The yips aren’t a lack of skill—they’re a loss of trust.
They often show up as small, involuntary movements in your hands or wrists during the putting stroke. They can cause jerks, flinches, or deceleration right at impact. Sometimes they appear physically; other times they’re purely mental—your brain simply won’t let the stroke flow.
For golfers over 60, the yips are more common because we’ve logged thousands of putts, practiced for decades, and built up layers of habits and expectations. The more you care, the more pressure your mind can place on your body.
It’s not age. It’s anxiety, muscle memory confusion, and tension. The good news? Those can all be retrained.
Before we get into drills or putter tweaks, it starts with the simplest thing you control—your state of mind.
When you step onto the green, your heart rate and your hands tell a story. Are they calm, or are they tense?
If they’re tight, your stroke will follow.
That’s where the “Circle of Calm” comes in—a technique I teach to senior golfers who want to rebuild confidence on the greens.
Now step into your Circle of Calm, and only then set up to hit. It sounds simple, but it retrains your brain to connect relaxation with your putting motion. The more you do it, the more natural it becomes.
“Calm mind, steady hands—every putt begins before the stroke.”
Nothing destroys rhythm like frustration. You miss a short one, and suddenly every putt feels twice as hard. That emotional hangover feeds the yips faster than anything.
So after a miss, give yourself permission to reset.
That’s your mini-reset drill. It teaches your body and brain that missed putts don’t define your next one.
“The first fix isn’t a new putter—it’s a new mindset.”
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Once your mind is calm, your body has to relearn what smooth feels like. That means practicing motion without outcome pressure.
Set up to a short putt, three to five feet. Take one look at the hole, then close your eyes and make the stroke.
At first it feels strange—but that’s the point. You’re removing the urge to steer the ball and letting your body rediscover tempo.
Do 10–15 repetitions each day. You’ll be amazed how quickly your stroke smooths out.
Using just your lead hand (left for right-handed players), roll short putts across the green.
This builds feel and forces your shoulders—not your wrists—to drive the stroke. The lead hand should control distance and tempo.
Drop ten balls around the hole at 3, 5, and 7 feet. Hit all ten in a row with one smooth tempo.
Don’t chase perfection—chase consistency of rhythm. Your brain learns tempo through repetition, not through overthinking.
Sometimes, equipment changes can reduce tension dramatically—especially for senior golfers.
If you struggle with hand tremors or wrist flicks, a broomstick or mid-length putter can quiet the hands and engage the shoulders. LAB Golf’s DF3 broomstick and similar models have helped many golfers over 60 find a stable, pendulum motion again.
Lighter grip, heavier head.
That’s the golden combo for most seniors. A light grip reduces tension; a heavier head promotes smooth momentum.
Experiment with counterbalanced grips or slightly heavier heads to find your natural pace.
When you’ve had the yips for a while, every putt starts feeling like a test. You walk onto the green hoping not to mess up instead of expecting to roll it true. The shift comes when you realize the outcome doesn’t define you—the process does.
Here’s a simple mantra to use before every putt:
“Breathe, see the line, roll the ball.”
That’s it. No analysis, no future thoughts. Just a calm process. The more you train your brain to focus on the process, the less it fears the result. That’s where freedom lives.
The mind can’t distinguish clearly between a vividly imagined event and a real one.
So if all you visualize is missing, your nervous system “learns” to flinch.
Before you hit any putt, visualize success:
Do this even away from the course. Visualization is practice for the nervous system.
Imagine you’re standing over a must-make putt to save par. Instead of panic, you feel peace. You know the stroke is simple: a gentle rock of the shoulders, quiet hands, smooth roll.
That’s what the Circle of Calm builds—a mental habit that overrides the yips.
Every putt becomes a chance to practice calm—not perfection.
“Confidence is built one quiet roll at a time.”
Senior golfers have one huge advantage over younger players: perspective.
We’ve missed more putts, fought more swing changes, and learned that golf is less about mastery and more about managing yourself.
When you start viewing the greens not as battlefields but as quiet classrooms, the game changes. Each putt—make or miss—is feedback.
Miss high? Good—now you know.
Hit it soft? Great—you felt it.
Every roll teaches you something.
When frustration fades, flow appears.
Beating the yips isn’t about never flinching again. It’s about knowing how to return to calm, every single time. The golfer who can reset, breathe, and trust will always beat the one who forces, fights, or fears.
When you find peace over the ball, putting becomes fun again. You’ll walk off the green smiling, not because you made every putt, but because you trusted yourself on every stroke.
And that—more than any grip change or gadget—is how you truly beat the yips.
“It’s not about perfection—it’s about peace of mind on the greens.”
The next time you feel your hands tighten over a short one, remember this:
The yips aren’t your enemy—they’re a reminder to breathe, to trust, and to simplify.
Golf after 60 is about playing smarter, calmer, and freer. The greens are where that transformation starts.
So take your next putt inside your Circle of Calm. Roll it with confidence.
Smile when it drops—or when it doesn’t. Because when your mind is steady, the putts start rolling true again.
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