Do You Have the Chipping Yips?

We’ve all had the chipping yips—let’s be honest. They’re frustrating, embarrassing, and can shake your confidence on the course. But the good news is that the chipping yips can be overcome with the right combination of mental and technical strategies.

Understanding the Chipping Yips

Do you find yourself suddenly losing control over your chip shots, leaving you frustrated and embarrassed? Welcome to the world of the chipping yips.

The yips are more than just a bad shot—they’re a mental and physical disconnect that causes jerky, awkward movements during your stroke. They can show up unexpectedly, even for experienced golfers, and turn a simple chip into a nightmare.

The chipping yips happen when your brain overthinks, trying to micromanage your swing instead of letting it flow naturally. Your muscles tense, your movements lose rhythm, and suddenly the ball isn’t going where it should.

The good news? You’re not alone.

Even professional golfers like Tiger Woods have battled the yips. The key to overcoming them is understanding what triggers them and taking proactive steps to get your confidence back.

Mental Strategies to Overcome the Yips

The mental aspect of the game plays a significant role in combating the chipping yips. Here are some proven strategies:

1. Visualization Techniques

Before you even address the ball, take a moment to visualize the shot. Imagine the ball’s trajectory, landing spot, and the roll towards the hole. This mental rehearsal can replace negative thoughts with a positive image, helping you focus on executing the perfect shot.

2. Pre-Shot Routine

A consistent pre-shot routine is critical for building confidence and reducing anxiety. Whether it’s a few practice swings or a deep breath, having a structured routine helps you stay calm and focused. Make it a habit to follow the same sequence before every chip shot.

3. Positive Self-Talk

Replace negative thoughts with affirmations. Instead of thinking, “Don’t chunk this shot,” tell yourself, “I’m going to land this on my target and watch it roll beautifully to the cup.” Positive reinforcement keeps your mind in the present and ready for success.

Golf Mental Process to Cure the Chipping Yips

While walking between shots on the golf course, keep your mind focused elsewhere to displace any negative thoughts of yipping from creeping into your head.

Once you get up to your ball, have a habitual pre-shot routine you follow, giving yourself a structured plan and reinforcing confidence into your mind that you are ready to hit the shot

Take a deep breathe prior to hitting the shot to release tension and focus on the target spot you are going to land the ball.

Visualize one more time the ball flying and landing on your intended spot and rolling across the green to the hole

Let go of all thinking and trust your subconscious to play the shot. It takes practice to train yourself to shut down thinking right before and during a golf shot.

Work on trusting your swing in practice and work on visualizing positive outcomes. You want to feed your subconscious mind with positive thoughts only in order to produce positive results.

Technical Adjustments to Improve Consistency

Sometimes, overcoming the yips requires tweaking your technique. Here are a few adjustments that can make a big difference:

1. Modify Your Grip

Try using a putting-style grip for chipping. This adjustment minimizes wrist action, promoting a smoother and more controlled stroke. Experiment with different grips during practice to find what feels most comfortable and consistent.

2. Focus on Body Mechanics

Rather than relying on your hands and wrists, let your body rotation drive the chip shot. By keeping your arms and shoulders synchronized, you can achieve a fluid motion that reduces the chance of jerky movements.

3. Adopt a Putting Stroke

For delicate chips, consider using a putting stroke with a lofted club like a lob wedge. This technique simplifies the motion, reduces the risk of mishits, and improves touch around the greens.

Practice Drills to Cure the Yips

Overcoming the chipping yips requires focused practice to improve ground contact and promote effective body rotation. Here are some drills to help you regain confidence and consistency in your short game:

1. Towel Drill for Crisp Contact

Place a towel a few inches behind your ball during practice sessions. This setup encourages you to make ball-first contact, as striking the towel indicates a fat shot. By focusing on avoiding the towel, you’ll develop a cleaner, more precise chipping motion.

2. T-Rex Drill for Body Rotation

Adopt a stance with your arms close to your sides, mimicking a T-Rex posture. This position emphasizes body rotation over arm movement, promoting a more connected and controlled chipping stroke. Practicing with this drill helps engage your core and reduces reliance on hand manipulation.

3. One-Handed Chipping Drill

Practice chipping using only your trail arm (right arm for right-handed golfers). This drill enhances feel and discourages excessive wrist action, fostering a smoother, more natural chipping motion. It also helps identify and correct any over-reliance on the lead hand.

4. Body Rotation Focus

Concentrate on initiating your chipping motion with your body rather than your arms. Engaging your torso in the swing promotes better synchronization and reduces the likelihood of flipping the wrists, leading to more consistent contact.

Incorporating these drills into your practice routine can help you overcome the chipping yips by improving ground contact and encouraging proper body rotation. Regular, mindful practice will build confidence and lead to more reliable performance around the greens.

My Short Story of When I Had the Yips

I can recall a tournament I was playing in where everything was going great and my score was contending for first place and all of a sudden I had the chipping yips out of nowhere.

To be honest, I was a bit shaken. I lost my confidence as I stood over chips the next few holes wondering if it was going to happen again.

When it happened, I was behind a bunker in the rough. I had to chip the ball over the bunker and onto the green to get up and down for par.

For some reason, I let conscious negative thoughts of chunking into the bunker creep into my head at the last second causing me to actually do it.

This left me with a shot from the bunker which is one of my weaknesses that I don’t practice a whole lot. I ended up making double bogey on the hole as a result of the chipping yips and poor control over my mental game.

Overall, the chipping yips are a mental lapse where your body and mind aren’t in sync and you lose the fluid and free flowing swing you usually naturally produce when chipping. In the case of the yips, your body tenses up and tries to over-control the golf shot instead of letting it happen naturally.

What causes this over control is your mind and where your mind is focused. When you have the chipping yips it’s usually a result of your mind worrying about the negative outcomes that could occur instead of focusing on the proper shot at hand to successfully play.

Once it happens, you’re going to get stuck in a vicious cycle if you don’t learn to break it and regain confidence.

The chipping yips can feel like a significant roadblock, but with the right approach, they can be overcome. By integrating mental strategies, refining your technique, and dedicating time to purposeful practice, you’ll regain confidence in your short game. Remember, success comes from trust—trust in your swing, your process, and your ability to stay positive.

Hope this lesson helps you break the cycle of the chipping yips and get back to enjoying your game!