The second factor is “perfectionism”. For example, I must get this putt or I’ll be negatively judged by myself or my playing partners, I’ll let myself down. Thirdly we “ruminate” off the course when we have “The Yips” with thoughts usually directed towards self-critical negative appraisal and worry over future putting failures. Finally “reinvestment” – practising with different techniques or putters without addressing the underlying relationship between long term anxiety and our bodies.

Today thankfully we don’t normally have life-threatening situations that require an automatic physical response, but we have stressful lives that make us anxious and trigger this deep-rooted fight or flight response. How susceptible we are to anxiety is complicated and individual because we all have different personality characteristics and life experiences. But research suggests that just under 40% of reasonable to good golfers will suffer the yips at some time. Golf is one of the few sports to which we can apply “fixes” to limit the skills deficit caused by “The Yips” – long putters, different grips, various distraction techniques etc.. These “fixes” tend not to last and are unreliable under pressure for three reasons, (1) they don’t address the long term maladapted memories that make us react automatically, (2) we typically need to be calm in the first place to use them and (3) our automatic brain and present cognitive brain are sending contradictory instructions to our muscles.

I nearly feel guilty about directing you to Youtube and the unfortunate Scott Boswell bowling a fateful over in the 2001 Cheltenham and Gloucester (C&G) trophy final. He got an attack of “The Yips”. He said it felt like the batsman was 50 yds away. He proceeded to bowl two 5ft. wides, his third ball he couldn’t release and then he completely froze! I may not have the order exactly correct but you get the picture. This uncomfortable anecdote demonstrates that the yips is not about skill or technique. Scott Boswell’s bowling ability was well above average and had been for some time. It’s “The Yips” because someone fails miserably to perform a physical action they would normally execute to a much higher standard. Scott Boswell’s unconscious brain would not allow him to bowl because for some reason it deemed the act to be unsafe. Deep in our brains, we have an automatic fight, flight or freeze mechanism, which has served us well since our ancestors were reptiles. When threatened, the amygdala, a part of the brain that manages these situations, floods our bodies with the necessary chemicals we require to make us more alert, stronger and faster so we can best respond to a perceived threat.

Our response to anxiety doesn’t mean we’re weak but we will be weakened if we don’t deal with it. Dystonia and Lost Move Syndrome (the sudden inability to perform a movement executed without concern, “choking”), are psychological conditions and nothing to do with the make of putter we use or our putting technique! In golf we call dystonia “The Yips”, but it presents under different names in diverse disciplines such as darts, basketball and ballet to name a few.