“This is what I think it is, personally … the yips,” says Kevin Digs, the best teacher and guru of Kevin Digs’ short game. “He’s doing something he needs to do to get control over his face. He’s already done the claw or the saw, so he’s had problems, and that’s another step towards finding a new sensation. But I think the only one I have never seen anything like Charles Barkley before. “
Golf Digest 50 Best Teacher and Short Game Coach Stan Utley is based in the same Scottsdale facility as Mickelson’s coach Andrew Getson. Utley points out that Mickelson always takes an analytical approach to improve. “I know Phil has a good reason in his mind for what he’s doing,” says Utley. “And when do you take the shot for what it is? The swing mechanisms seemed perfect to me, and obviously it’s rolling it.”
Most players are willing to throw “orthodoxy” into putting if that means rolling more, which makes Mickelson no different from you or me. But if you are struggling with your putting and calculating that you will experience a stuttering step in your stroke, keep some things in mind.
“I wouldn’t change you if I did and roll it well, but if you stop like that, it can potentially lead to lifting the handle towards the target,” Utley says. “This will make speed control more difficult.”
Weeks thinks that the strategy would be good for a player who tends to stop the putter from the ball or jump in anticipation of the impact. “If you pause it, you are practically ensuring that you will accelerate through the ball, which solves the crash problem. If you are going to be tied to the impact, you can also close your eyes at the start of the pass- or look at the end of the handle kick instead of the ball. I also had players who try a pencil grip where the pointer of the hand indicates the direction you want the ball to go.
The warning for all this? “He may have tried everything and that’s where he is,” says Weeks. “Yips get tangled up and players will try anything to get out of it.”
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