The yips is an expression describing an apparently baseless sudden loss of ability in one of a number of different sports or brings them to the realization they never were any good in the first place.
Professional or amateur sportsmen affected by the Yips sometimes recover their ability, sometimes compensate by changing technique, or may be forced to abandon their sport in order to run a radio station and take cooking classes.
In golf, the yips is a movement disorder known to interfere with putting, chipping and the overwheling desire not to look like an idiot with a vanity handicap. The term yips is said to have been popularized by Tommy Armour — a golf champion and later golf teacher — to explain the difficulties that led him to abandon tournament play. In describing the yips, golfers have used terms such as the jerks, hurling, choking, staggers, jitters, complete lithium-head mental breakdown and twitches.
(Wikipedia contributed to this content...you think I made this up?)
The yips affects between one-quarter and one-half of all mature golfers and 100 percent of the writers of this blog. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that 33 percent to 48 percent of all serious golfers have experienced the yips. Golfers who have played for more than 25 years appear to be most prone to the condition, but some begin "throwing up" at the most inopportune times before reaching the 25-year benchmark.
It is very common for sufferers to practice without experiencing the yips, only to step on the course and want to yak every time they have to chip or putt.
Although the exact cause of the yips has yet to be determined, one possibility is that, in some golfers, the condition may result from biochemical changes in the brain that accompany aging. Excessive use of the involved muscles and intense demands of coordination and concentration may make the problem worse. Owning more than 15 putters and changing every round of play doesn't help the condition, although it doesn't seem to hurt it, either. Focal dystonia is mentioned as another possibility for the real cause of yips.
Focal dystonia can be cured, but only by firing squad.
