AAN: Research Pins Down the ‘Yips’

The yips -- those sudden, involuntary movements that send a critical putt careening wide of the hole -- have been the curse of golfers since time out of mind. Now a researcher is suggesting that the yips are actually a movement disorder on par with writer's or musician's cramp, rather than a function of stress or anxiety over the outcome of a match.

"I believe that's the case in a subset of golfers," Charles Adler, MD, PhD, of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., told MedPage Today after his presentation at the annual meeting at the American Academy of Neurology.

MedPage Today, by Michael Smith, 4/15/2010