Curing Putting Problems

by Jack Moorehouse

Having the “yips” is gut wrenching. Just ask Germany’s Bernard Langer, twice afflicted by the putting difficulty.” The yips are generated by a breakdown of the left wrist, causing the right hand to dominate.

The cure is anything that locks the left wrist and encourages a pendulum like action in your swing—the key element of a sound, repeating, and successful stroke.

Langer employed the cross-handed grip to cure the first onset of the yips. Here are the five steps using this technique:

• Assume a normal putting stance

• Place the left hand below the right

• Lock the left wrist as you putt

• Swing back and through, low and smooth

• Keep the head down throughout the putt

This grip works well. Reversing the hands encourages the locking of the left wrist and creates a pendulum-like swing. Everything else—your pre-putt routine, basic posture, ball position, head position, and so on—stays the same.

Langer used the “clamp grip” to cure the second onset of the yips. With the clamp grip, the left hand reaches down the shaft while the right hand clasps the left forearm to the club to steady the left wrist. The clamp grip is considered the ultimate measure in preventing the left wrist from breaking down during the putt. It, too, encourages a pendulum like swing.

The clamp grip is an effective solution as well, although it’s not as popular as the cross-handed grip, used by pros that don’t even have the yips. Others cures include using a belly putter or a long putter instead of your a traditional putter.

Whatever the putting cure, you’ll still need to practice. And one of the best tools to practice with, as I say in my golf tips, is the metronome, a device for helping people keep tempo on a piano. The metronome helps develop a nice smooth stroke with great tempo, a stroke that will reduce your golf handicap and make golf more fun.

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