Many golfers refer to a strange phenomenon called the “yips” when they talk about getting tense and missing easy puts. What are these mysterious ailments and how are they different from choking or performance anxiety that other athletes talk about?
The yips is a condition that includes involuntary tremors, freezing or jerking of the hands during golf shots, such as putting and chipping. Initially the yips was thought to be purely psychological and related to anxiety or stress. Now researchers believe the yips may also have a physical cause.
Although the exact reason golfers experience the yips is not known, the various possible causes include:
Nerves, anxiety or “choking” that many athletes experience during high-stress competition
Overuse of the muscles involved in fine-motor control and precise movements
Focal dystonia
According to Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. Aynsley Smith, anxiety can make the yips worse, but it appears that there is also an underlying physical component for many golfers who experience the yips.
Some golfers get symptoms that look like the yips, but these are likely due to anxiety, nerves or choking in high-pressure situations. Many athletes, students and public speakers experience this sort of stress-related response.
The yips, however, refers to a very real physical condition called focal dystonia. Dystonia is a neurologic disorder characterized by involuntary movements or spasms of small muscles. These symptoms are also seen in professional musicians and others who repeatedly perform movements requiring fine motor skills. We all experienced something similar if we’ve ever had a “writer’s cramp” after holding a pen or pencil for a long period of time.
In golf, putting requires precision and fine motor control of the small muscles that control these movements. In this case the yips may be related to overuse and fatigue of these small muscles.
In dystonia, an abnormal motor pattern that involves the nervous system can develop, which results in the jerking or tremors that occur. This can be difficult to treat because the brain needs to be retrained to perform the desired movement pattern. In order to do this, it may be necessary to work with an experienced neurologist.