Driver/Full Swing/Tee Shot Yips?!?

[CBrown]

Does anyone have any personal experience in dealing with Driver Yips?

I've barely played the last few years as a result of the driver yips. I've tried to play a little more this year but despite what happens at the range, once I tee it up on a course, I inevitably hit it off the planet. I'm not talking a little off target, I'm talking more than 100 yards off target ... OB and then some.

If anyone has any advice based on personal experience in dealing with this type of problem that they'd like to pass along, I'd be grateful. At the same time, at the risk of sounding rude and starting unneeded arguments, I'm not looking for the generic "go see a Pro" type responses. Anyone who's been through this kind of thing knows that it's not really a swing mechanics type problem ... it's a brain path thing ... definitely between the ears.

Thanks in advance!!!

[Kiwi]

I agree with you that it is a "brain" problem. At times this year I've hit it nice and long and straight. A good drive for me is 210-220, so not a long hitter by any stretch of the imagination. However seems once I feel comfortable in a round my mind takes over and says if you can hit that distance with a smooth, rhythmic swing, why not swing harder... resulting in a big over the top swing that feels very awkward and pulls the ball off line by 50+ yards. My only suggestion, and what I'll try at the range this week, is to tee it up and work up from 50% to the point where it starts to go off the chart then try to dial it back and find that fine line between smooth and straight and over the top and pull. I also find that when I try to dial it down that I don't finish my swing and/or roll my hands properly which results in an open club face at impact and a slice. For me keeping the arms and the body in sync is the key and you cannot do that if you rush one or the other. Best of luck!

[CBrown]

Thanks Kiwi. Good tempo and rhythm can solve (or at least cover up) a lot of bad swing tendencies. When I'm at the range, I try to focus on being smooth and I hit very playable shots. Unfortunately, when I get on the course, something happens and no matter what I try, I hit it off the planet. There's a comfortable feeling that I get when I tee it up on the range that I just can't seem to find on the course. Even when I make what feels like a decent, smooth pass at the ball, something happens and I end up blasting it OB. Google "Hank Haney driver yips" and you'll see an interesting Golf Digest article about Hank Haney's battle with the driver yips. I think I'm in for a tough, long battle ... of course, I could just quit ... nah, not yet anyway. Thanks again!

[sandbagger]

The reason that you can hit good shots on the driving range is that you are not under so much pressure to hit good shots. This pressure causes tension in your entire body and it is often harder to turn the club around with your arms and wrists when they are not relaxed.(I am assuming that you are hitting a lot of push-slice shots). If you can minimize the thoughts in your head just before you swing to "relax my arms and take the club back slow" then you will be able to make the best shots with any swing(no matter how bad it might be)

[goochy]

Is it just with your driver or all your longer clubs? If it's just driver my obvious suggestion would be take it out the bag for a few rounds. Find the longest club you can swing well off the tee and use that...even a 180yd 5 iron down the guts is better than standing 3 on the tee not knowing where you next one is going to go.

I don't know where you usually play but there are not many courses around here where you HAVE to hit driver...I cant think of many 200+yd carries off the tees to avoid a hazard or thick rough on the courses I play...and if there are..move up a set of tees.

Then you can play golf without too much frustration and work on the driver problems on te range with a CPGA pro .

I find that first tee jitters usually cause me to swing faster, out of tempo and from the top. I really have to make a conscious effort to slow it all down. Work on that tempo, little pause at the top and rhythm and good luck

[CBrown]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. Unfortunately, I've tried all of those things and although you get some temporary relief, it tends to be more of a false positive. Whatever nasty brain path I've developed is there, is dominant and it isn't going away. I think it's hard to explain or really appreciate unless you've actually gone through it (and I wouldn't wish it on anyone). To get an idea of what it's like, think about anyone you know who might have gone through a real battle with the putter yips ... not just a patch of really bad putting but a legitimate case of the yips ... and then think about that entering your full shot or (in my case) tee shots. It's actually kind of funny the first few times it happens ... some of the shots are so solid, but so unpredictable and off target that it's hard not to laugh, but when it becomes chronic, it's pretty scary. Most guys who break through the putting yips end up doing something completely different (think of all the weird grips, stances and putters that you see) so that they can develop a new brain path. Once the new brain path is developed, you can improve the mechanics and get good results, but getting the new brain path established seems to be really tricky. Some of the stuff that Hank Haney had to do is pretty odd but it doesn't seem likely to work for me. If anyone has been through the yips and did something radical to get through it that they think might be applicable to full shots, I think that would really help. Thanks again.

[justsomeguy]

Personally, I don't think the key is find a new "brain path". I think the key is to learn how to turn your brain "off". More often than not, it just gets in the way. Easier said than done though.

I've given up on "swing thoughts". When I'm hitting the ball well, it just feels right. When I'm not hitting the ball well, I take a few extra practice swings just looking for that feeling.

[imozzie]

I made what some might say is a critical change to my mechanics last year which I found brought control back to my game and brought my handicap from a 19 to a 13 - I changed to a basebal grip. After 35 years of playing with the normal overlap grip, this rather small change brought me an incredible improvement in comfort which, I feel, has translated into a smoother swing, better tempo and timing and thus more confidence with every club at every shot overall.

I must also say that I made this change while taking lessons with a pro. I am sure the other tweaks he had me make to my swing were of great value as well in leading to the overall improvement acheived. However, I feel that the grip change was of the greatest benefit psychologically which translated into improved scoring.

Just a thought...good luck!

[CBrown]

Thanks again guys for all of the advice. Most of the things that you're talking about are good and I've tried many of them on the range with decent results but there's something different about the yips that I can't really describe but I'm pretty sure that it isn't what you've experienced. I can make (what feels like) a nice smooth swing or a quick jerky motion and it doesn't really seem to matter. I just have no idea where the ball is going to end up. From the reading I've done on people that have actually worked through the yips, the answer isn't a better swing or better mechanics, that comes later, the fix tends to key on doing something fundamentally different (think of the wacky grips and stances that people use to cure their putter yips) and I just can't find the key that works for me. At the risk of sounding like an *, I'll ask again if anyone has ever cured themselves of a true case of the yips and if so, what did they do to trigger the change. My apologies if it sounds like I'm demeaning any of the comments or advice that I've gotten ... I'm not ... it's just that I'm convinced that unless you've actually had a true case of the yips, it's hard to appreciate. For what it's worth, I didn't think that way until I got well into this battle. Thanks again.

[Wknd_Warrior]

I read an article about this once in one of the major golf magazines, sorry I don't rememner which, but it was about 5 years ago.

[Wknd_Warrior]

this might be it, either way looks like a good article

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n13467303/

ahhh, you've already read this...