Some days you just show up to the golf course not expecting much more than a typical round of 18 holes and it’s the same as any other ordinary day. But sometimes something happens that changes your life forever… Well this is what happened a couple of weekends ago with me. With my family out of town, I coordinated with Tommy that we were going to play 18 holes and he said he had two others joining our group. One of which I’ve played with before (he ended up bailing) and the other I only knew through legend. This guy’s name is Ken. Ken has a fairly interesting story, which we’ll probably tell some other day, but he’s a real golf guy and HUGE into data. REAL big data guy, Ken. Well Ken may have officially set me on my way to saving my life on that fine Sunday.
So Ken and I were messing around on the chipping green while Tommy was on the range and I mentioned in our casual conversation that I’ve been struggling with the wedge yips for the past 7 years. (I recently spoke to this here too.) Ken goes, “oh man, I had them pretty bad for awhile too but I finally fought my way out of them.” I’ve read so many articles on psychological tricks to fix this. I’ve taken lessons looking for tips, thoughts, or anything to focus on mentally. Obviously I’ve also tried new equipment. I’ve tried everything. There have been moments of promise, but nothing has been able to stick and the problem persisted. I naturally asked Ken, “oh yeah? What did it for you? Something psychological? Because I feel like that’s the only thing that’s going to work at this point – it’s such a mental block.”
Ken just very casually goes, “well, I don’t know about that, but for me it was something technical.” I thought there was no way this would be helpful to me, but I was just generally curious. I asked Ken what his fix was and he said “I have a strong grip so I just weakened my grip quite a bit. It took my hands out of the swing and I was good to go.” Neat, Ken. Neat. I’m happy for you. Must be nice.
Fast forward to the third hole and waiting on the tee box, I dropped a couple of balls and pulled my wedge out. I took my normal grip, then weakened it about 50º. Then I made a short little swing which resulted in a crisp pick of the ball that landed nicely at the other end of the tee box. What was this that just happened? I haven’t felt a wedge like that in years… I walked over to my ball, tried it again, and same result. Two in a row? Must be a fluke. By this time, Young Thomas and Ken are now at the other end of the tee box while I continue my chipping. I hit a third chip in their direction, and it was the same crisp strike. Tommy looks up like he saw his first child take its first steps. I say, “Ken, I think you may be onto something here…” I repeat the process a couple more times before the green clears, we tee off, and go on our merry way.
As the day went on, I just kept doing it. It felt weird and I had no distance control, but I was able to make clean contact repetitively. I will admit that I struggled a bit when it came to hitting more creative shots but I’d expect that learning something new. By the end of the day, Ken agreed his tip seemed to be working and treating me as well as it treated him. Even Tommy seemed more optimistic that I was on the right path to solve my problem after all the years of watching me struggle and the failures to fix my wedge yips.
Fast forward to 24 hours later and I’m at the driving range doing some testing for reviews. I basically bang a bucket of balls out with nothing but woods that needed testing. With four balls left in my bucket, I decide to see if my new wedge trick is sticking with me. Sure enough I hit two little crisp chips about 15 yards followed by two clean lower-launched pitches. Two days in a row of this level of success for me is unheard of. It’s now been two weeks of the same result. I’d still say I’m struggling with distance and non-standard shots, but it’s getting there. It basically feels like starting over to again so I have to develop a whole new feel and sense of control.
Am I cured? I’m not willing to commit to that yet, but I am more hopeful than I have been in a long time. Mainly because Ken’s tip seems more natural, albeit uncomfortable still, and I don’t have to think a ton while I’m hitting the shot. The only thing I’m worrying about is gripping the club correctly and getting the distance right. Saying this may have saved my life is probably dramatic, but the mental anguish these yips have caused me has been enough to make me pull my hair out. This immediate feeling of hope is such a relief, and even if it’s short-lived, I can’t express how grateful I am for Ken’s gift of wedge yip relief. Hopefully it will be a permanent solution. After all, how could I have NOT expected this guy to be a lifesaver? Just look at him!
