Well, everyone, welcome to Bill’s Wedge Yips Update 6.  Just because things have improved, that doesn’t mean I’m out of the woods yet.  Literally and figuratively.  Since my last update, I’ve continued to see gradual improvement with my wedge game.  Of course, there are some days that are better than others, but the net result has been noticeable progress.  I’m good with that.  Ultimately, I’m working on fixing a 7-year problem and I’m going to need time to really instill the change.  This isn’t going to resolve itself overnight.

I mentioned in Update 5 that I tend to run into a mental block switching from a mat to grass.  This is especially bad on tight lies.  Over a few actual rounds, I’ve seen some gradual improvement, but I’m still struggling quite a bit with those 30-80 yard shots in the fairway.  Standing over those shots is almost debilitating.  I’ve always wondered what that felt like when I’ve heard pros like Kevin Na talk about it.  How they stand over the ball and literally can’t make their arms bring the club back.  Now I know.  Hopefully I can keep getting comfortable with the swing and that will bleed into my rounds.

Bribing My 7-Year-Old Daughter

Yes, you read that correctly.  My ongoing wedge yips have led to me bribing my innocent little daughter to help me fix my game.  Thankfully, she doesn’t realize it.  Let me explain.

If you have little kids, you know they love to play outside.  One lovely Saturday afternoon, I was outside while my kids were playing in the yard and my son was driving his motorized tractor around.  Said tractor has a detachable trailer on it which he usually has some cargo of choice filling it up.  On this particular day, there was a lot of driving the tractor to random places in the yard and leaving it there.  This is where the idea hit me.  I went in the garage, grabbed my mat and about a dozen foam golf balls.  From essentially the other end of the yard, I would hit different wedge shots while trying to land them in the tractor’s trailer.  It was great.

Fast forward, my daughter catches on and wants to be involved.  She’s not much of a golfer so she decided she wanted to chase down the balls.  Like any 7-year old, this only held her attention for so long.  This is when my next great idea hit me.  “I’ll tell you what, [daughter], I’ll give you $.50 for every ball you catch.”  That was all it took and she was ready for hours of chasing down wedge shots.

A couple hours and a few dollars later, I got some great wedge practice in (was hitting them WELL too!) and had fun with my daughter.  Most importantly, she’s looking forward to “playing our game” again soon.  Note, the price per catch changes each time we play, and low temperatures are no concern to her.

Wedge Yips Update 6: Final Thoughts

So if there’s one thing I’ve learned on this journey is that it’s 110% mental.  Yes, physical things cause me to hit bad golf shots, but they all happen because of my mental pretzel.  I’ve found the biggest key is being able to pick up my wedge and feel my brain go, “yep, I can hit a good shot with this.”  So far, my garage practice and chipping FOAM golf balls to the kids seems to be helping me get there.  I’m not saying I still don’t have mental blocks to conquer, but reflexive execution of basic wedge shots is coming back.  The key is that I need to focus on what’s working and relentlessly keep pushing until I break through.  Oh good, I just remembered it’s the start of winter…  That shouldn’t disrupt any progress.

For my previous wedge yip adventures, check out the links below:

• Wedge Yips Update 1 – Did Ken Save My Life?
• Wedge Yips Update 2 – Is the Honeymoon Over?
• Wedge Yips Update 3 – S$&@, They’re Back…
• Wedge Yips Update 4 – Meet Piggly Wiggly
• Wedge Yips Update 5 – Still Grinding Away in the Garage

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