Many thanks to Lynn Francis of the UK for doing a detailed
study and curing 5 golfers of the "yips." This neuromuscular
"jerking" problem affects not only golfers but dentists, musicians and
surgeons as well. For those who have it, it is a very serious
problem.
By Lynn Francis
The Yips is defined as a psycho neuromuscular problem that
often
strikes golfers when they are putting but can also affect them during
other types of shots whereby the player experiences freezing, jerking
or twitching immediately prior to impact the movements they experience
are involuntary therefore they have no control over them and can add an
average of 5.5 shots to their round.
Psychological responses include frustration, embarrassment,
intense anxiety and increased self-consciousness.
The longevity of the problem means most golfers end up
quitting,
they cannot rationalise what is happening and they over analyse what is
going on.
The yips also affect other sports such as Tennis, cricket
darts
(commonly known as dartitis) Surgeons, dentists and musicians can also
suffer with the same type of involuntary movements.
So serious is the problem that the Mayo Clinic in USA is
conducting its own study to determine the cause, treatment and cure.
Having worked with hundreds of cases using EFT for emotional
issues I decided to turn my attention to Sport.
I read all I could about the dreaded yips and there were
many
theories as to the cause and lots of different treatments tried over
the years, some claim to have cured the yips, however none of the
people I asked had any solid documented proof to back up their claim,
this is when I decided that I would try and cure the yips using EFT and
most importantly get good documented proof of my work.
I advertised for golfers suffering with the yips to take
part in a
study, there was no shortage of volunteers and I chose a group of 5
based on their varying handicaps and ages which ranged from
professional to double figure handicap, the youngest being 28 and the
oldest 59. I asked each player to write a lengthy report prior to
treatment describing their symptoms and how it affected their game,
after the treatment they were asked to write a follow up report.
I had no idea how to approach the problem but by following
your
advice Gary and ‘getting myself out the way’ I have now developed a
very intuitive way of working, which is a weird experience but the only
way I can describe it, is that it feels as if someone takes over,
guiding me where to take the session, what to ask and what to tap on.
I successfully cured all 5 out of 5 cases using EFT by
uncovering and eliminating emotional issues.
Below are two article written about this that appeared in
the media. The first outlines the study with names and details of
the yips participants. The second is more general in nature.
This study was done 2 years ago so I recently contacted all
who took
part and they have all signed and dated a statement to say they are
still yip free to this present day.
Lynn Francis
First Article written by Paul Chappell Editor
Golfers Chronical.
LYNN Francis has just completed a ground-breaking practical
study
into finding a cure for the yips and her results have proved staggering.
The yips is defined as a psycho neuromuscular problem that
often
strikes golfers when they are putting, but can also affect them during
other types of shots whereby the player experiences freezing, jerking
or twitching, immediately prior to impact.
So serious is the problem that Mayo Clinic in America is
conducting
its own study to determine the cause, treatment and a cure...something
Lynn feels she may already have found!
Lynn explained: ‘I took a group of five yips-affected
golfers
ranging from a professional to a 16-handicapper. The youngest was 28
and the oldest 59.
‘I asked each player to write a report prior to the
treatment describing their symptoms and how it affected their game.
‘After the treatment, which ranged from two to four
sessions, they were asked to write another report
Name: Cliffe
Grimshaw
Handicap: 16
Age: 59
From: Glossop
Yipssuffered for: Six years
Shots affected: Short putts and chips
BEFORE
Approximately five years ago I started to have the yips
while putting.
At first it showed itself as a jabbed stroke, but
increasingly it
developed with me freezing over the ball. It became difficult, even
almost impossible to draw back the putter.
In trying to accommodate the problem I tried several
different
putters including the ‘broomstick’ type. I then started to putt with my
left hand below my right. This still did not remove the problem, by
which time it had also started to affect me while chipping the ball.
AFTER
The dread I used to feel when faced with these particular
shots has
gone. I no longer display the jabbing and freezing over the ball that I
did prior to this treatment.
Name: Gerard Daly
Handicap: Seven
Age: 42
From: Chadderton
Yipssuffered for: Two years
Shots affected: Short putts
BEFORE
My problem with the yips originally surfaced when it came to
driving
off the tee. I could not get the club back in the normal length of time.
Eventually, the condition subsided after two or three months.
Last year I started suffering the same, this time with my
putting.
As soon as I have a putt of 10ft or less I have an
uncontrollable
turn of my wrist. The shorter the putt, the more likely I am to push or
pull it.
The lengths I have gone to in order to eradicate this
problem
include: four different putters, shortening a putter and changing my
grip. But still the problem persists.
AFTER
Lynn has eliminated my yips problem completely. My game has
improved
to the extent that, rather than fear a six foot or less putt, I now
look forward with confidence in my ability to hole them on most, if not
all occasions.
Name: Philip Leaver
Handicap: Five
Age: 41
From: Lancashire
Yipssuffered for: Five to six years
Shots affected: Chipping and long putting
BEFORE
Nearly four years ago I started to suffer the yips while
chipping
around the greens. No matter how much I practised, it showed no signs
of abating. It arose only in pressure situations, for instance if I
needed to chip over a bunker to a tight pin location. My arm would
stiffen and this caused me to thin the shot.
This spring I also started to demonstrate the yips while
putting too
AFTER
Since having the treatment I feel like I have been cured
from an illness.
