc in the basket.

[REDFIVE]

I should add that once I make a couple then I start to feel what I am doing right. Feeling while and what you are doing wrong only makes you focus on what you are doing wrong. Do it right and analize that feel.

[sillybizz]

Don't think! Most of the time when you are having these problems your mind is getting in the way. Don't think about it just do it. :)

[HarrisonH]

Lately I have just been telling myself "you know how to do this, make it happen." I putt against trees a lot when I am waiting to play or off course since I don't have a basket, so pretending the basket is a knot in a tree helps, too :). It works incredibly well, when I actually think to do it. Takes a lot of putting practice and consistency in your throw to make yourself really believe it, though. From 40+ feet it is difficult for me still. Also, relaxing is the most important thing to do to build muscle memory. Good putts come without stress or anxiety. In a perfect world, that is.

[Ol' Bob]

Don't think so much as pay attention. Be a witness to what's going on. If it's mind, or form, or both, that's making me miss, I will need to know in order to work out of it.

From 40+ feet it is difficult for me still.

My mind isn't as much of an issue on those as my luck.

[LakeStevensBA]

picture the disc hitting the chain link you are aiming at. Don't picture or even think about missing. Relax, take a breath, make the putt.

Then walk over, mark your disc, and make the next one.

[hyzerbomb]

It has helped me in the past when I was on a bad putting streak(read here---no confidence) to come up to the next putt, line it up , close your eyes, putt the disc. It may just amaze you. Then again it may not. Putting is ALL about confidence and absence of thought while putting.

[Huk'nGeiks]

Best advice I got was to take multiple deep breaths while going through your pre-putt routine. Focus your mind and release that last breathe, then fire your putt! Step up with confidence every time, if you think you'll miss...well, then you might as well throw it at the base of the basket.

[Ol' Bob]

I've certainly had my bouts with the yips. Know that it can be gotten over.

[Maidenrules]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, NWDiscer sent me a text about closing your eyes while you putt. I do believe that putting is feeling it, because like most people when you feel it everything inside 50' is going in, but losing sight of that makes a 5' footer a tester. I started this thread to bring awareness to this mental block that might help all of us. Now to the backyard to put the work in.

[Rakoz]

Then after you see how easy that is you're golden...

Add a new step to your pre-put routine... take an extra breath, do a free toss without the disc in hand... something...anything to make you think about something besides putting.

[Ol' Bob]

...something...anything to make you think about something besides putting.

...or monkeys.

[Yoduh]

Best advice I got was to take multiple deep breaths while going through your pre-putt routine. Focus your mind and release that last breathe, then fire your putt! Step up with confidence every time, if you think you'll miss...well, then you might as well throw it at the base of the basket.

PRE PUTT ROUTINE! Figure one out and practice it! When you are first putting its ok to throw a few in quicky. Once you start to feel your stroke sloe down. tak2 putters and use a routine that you use every time. That way if your putting to win or there are people watching you can be nervous, but when you go into that routine you knwo what comes next, you just make the putt.

[Parks]

Change your putter until the screw ups go away, then switch back.

[DexterHawk]

Try switching to a very different putter for a few weeks... It will force you to really think about the line of your putt and give you a really good excuse for missing... Sometimes when I'm having a really bad putting week I'll even putt with a firebird for a round just to help get me out of my head.

[LJ Jubner]

Yoduh post makes perfect sense I add not only seeing the putt go in but the actually retrieving it afterwards as part of my routine

also try putting at a link on the backside of the basket instead of the front

[Bryon_Harris]

I agree with Andy about mixing it up. My putting comes and goes but regardless I usually use a small arsenal of three putters. A rhino, an aviar, and a 150 aero. I try to begin the day using a pretty normal spread, ( aero for uphill or tailwind, rhino for head or hyzer, aviar fills in all semi normal puts). But if my putting is whacky as I have had many a day, abandoning one or even two of those putters can help.

Another good change it up putter is a discraft zone. Blast away. Just don't hold back. The D version is plenty stable and costs only 7 or 8.

[emmarose]

practice. 'nuff said.

[Ol' Bob]

practice. 'nuff said.

Amazing, how that seems to work.

[Bryon_Harris]

practice. 'nuff said.

It would be nice if it was just that but nothing is that simple for everyone. For what I think of as "the yips" over practicing could potentially hurt in certain situations.

I've always thought of "the yip's" as more of an over thinking, mental game issue than as a lack of practice. If someone said "I'm a bad putter", or "I don't know how to putt", than the easy answer would be "practice." But "the yips" seems to hint at more of a mental error, or bad spell, or even some kind of stage fright. Yes practice can give us the tools to help get over these problems. Practice can also cause us to put too much pressure on ourselves, to build up and put expectations on a game which most of us started playing simply because it seemed fun. If we have the yips then we are not playing to the fun of the game, but to our own expectations.

We all know the disappointing feeling of investing in a practice routine day after day, only to feel lost again when the actual spotlight comes down. Most people have heard of the rule of thumb that it takes 10,000 times doing anything to be an expert at it. It takes many, many, repps to internalize physical and emotional processes which we were not evolved to process. It is inevitable that along the way on this long process we will face failures, plateaus, and frustrating stalls in any progress. The forces deep within us that control this learning and our will to go forward with it are powerful and difficult to control. While discipline is very important to achieve such a tremendous amount of repetitions for most of us equally important is a good sense of humor to face those with.

