In an almost unnoticed piece of research some leading European scientists recognised that the application of a process first developed for Vietnam War veterans had a stunning impact on golfers suffering from the dreaded yips. They found that it cured 61% of those that they treated.
That breakthrough might have been left collecting dust on those researcher’s shelves had it not been re-discovered by top UK sport neuroscientists at the UK’s Yips Research Institute.
Chief Neuroscientist Stephen Smith stated :
“After many years of scratching our heads and failing to get anywhere this research showed that it was because we were looking at the problem completely the wrong way and in the wrong part of the brain. For decades scientists have focussed on the yips as a problem in the motor control cortex where the signal to move our muscles is generated- we saw it as a problem of movement but had no solution”.
He went on to explain:
“This work shows it is a problem in the memory system which is interrupting the movement signal as it travels through the brain on its way to the muscles in a golfer’s arms. The good news is that we have a number of specific techniques to treat those memory issues and these are working incredibly well. By combining those with other techniques from high-risk roles (such as space exploration) in our ‘7Steps to SmoothStroke (7SSS) Programme the Yips Research Institute is seeing remission rates of 67%- 75%. We think this is because we can now directly target the root cause of neurological yips which is the most common form of the syndrome”
Currently the process is only available from the experts at the Yips Research Institute. However Smith stated:
“We believe that this approach should be readily accessible for all golfers. To this end, in 2025, we will be running accreditation programmes so that others can take this cure to those who are suffering in their local golf communities. We think it will be most attractive to golf professionals but suspect there will be a number of sufferers who, once cured themselves, will want to share that with fellow sufferers”
Background to The Yips Research Institute (SPL)
The Yips Research Institute is a specialist division of Sport Psychology Limited (SPL). SPL was formed as the ASPIRE partnership in 1989 and became SPL in 2000. Its psychologists are founders of the Sport Psychology Professional Body in the UK and have worked with:
- Formula 1 racing teams
- Premier League football teams and players
- International rugby teams
- Olympic athletes
- Round the World yacht racing teams
- PGA Tour Golfers including Major winners
For the last 25 years SPL has combined leading edge techniques from the space and high risk industries and applied it to the neuroscience of sports.
Stephen Smith,
AFBPsS, CPsychol, CSci, BSc (hons) StA
- Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society – AFBPsS
- Chartered Psychologist – CPsychol
- Chartered Scientist – CSci
- Independent Scientific Advisor to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport of the UK Government as a member of ‘The College of Experts’
- Chair of the Division of Sport & Exercise Psychology in the British Psychological Society
- Lecturer at 3 leading UK universities
- Editor of leading academic text book for Masters and Doctorate level sport psychology practitioners & students
- BSc (Hons), University of St Andrews, Psychology with Physiology and Pharmacology
Stephen is one of just 6 psychologists in the world who are dual registered and licensed with the regulator as both a Sport & Exercise Psychologist and as an Occupational/Business Psychologist. He has over 35 years of global experience and now combines these two disciplines to offer a unique insight into the neuroscience of human experience for sports and businesses.
He loves all sports but, as he was walking golf courses at home in Scotland with his father from the age of 6 and joined his local club as a junior member aged 14, golf will always be the one closest to his heart. It should be of little surprise that he chose to study at the University of St. Andrews where he, initially, joined the medical school aged just 17. This has given him a fantastic grounding in neuroanatomy and physiology. He then chose to specialise in the rare degree of psychology with neurophysiology and neuropharmacology and he continues to combine all of these areas to create a unique offering to his clients.
He dedicated himself to the study of the yips some years ago when he discovered that he could not help a close friend who was suffering from this terrible affliction
For further details contact
+44 (0)7806 794 527
