I don't fully understand the "YIPS" sydrome?

Question

what does it mean in the simplest possible way?

Answer 1

All these answers are REALLY good and pretty much give the symptoms or cause... so let me give a stab at it.

The YIPS are a physical response to a psychological situation.

Shortest answer

STRESS  (but I loved the "performance anxiety" answer)  LOL

The player has some physical action (mishit, a hitch in the swing, that moment just before impact that goes blank, etc.,) that is not due to an organic (tumor, muscle pull, pinched nerve, etc.,) problem in the body, that causes a misshit put. The physcal action is caused by a mental issue.  As once was said "the most difficult part of a golf course is the six inches between a golfer's ears."

Answer 2

Its really anything you want it to be. It can be a shaky hand, a mental problem, bad line judgment, anything that impairs you putting. If you play someone that has a really bad putting reputation, no matter what the problem is, you can simply say "that guys got the yips" thats pretty much all it is really.

Answer 3

The yips are caused by changing your grip pressure on the putter during the putting stroke.  To find out more about this go to the site below.

Answer 4

Trust me you don't want to know anything about the yips.  Just forget it and hope you never get them.

Answer 5

When they talk about "yips" they are talking about putting. It is a lack of confidence that causes you to miss the putt. When you worry about making it in the cup, you take your concentration off of the putt itself and tend to miss because of it.

Commonly, this is caused by thinking about a previous missed putt and what went wrong back then. Instead golfers should focus on the shots they made and why they made them. Focusing on success breeds more success and focusing on failure breeds more failure.

Answer 6

I had the yips for a short time with chips and pitches back when I was a college player.  I explain them this.  It was like being electrocuted 1 tenth of a second before impact.  They are caused by anxiety.  If you have never had them, you couldnt possibly undestand them.  Its h**l.

Answer 7

Performance anxiety.

Answer 8

When you become afraid of missing puts, so you always underhit and finish just short of the hole.

Answer 9

It's an emotional/psychological difficulty in exercising touch, rhythm, feel and accuracy with the putter.