It’s devastated the careers of some of our finest talents and sent terrors – or its that tremors? – through the hands of countless club players. Like the ‘Scottish Play’, we can barely bring ourselves to utter the name. But is hope finally at hand? Is there now a cure for the yips?
Neuroscientists think so. They’ve discovered using a process first developed to help Vietnam War veterans has had an incredible impact on golfers who suffer from the affliction. They found it cured 61 per cent of those who were treated.
The experts at the UK’s Yips Research Institute claim the breakthrough might have been left “collecting dust on researcher’s shelves” if they had not come upon it.
Here’s what the institute’s chief neuroscientist, Stephen Smith, said: “After many years of scratching our heads and failing to get anywhere this research showed that it was because we were looking at the problem completely the wrong way and in the wrong part of the brain.
“For decades scientists have focussed on the yips as a problem in the motor control cortex where the signal to move our muscles is generated – we saw it as a problem of movement but had no solution.”
He added: “This work shows it is a problem in the memory system which is interrupting the movement signal as it travels through the brain on its way to the muscles in a golfer’s arms.
Is this the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for?
“The good news is that we have a number of specific techniques to treat those memory issues and these are working incredibly well.
“By combining those with other techniques from high-risk roles (such as space exploration) in our ‘7Steps to SmoothStroke (7SSS) Programme the Yips Research Institute is seeing remission rates of 67% to 75%.
“We think this is because we can now directly target the root cause of neurological yips, which is the most common form of the syndrome.”
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Well, how can I get cured? Smith says the process is currently only available from the Yips Research Institute, which is a division of Sports Psychology Limited and has worked with Formula 1 racing teams and Premier League sides, as well as Olympic athletes and PGA Tour players.
But Smith said: “We believe that this approach should be readily accessible for all golfers. To this end, in 2025, we will be running accreditation programmes so that others can take this cure to those who are suffering in their local golf communities.
“We think it will be most attractive to golf professionals but suspect there will be a number of sufferers who, once cured themselves, will want to share that with fellow sufferers.”
For more information, check out the Yips Research Institute.
What are the yips?
The Mayo Institute defines the yips as “involuntary wrist spasms that occur most commonly when golfers are trying to putt”. But golfers aren’t the only sportspeople who struggle with the condition. It’s also well known in darts and baseball.
The institute adds it was always associated with performance anxiety but it is now understood that some have it because of a neurological condition called “focal dystonia”, which can affect specific muscles.
Relief can be obtained by changing the way the task is performed – so in golf by changing the stroke – and risk factors are said to be the pressures of tournament play as well as older age.
Now have your say
Have you ever had the yips? What impact did it have on your golf game and we you able to find a cure? Let us know by leaving a comment on X.
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