I have suffered some of my most pervasive "yips" in the same timespan as some of my most focused practice. It is the equivalent to being severely stumped on a puzzle and then telling yourself to "try harder." Neither "try" or "harder" are words which provoke a receptive consciousness. There is a softness we use with ourselves when we practice successfully and a hardness we use when we are in competition. Part of the mental game of golf is learning to control and use both the softness and hardness of our emotions.

One technique during putting practice to work on getting over the yips might be to mentally create the yips you will feel later on the course. After your warm up, or routine, or whatever practice is normal for you around the basket try some mind games. Try to find a putt in your previous round where you felt like you blew it. See if you can isolate the feelings which led up to that putt. Where were you in the round? Battling, letting down, coasting, stressing? Look at where you were mentally and try to put yourself back there. Mark the putt like you did in the round and see if you can bring in other elements from that round where your missed put took place. The people who were with watching you set up, maybe rooting for you to hit the putt, maybe a jerk or two willing you to miss it, whatever spectators, girlfriends, boyfriends, bad days, bad weeks, or maybe just bad footing. Whatever you brought with you to that putt try to put it all back on yourself again.

Then once you are a wreck, and you have worked up your nerves to the point of distraction, see if you can run that process in reverse. Do exactly the opposite if you can by taking deep breaths and slowly returning your consciousness to that easy practice putt mentality. Breathe away the distractions and run your routine or an extended version of it to see if you can calm yourself down back to that soft, easy, breezy practice mentality where it's so fun and simple to just drop the putter in with no consequences. If you can't get there and you miss “Oh well.” It's no worse than you already did in the round and now you are in the practice field able to try the whole thing again. Work to bring your soft practice mind into the hard edges and tension of competition and vice versa.

No one will ever be a great putter without practice. Too much practice though can sour the fun of anything. Stop when you get tired; take a day off, heck take a week off if you need to. Make sure your practice is productive and feels good and if it is not than just go out and play and have fun.

[Ol' Bob]

I still get the "Birdie Yips" at times. The confidence that practice gives me helps me overcome that evil mini-me on my left shoulder. The good mini-me on my right shoulder reminds me I can make the shot (like I did 50 times in practice). The longer it's been since I got that 'dialed in' feeling, the more persuasive the evil voice can be.

I sure know what it is to over-practice too.

Fifty percent of this game is half mental.

[Maidenrules]

It would be nice if it was just that but nothing is that simple for everyone. For what I think of as "the yips" over practicing could potentially hurt in certain situations.

I've always thought of "the yip's" as more of an over thinking, mental game issue than as a lack of practice. If someone said "I'm a bad putter", or "I don't know how to putt", than the easy answer would be "practice." But "the yips" seems to hint at more of a mental error, or bad spell, or even some kind of stage fright. Yes practice can give us the tools to help get over these problems. Practice can also cause us to put too much pressure on ourselves, to build up and put expectations on a game which most of us started playing simply because it seemed fun. If we have the yips then we are not playing to the fun of the game, but to our own expectations.

We all know the disappointing feeling of investing in a practice routine day after day, only to feel lost again when the actual spotlight comes down. Most people have heard of the rule of thumb that it takes 10,000 times doing anything to be an expert at it. It takes many, many, repps to internalize physical and emotional processes which we were not evolved to process. It is inevitable that along the way on this long process we will face failures, plateaus, and frustrating stalls in any progress. The forces deep within us that control this learning and our will to go forward with it are powerful and difficult to control. While discipline is very important to achieve such a tremendous amount of repetitions for most of us equally important is a good sense of humor to face those with.

I have suffered some of my most pervasive "yips" in the same timespan as some of my most focused practice. It is the equivalent to being severely stumped on a puzzle and then telling yourself to "try harder." Neither "try" or "harder" are words which provoke a receptive consciousness. There is a softness we use with ourselves when we practice successfully and a hardness we use when we are in competition. Part of the mental game of golf is learning to control and use both the softness and hardness of our emotions.

One technique during putting practice to work on getting over the yips might be to mentally create the yips you will feel later on the course. After your warm up, or routine, or whatever practice is normal for you around the basket try some mind games. Try to find a putt in your previous round where you felt like you blew it. See if you can isolate the feelings which led up to that putt. Where were you in the round? Battling, letting down, coasting, stressing? Look at where you were mentally and try to put yourself back there. Mark the putt like you did in the round and see if you can bring in other elements from that round where your missed put took place. The people who were with watching you set up, maybe rooting for you to hit the putt, maybe a jerk or two willing you to miss it, whatever spectators, girlfriends, boyfriends, bad days, bad weeks, or maybe just bad footing. Whatever you brought with you to that putt try to put it all back on yourself again.

Then once you are a wreck, and you have worked up your nerves to the point of distraction, see if you can run that process in reverse. Do exactly the opposite if you can by taking deep breaths and slowly returning your consciousness to that easy practice putt mentality. Breathe away the distractions and run your routine or an extended version of it to see if you can calm yourself down back to that soft, easy, breezy practice mentality where it's so fun and simple to just drop the putter in with no consequences. If you can't get there and you miss “Oh well.” It's no worse than you already did in the round and now you are in the practice field able to try the whole thing again. Work to bring your soft practice mind into the hard edges and tension of competition and vice versa.

No one will ever be a great putter without practice. Too much practice though can sour the fun of anything. Stop when you get tired; take a day off, heck take a week off if you need to. Make sure your practice is productive and feels good and if it is not than just go out and play and have fun.

Thanks for your input. Reading different interpretations is helping simply and already simple act.