A cure for the yips: Lynn cures a golfer with chronic yips

The 'yips' are every golfers worst nightmare. An average golfer who experiences the 'yips' will add an extra 5.5 shots to their round. Jerks, twitches, tremors and freezing are all physical antecedents of the 'yips' response. Psychological responses include frustration, embarrassment, intense anxiety and increased self-consciousness. The longevity of the problem means that most golfers end up quitting. They can't rationalise what's happening. They over analyse what's going on. But there is little point. The movements they experience are involuntary therefore they have no control over them. Their 'yips' affected putt is nothing short of embarrassing which further contributes to the problem. The 'yips' also affect other sports such as darts (commonly known as dartitis) and cricket bowling. Additionally, occupational tasks are affected such as dentists, surgeons, typists, artists and musicians. At present there is no scientifically tested cure for the problem.

Over the past 2 years a lady by the name of Lynn Francis has been working away curing the 'yips' in golfers with so far, 100% success. Two researchers from Sheffield Hallam University who are investigating the 'yips', Mike Rotheram and Dr Mark Bawden were interested to hear of Lynn's claims and contacted her to see if they could team up to trial her treatment. Lynn uses a process called the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and her theory is based on the fact that the 'yips' have an underlying emotional cause, which manifest themselves in a 'yip'. EFT is a psychological version of acupuncture, whereby acu-points are tapped on whilst the client focuses on underlying emotional causes.

To test Lynn's treatment, a 50-year-old golfer who suffered from the 'yips', took part in the study. His handicap was still 5 through the fact that he had learned to putt left-handed. However he wanted to putt in his conventional style. When reporting into the laboratory at Sheffield Hallam University for his baseline test, the golfer commented, 'I have suffered from the 'yips' since the end of the 1999 season, when during a match play singles knockout semi-final competition, I missed about 6 very short putts due to what I can only describe as an electric shock in my left forearm. This caused the putter head to move involuntarily leading to the putt being hopelessly missed'. Since then, the golfer has been unable to putt, and even broke down in tears at one point, due to the disintegration of his short game.

The golfer was required to take part in five data collections at the University. These were at baseline, and after each of the four intense treatments administered by Lynn. All measurements were recorded when putting at a distance of 2 feet from the cup, where the 'yips' tend to be at the most severe. Measures included a behavioural assessment (i.e., whether Mike could see the jerk), and self-report (i.e., the golfer's self assessment). In addition to this, Mike used the latest golf putting technology from SAM Motion Analysis, which measures the 'yips' in golfers. Of particular interest to this study was the velocity of rotation on impact as the golfer in this study jerked the putter at impact.

The results show that Lynn's treatment was effective in helping this particular golfer. All four measures improved dramatically from baseline scores. Figure 1 shows the golfers rotational velocity scores for the 10 putts taken from the baseline. The graph shows a very inconsistent putting stroke, which is characterised by sharp peaks and troughs, which are characteristic of the involuntary jerk at impact. Figure 2 illustrates the scores after the final treatment. This graph is characterised by a very smooth putting stroke as the lines are all consistently grouped together. The slight deviations on the graph are normal as expert golfers use on-line regulation strategies to adjust there putting strokes accordingly.

Behavioural assessment of the putting stroke added support to the findings. At baseline, yipping occurred about 70% of the time. After the final treatment, there were no visual indicators of a 'yip' occurring. The most important assessment, the golfers self-assessment added further clarity to the results. At the start of the study, the golfer reported the 'yip' was at maximum intensity when performing in the laboratory. However, after the final measurement, there now were no feelings of the 'yip' at all. Mike asked the golfer to perform out on the golf course. Again, there were no feelings of the 'yip' occurring. The golfer added some final comments:

'The start of every golf season was always terrifying for me, as I never knew how much worse the yips may have become - but now I look forward to the 2006 season with much excitement, fully confident that this terrible affliction has been finally exorcised by Lynn's exceptional skills and ability. I also believe that, as a bonus to curing the yips, I am now a different person. I see things and react differently to situations in everyday life. I feel better. I know that this is as a direct result of the treatment I underwent and would recommend it to anyone.'

It is clear that Lynn's treatment certainly has merit, and her work is based on her skills as a practitioner in finding underlying emotional causes. The benefits of this treatment are not only relevant to amateur golfers. They are also relevant to tour players who experience the 'yips' and people in other sports such as darts and cricket. It is possible this treatment may be effective for dentists, artists, and musicians who experience symptoms similar to the 'yips'. Mike Rotheram is certainly excited as he said, 'Lynn has stumbled on something here that is potentially ground breaking. This is undoubtedly the most effective treatment I have seen so far. It is now up to the scientific community to put these findings into appropriate research settings. I wish Lynn all the best and I hope we can team up again in the future.'

This article was produced by Mike Rotheram, Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Sheffield Hallam University, S10 2BP