Chipping Yips- worse than putting yips

[neil]

Hi All
Happy Easter to all the members.
I thought I'd make my first post relevant to my recent woes- chipping yips! Bob Rotella in one of his books thinks this is worse than putting yips. It's more embarrassing for sure.
Is chipping, especially the short delicate ones, more of a hitting action or swinging action. I have gone back to the basis motion 12-5-1 and think it's more swinging. But somewhere in my computer, I recall reading somewhere on the forum that the short shots are more of a hitting action. In short: I am confused.

You could do either but IMO on very short shots it is easier to hit.

[cometgolfer]

I'm in the same camp as Neil in that I tend to hit most of my chip shots. A couple of keys that I use are:

1) start from impact fix
2) focus on PP#1
3) "feel" the lag pressure that applies to the distance of the shot
4) bend the right elbow, and then straighten it WHILE MAINTAINING A BENT AND LEVEL RIGHT WRIST!

I think what's most important is being able to do (4). A lot of golfers are simply not used to bending and straightening the right elbow while maintaining the right wrist bend. If that right wrist is allowed to flatten then the chunks, chilly-dips, and skulled shots occur. Chipping with only your right hand on the club (make sure you put it in it's normal position on the grip, NOT at the end of the grip) is a great drill to help with it. You MUST learn to bend and straighten the right arm WITHOUT flattening the right wrist.

CG

[Daryl]

Yips (plural noun)
Nervousness
Nervousness that impairs the performance of a sportsman or sportswoman, especially a golfer

The gap between wanting to do well and your ability to do well is too far apart. One of these has to change. (Dry humor)

I feel your pain and have shared it too at one time or another. When I was much younger, I was so afraid of chipping that I improved my game from 150 yards in just to avoid it, and every time I hit a green I felt more relief than happiness. After a couple of years, this got pretty old. So, I set upon fixing it. Not having a clue about basic motion, acquired motion, right forearm participation, start-up swivel, ball placement (big one), what powers the stroke (accumulators), on-plane shaft, flat left wrist, plane line tracing, pressure points, etc. I started hitting 200 chips per practice day.

I was at the short game area at a local course and I saw this High school aged girl hitting chips to three different hole locations on one green. I arrived a little late because there were already about 20 balls in tight little circles around each of the holes. I was impressed but at the same time confounded. As I watched her chip I noticed a few things. First, that her motion was s-m-o-o-t-h, effortless and almost motionless. Second, she had the same speed for every chip and to hit it a little farther, she made a longer stroke. The last thing I noticed is that no matter how short her stoke was, she somehow accelerated through the ball without jerking or wobbling. I couldn’t tell how she was applying force. It looked so easy. So I went to the other green which also had three flags. After five minutes I looked to assess my progress and wow, I was amazed, I was so bad that I couldn’t tell which of the balls was supposed to be closer to which of the holes. It looked as though someone just carelessly threw a bunch of balls onto the green.

That was a long time ago in a galaxy far away. Even after reading, studying and applying the three imperatives, it still is a lot of work. Yesterday after sixty chips, I looked up to assess my progress and I saw three flags with 20 balls in a tight circle around each of them.

Hitting is easier.

The other day, I saw this young kid on the putting green…But I’m not going to get into that. I’m going to meet VJ in a couple of days at the Old Waverly Clinic. I’m not going this one alone. Life’s too short.