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Golf Yips

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by MSCam, Nov 30, 2017.

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  1. MSCam

    MSCam Newcomer

    I've been an avid golfer (don't roll your eyes, golf really is a great game) for most of my life and developed the putting yips a few years ago. For those of you who are not familiar with the affliction... it is an involuntary jerking motion or tremor through your hand/arm when the golfer attempts to stroke short putts. People who get this affliction are typically better players over the age of 40. There have been many pro golfers that have been inflicted with the yips and have been driven from the game (Ian Baker Finch, Charlie Wi). The problem is that good golfers are expected to make short putts... especially if you are a better golfer, so the pressure gets higher and higher when attempting short putts. Some of the attributes of golfers with the Yips are perfectionists, have high expectations of themselves, try to control situations, are concerned about what others think about them... which seems to match the perfect profile of someone with TMS. By the way, I read Mindbody Perscription more than 15 years ago and it eliminated my re-occurring debilitating back pain for over 10 years. Honestly, I forgot about the TMS treatment approach.

    In the last year I took it upon myself to find a cure for the putting yips. I've read numerous books on sports psychology, self-esteem, confidence, mindfulness, meditation, visualization, neuro-linguistic programming, putting techniques and others... then I came across a youtube of Howard Stern raving about Dr Sarno. It reminded me of my own struggles with back pain. I decided to use the TMS techniques to see if it could help my putting yips issue... and voila! The yips magically disappeared in the last month.

    Now the question I have is... could this just be a placebo response since I've completely bought into TMS treatment... or could curing the putting yips be another application of TMS treatment? I haven't heard of anyone treating the golfing yips as a TMS-related issue. I'm excited about the possibilities and intend to test my hypothesis with other golfers. I'd appreciate any comments or feedback on the approach.
     
  2. Baseball65

    Baseball65 Beloved Grand Eagle

    Hmmm. Don't play golf but I do play Baseball. Sounds like muscular treppe to me... and treppe is the same exact chemical chain as ischemia... a build up of lactic acid caused by diminished oxygen (short explanation)...causes unwanted, involuntary tremors. We have all had it after a hard workout or long time doing an unfamiliar physical task. Every time I dig post holes I get some in my forearms, but it goes away with rest, fluid,etc.

    I had a peculiar leg weakening thing that ONLY happened when I have gotten ready for a game and then found out I am not in the line-up. It is in the quad and HIP area and makes me unable to walk normally....sometimes it was painful. It also is exactly what my first TMS symptom ever was...complete loss of the use of the leg from the hip area....In fact , when the doctors blamed my back, I thought they were mistaken....But then I got back pain, like they told me I should (LOL)

    I always want to win and be 'good enough'. To be left out of the line-up is to be told 'you suck' ...or at least it is to the 6 year old down there. I Imagine if I played Golf, I'd want to be the best golfer I could be and I would be a 'yipper'... or would be until I figured out it was TMS.
    I don't think so. Placebos come from Outside stimulus.... other people's assurances, pills, treatments. If you can fix it with an inside job, it's TMS.
     
  3. TG957

    TG957 Beloved Grand Eagle

    Golf yips falls under the category of a neurological condition called dystonia (movement disorder). There are numerous varieties of dystonias and official medicine has an incredibly meticulous classification for those. Officially, dystonia is considered a non-curable condition and activity around it is centered on studying it vs treating it clinically. There are treatments, but they are no better than treatments for chronic pain - sounds familiar?

    However, I successfully recovered from dystonia using TMS approach. I was probably the first person on this forum who had a case of dystonia and succeeded.

    In my quest for cure, I came across this website: https://www.fariastechnique.com/ (Dystonia Treatment). Dr. Farias is a University of Toronto neuroscientist who himself successfully recovered from hand dystonia. Golf yips is one of dystonias he works with. He conducts what he calls "workshops" at his house in Toronto. I attended one. Having read Dr. Sarno books, there was not much new I could learn at his workshop. Even more so, his workshops were very similar to Dr. Sarno's lectures. Interesting to mention that Farias never heard of Sarno until I told him.

    However, he provided me with the explanation of TMS from the viewpoint of neuroscience and I found it more plausible than Sarno's ideas of oxygen deprivation. This is not to put down Dr. Sarno. When he came up with his ideas modern neuroscience did not even exist. On the other hand, Farias does not send his patients to psychologists - unlike Sarno. Psychological focus is what makes Sarno's approach so effective.

    Through my experience with dystonia, I came to a firm conclusion that dystonia is TMS. My own recovery is a solid evidence to that.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2020

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