Tips for beating the dreaded Putting Yips...

Losing your confidence over short putts?

It can feel as if you are holding a live snake. Your hands jerk uncontrollably back from the ball and you lurch forward with a snatched forward swing.

 

The three foot putt should be a simple shot – yet the fact is many people develop an anxiety and even phobia for these short putts. The Yips have no regard for reputation or skill – some of the greatest ever players of the game have suffered and thankfully overcome this terrible problem. Sam Snead reverted to a sideways stance and Bernhard Langer has had to resort to various putting styles including his current “broom handled” putter to beat this demon within.

 

If you are suffering with your confidence or getting a twitchy then try these tips to help smooth out your stroke and regain confidence and authority in your putting.

You may be expecting a detailed description of the correct putting stroke or a detailed technical assessment of common problems. If so you are in for a big surprise! I'm going to start by sharing with you what I have found works in my own experience and it's not physical at all or technical - so please read my article and give it a try. I think you will be surprised at this first tip... and pleasantly surprised at the results!

Firstly, you need to fully occupy your mind. 

Focus it on something so your mind can’t distract you - sometimes your inner thoughts can be your worst foe. Chattering away, causing all sorts of problems. A skill like putting is where these demons are strongest. How many times have you tried to throw a screwed up piece of paper into a waste paper bin and succeeded? You may have found that if you don't think about it - you do it. The moment you start to think about it - you miss.

It's very important that you do NOT think about what you don’t want to do - your mind can't tell the difference in that kind of situation. So how do you occupy your mind? Well, there are several techniques you can try – my personal favourites are

•Repeat a short verse repeated over and over again through your set up routine, practice stroke and then your putting stroke… it should be a verse that has nothing to do with golf or holing putts or doing anything in particular. If it’s a bit light hearted - then better still. An example could be something like “I see sea shells on the seashore” or "One, Two skip to my Loo".

•Alternatively you can try counting – You can count down from 5 to 1 or up from 1 to 5. You can count in your first language or another language. I’ve tried this one in the past and found a particular version I liked. I had learnt a little Romanian and put it to use. I found it difficult enough that I had to concentrate on the language and not let the mind wander… cinci... patru... trei... doi... unu... I would release my swing mid-way through the count (somewhere between 4 and 3 - patru and trei in my example). It is not a countdown to taking your stroke - it's simply something to occupy your mind and let you subconsciously make the stroke.

You don’t need to recite either the verse or count out loud – your playing partners might scoff at you and that won't help at all - so keep it as a little secret just between me and you – say it to yourself in your mind. Repeat it during your pre-shot routine, your practice stroke and then whilst putting.

Secondly… make sure you are lined up correctly –

Now go to your putting green and set up a dead straight putt. Lots of faults, either long game or short game, can start from faulty alignment at address. You are going to practice a short and straight putt on the practice green and you need to set up a practice station to help ensure your alignment is correct. There are two or three ways you can try to get the alignment correct for this short practice drill.

 If you have access to a chalk line this is great. Put the clip over the end of the hole and roll out the line tight along the grass – snap the line and it will leave a chalk mark on the green. You can then easily check your alignment of your feet, hips and shoulders parallel to that line and you can also check the clubface alignment at 90 degrees to that chalk line. Another method is to take a small piece of wood approximately 2 feet long and 2x2 inches square – a gravel board stake for example used to hold the board under garden fencing. You align this parallel to the putt checking that it’s square so that the end of your putter (toe) virtually touches the wood. You can then check your clubface alignment is at right angles to the straight edge of the wood. Last example I will give in this article (but there are more as you could imagine) is to lay two clubs down parallel to each other and the intended line of the putt on the ground. One club on the toe side of your putting stroke and the other on the heel side of your putting stroke – they need to be wide enough apart that you can swing without touching them but close enough that they frame your putting line to the hole.

Remember we are only practising a short putt here so the fact we are talking about straight lines and parallel lines is not much of a problem even though the putting stroke will generally arc to the inside on the backswing and then again on the through swing. The purpose of these alignment aids is to give you the confidence that you are on your line and can’t miss as long as you hit the putter squarely and the right distance.

Now, the third part of defeating those dreaded yips. Practice holing a short 3 foot putt using the alignment guide (even start with 2 foot putts if you wish). Now practice stroking balls into the hole whilst repeating your chosen phrase or counting down from 5 to 1 in French, German or whatever language that you decided above. As you practice hitting balls into the cup, listening for them to fall into the hole. Look at the hole and pick one specific blade of grass right in the middle of that hole and on the front edge – focus on that one piece of grass – imagine your ball rolling over it and then repeat the phrase you've selected as you move your eyes back to the ball. As you repeat the verse to yourself and stroke the ball listen for the sound of the ball dropping in the cup - focus on that pleasant sound. Over and over again – every time you do this and successfully hole the putt you will restore a little more confidence to your putting stroke.

Tip to stop you from peeking at the hole too early

If you are having problems keeping your head down and find you are starting to lift your head or peak at the ball to see it go in - then try this additional tip.

Take a small coin and put it behind the ball – up close so that your putter rests on it at address behind the ball. Take your putting stroke and hit the ball and keep focussed on that coin – don’t look up! Don’t look up until you hear the sound of the ball falling into the cup – it’s a lovely sound – remember it. Associate the sound of the ball falling into the cup with your stroke and the verse or numbers you are repeating to yourself.

Regain that confidence and beat those Yips one putt at a time – you will become a demon putter rather than wrestling with the demons in your mind!

My last tip is probably the most simplest you will ever hear - but it works and I always putt at my best when I think of it. Relax... have no tension in your arms... grip lightly... grip as lightly as you can. That's it! Let me know how you get on.