My chipping has improved to a level I now feel comfortable
with any
kind of pitch shot. Lynn has also worked on my putting problem which
showed up on six or seven foot putts. My old stroke is back and I’m at
ease with myself again.
Name: Gareth Bradley
Handicap: Scratch
Age: 40
From: Bramhall Golf Club
Yipssuffered for: Six years
Shots affected: Chipping and long putting
BEFORE
The problem has been progressively getting worse from about
10 years, developing from the odd poor chip to much more.
In the past two or three the problem has crept into my
longer putting. I am still OK with short putts.
The frustration it is bringing is starting to become
difficult to cope with and could possibly lead to me giving up the game.
AFTER
After just two sessions with Lynn she appears to have
completely eliminated the problem.
I have played 17 competitive rounds since the sessions and
have had
no yips. The dread I used to feel before chipping has gone. Yes, I have
hit some bad chips but these were down to poor technique and not a yip.
My game is rejuvenated and I’m enjoying the game again.
Name: Jason Hartley
Handicap: Professional
Age: 28
From: Originally South Africa but currently in Hertfordshire
Yipssuffered for: 12 years
Shots affected: Most shots
BEFORE
I first experienced the yips in 1992 at the age of 16. I was
playing
in a provincial tournament in South Africa. I remember walking up to a
putt of about eight feet, I was feeling confident. I went through my
normal routine but when I tried to make the putt, my hands seemed to
jump just before I made contact with the ball.
A little confused, I walked up to my remaining putt (above
one foot in length) and did exactly the same thing again.
Gradually it became worse. After struggling for a year I
swapped
from putting left-handed to putting right-handed, which I still do
today.
When I try and putt left-handed, I get a pins-and-needles
feeling all down my right arm.
In the last two years the yip is developing in the rest of
my game from a short chip to a drive.
I find it hard to believe that the hands have time to twitch
when the club is being swung at 125mph.
I am terrified of actually hitting the ball.
I need to sort this out as soon as possible as the game is
becoming
a chore and my confidence is at an all time low. Just the thought of
playing golf gives me that tingling feeling in my right side and I know
my full swing is taking the same route as my putting did when it all
started.
AFTER
I still find it hard to believe that something that was so
ingrained could be cured over the space of a few hours.
Since seeing Lynn, my confidence is at an all time high and
I have
started looking forward to playing again, and my scores are reflecting
this.
People who have never experienced the yips find the subject
hard to
comprehend but for people who have and do, it is good to know that
there is finally a definite cure.
Second article
Those
of you with a good memory may recall a story we covered more than a
year ago in the Golfers’ Chronicle when a former nurse from Blackburn
claimed she’d found a cure for the yips. At the end of 2004 she cured
five golfers out of five including Cheshire player Gareth Bradley.
Researchers at Sheffield Hallam University then approached Lynn Francis
to scientifically test if her claims were true. And guess what… they
were! PAUL CHAPPLE reports.
What are the yips?
The yips are a golfers worst nightmare. Those who experience
the yips will add an average five and a half shots to their round.
Jerks, twitches, tremors and freezing are all physical
antecedents
of the yips. Psychological responses include frus$, embarrassment,
intense anxiety and increased self-consciousness.
The longevity of the problem means most golfers end up
quitting.
They can’t rationalise what’s happening and they over analyse what’s
going on.
The movements they exper$are involuntary therefore they have
no control over them.
The yips also affect other sports such as darts (commonly
known as dartitis) and cricket bowling.
At present there is no scientifically tested cure.
DURING the past two years Lynn Francis (pictured below) has
been
working on curing the yips in golfers with so far, 100% success.
She now plans to travel throughout Europe working with
sports people from all over the world.
Mike Rotheram and Dr Mark Bawden, researchers at Sheffield
Hallam
University, were that intrigued by Lynn’s apparent success that they
asked her to team up with them to trial her treatment.
Mike explained: ‘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 while the client focuses on underlying emotional causes.
To test Lynn’s treatment, 50-year-old golfer Nigel Grice,
who suffered from the yips, took part in the study.
His handicap was still five 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 for his baseline test,
Nigel
said: ‘I have suffered from the yips since the end of the 1999 season,
when during a matchplay singles knockout semi-final competition, I
missed about six 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, Nigel has been unable to putt, and even broke
down in
tears at one point, due to the disintegration of his short game.
Mike added: ‘Nigel was required to take part in five data
collections at the University following intense treatments administered
by Lynn.
‘All measurements were recorded when putting at a distance
of two
feet from the cup, where the yips tend to be at the most severe.
Measures included a behavioural assessment (whether I could see the
jerk), and self-report (Nigel’s self assessment).
‘In addition to this, I used the latest golf putting
technology from SAM Motion Analysis, which measures the yips in
golfers.’
Of particular interest to Mike and Mark’s study was the
velocity of rotation on impact as Nigel 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,’ added Mike, originally from Liverpool.
Behavioural assessment of the putting stroke added support
to the findings.
Before the treatment, 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 golfer’s self-assessment,
added further clarity to the results.
At the start of the study, Nigel reported the yip $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 Nigel to perform out on the golf course.
‘Again, there were no feelings of the yip occurring,’ said
Mike.
Nigel added: ‘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 therapy I underwent and would
recommend it to anyone.’
It is clear that Lynn’s treatment certainly has merit. Mike
concluded: ‘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.
‘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.’