Overcoming the Yips
Show notes
Hello and welcome to this episode of the Performance Practice podcast. I’m joined today by David from Tucson, Arizona who has seen some encouraging improvements to his golf by committing to a daily Performance Practice.
David is an avid recreational golfer whose wife also plays and many of their trips or vacations will include rounds at resorts or local courses. They are members at a club in North Tucson and play most weekends with a fairly large group in friendly skins type competitions. They also compete in special tournaments, member guest events, and club championships. David describes himself as a typically average player when it comes to his handicap which varies between 11 and 14. He’s in his early 60’s and tries to stay fit and is constantly looking to improve. He first found the Chi Performance teachings while trying to cure a case of the yips for putting and the rest they say is history.
Topics covered in this episode
Only 2% of people try to improve in any area.
The key to happiness is self-improvement.
Overcoming a debilitating case of the yips which included all the classic symptoms like a rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, shaking and jerking hands which resulted in missing one or two foot putts.
How the experience of hypnosis heightened anxiety.
Why the yips is not a mental block; overcoming it helped restore calm and serenity to the movement and how attachment to the result |(including fear of the outcome) gets in the way of pure movement.
Setting up from the inside like an archer.
Standing meditation creates a strong connection to the ground, and a feeling of being centred and helps the pivot feel more athletic. Developing a strong stable base with a fluid upper body which is not trained in biomechanics or the gym but is trained in Tai Chi.
How an Eastern approach trains more than one thing at a time i.e. breathing and grounding, and how this helps to solve or reconcile the mind-body split. Training the mental game and technique separately is not the answer.
Mental game coaching which incorporates breathing and “presence” but doesn’t go deep enough, can have the reverse effect and heighten the anxiety.
The real work is about changing the biochemistry of the body which in turn quietens the mind, but unfortunately “ideas” about meditation and breathing abound and many people take them as a ‘given’.
Standing practice helps with loading the legs on the backswing, staying balanced and using the legs to drive forwards from the ground upwards, taking the hands/arms out of the equation. T’an tien is the centre of the body, this awareness helps to strike it pure because of the connection with the hands i.e. they are in line with the t’an tien at set up and impact.
The upper body must “receive instruction” from the lower body, rather than deliberately hinging the wrists.
The flow-state description includes not trying too hard, not thinking too much, a sense of knowing, clarity of intent and an effortless feeling; so ley’s try and recreate these conditions when you’re over the ball.
Staying with the breath is quite an effort, but don’t try to remember with your mind.
The difference between thinking and feeling, i.e. not the “idea” of breathing or the “idea” of the t’an tien but the actual experience.
Noticing how busy the mind is in seated meditation which is a good place to start your Performance Practice. The tough mind or the quiet mind; what really helps your performance?
Separating out the mental game from golf isn’t the way to go but incorporating it into the physical and the breathing has a real simplicity which helps.
The biggest thing golfers try is to take their driving range game onto the course, which is a perfect place to work on these principles rather than thinking about technique
Stepping stones are useful when starting; begin your practice in quiet, then in simple movements and in life situations will help when trying to apply it over the ball.
Try not to abandon your practice as soon as you get up from your chair or cushion but take something of your practice with you and revisit it throughout the day.
Thanks for listening to this episode; please send in any questions from the books that you’d like me to answer on the show, whether you’re a golfer or play another sport or you’re involved in the performance of movement of any kind.
Next time we’re going to look in depth at the benefits of breathing and postural work for the physical expression of movement in both sport and music. See you then.
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