Several golfers over the years have had their struggles in finding the right form after facing the Yips. Some believe it’s the worst thing that could ever happen to a golfer. The 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods too had difficulties with the famous term. So how did the Hall of Famer overcome Yips?
The yips are involuntary wrist contractions that occur most commonly when golfers are trying to putt. Back in the day, many thought that the yips were always associated with performance anxiety. However, newer studies revealed that some people have the yips due to a neurological condition affecting specific muscles (focal dystonia).
Tiger Woods, who has overcome several injuries and personal life struggles in the past, once had to undergo the demons of Yips. After a series of poor short putts, Woods decided to work on overcoming the issue. Hank Haney, Tiger’s former golf coach, once shared his insight on the golfer’s struggles with the cramps.
During late 2014 and early 2015, Woods was struggling with short putts. Many considered this to be the end of Tiger owing to his struggles with Yips. However, the 46-year-old turned decided to crush his problem with a little help from his golf coach, Hank Haney. But a spinal infusion injury in 2017 again raised the question of Woods’ struggles with the condition.
Haney later revealed what all measures Tiger Woods took to overcome it. Hank Haney said, “Everybody wanted to see what kind of swing speed Tiger was going to have when he came back from the spinal-fusion surgery, but I really believed the obvious short-game issues he had would prevent him from coming back in any real way if he couldn’t figure them out”.
Haney then revealed how the change in technique had been effective for Tiger. However, he also revealed that Woods would struggle every once in a while considering “That’s his reality now”. Haney further added by saying, “You can have some good stretches, but when you have the yips, they’re in there. It’s just a matter of how you try to manage them”.
Though many golfers find it hard to overpower yips, it took Tiger Woods only a few months of hard practice to control it. Being considered one of the greats of the game, you can’t be having an inconsistent run of form during your prime days. Notably, four years after he struggled with yips, Woods went on to win his 15th Major title.
So the next time you go golfing and end up facing yips, remember what Haney said, it’s about how you manage them!
