This is the third article in our series on whipping the yips—golf’s most dreaded “disease.” So far we’ve covered what causes the yips, the two kinds of yips, and a remedy for accelerating yips. This article discusses rotational yips and a remedy for it.
Belting your drive long and straight never gets old. But you can’t break 80—or cut strokes from your golf handicap—if you don’t follow up good drives with accurate approach shots, great short game work, and solid putting.
But catching a case of the yips can derail your putting game—costing you strokes and stopping you from breaking 80 consistently. While the yips are more physical than mental, missing two- and three-footers can affect you psychologically. Bad putting can sabotage other parts of your game.
Rotational yips are among this disease’s most virulent forms. Like accelerating yips, rotational yips result from poor putting technique. They are a challenge to cure, but you can do it with work. The golf tips below can help you get the most from your work.
Cause of Rotational Yips
Rotational yips are an aggressive form of the disease. They result from a violent strike at the ball that sends it wildly off course. That in turn can cause you to miss the easiest of putts.
Rotational yips generally affect “wristy” putters. They tend to close the putterhead while stroking the ball, causing the putterface to open at the end of the backstroke.
Sensing the error of their ways, wristy putters then panic and try to open the putterface just before impact. This last minute adjustment throws their strokes completely offline and they end up missing the putts.
Testing for Rotational Yips
How do you know if you have a case of rotational yips? Try this test:
Run a string tied to two pencils from as pot on the green to the cup. Drop some balls at the first pencil. Now stroke 8 to 10 of these balls toward the cup using only your right hand. Assess your ability to start the ball on line and keep it there.
Do this test several times. If you struggle to keep the ball online, you’re a candidate for rotational yips.
Curing Rotational Yips
Two putting golf tips help you cure rotational yips. The first tip is that every putting stroke features an arc. The second tip is that the arc causes the putterface naturally to look open at the end of the backstroke. You’re not doing anything wrong.
But some golfers fight these truths. The harder they fight them by manipulating the putterface, the more severely they’ll yip. Since wristy putters manipulate the putterface more than most golfers, they’re more prone to rotational yips.
The key to curing rotational yips is giving into the two golfing “truths” stated above. You need to accept that the slight rotation of the putterface at the end of the backstroke is actually good for your putting. And it is. Once you do that, you’re on your way to a cure.
To remedy rotational yips, try this proven exercise:
Place two balls side-by-side on the floor or a practice green. Set up to the balls as you normally would when putting. Now make your regular stroke. The ball farthest away from the putter’s heel should travel farther than the other ball. If it doesn’t, you’ve yipped the putt.
Work on this drill until you get the ball closest to the toe to travel farther than the other ball. When that happens, it’s proof the putterhead is moving on the correct arc. That’s exactly what you want.
It’s no fun having the yips. They can prevent you from breaking 80 and chopping strokes off your golf handicap. But the yips are curable. You just need to apply the right remedy.
So if you think you have the yips, try the tests we discussed in our articles to see what type of yips you have. Then use our golf tips above to cure them forever.
With a little work, your putting will be back on track and your scores will dramatically improve. And this should boost confidence significantly.
