Beyond the Chip Yips...Overcoming Chip Yips in Golf with Presence

My journey from frustration to freedom through Presence Golf

There’s something humbling about standing over a simple chip shot and not trusting yourself. If you’ve never experienced it, it’s hard to explain.If you have, you know exactly what I’m talking about. For me, this wasn’t a phase. This was decades.

The Quiet Battle No One Sees

I’ve loved golf for most of my life. I’ve studied it. Practiced it. Lived it. From the outside, everything looked fine. But around the greens it was a different story.

There were moments where my hands felt disconnected, my body would hesitate, I’d flinch or stab at the ball or I would try to guide it instead of trust it. And the worst part is that it didn’t make sense.

Because I knew how to chip. I could do it in practice (at least some of the time). I understood the mechanics. But on the course something took over.

The Endless Search for a Fix

Like most golfers, I went searching. I tried just about everything in desperation to be able to play the game I love in freedom. I tried different techniques. I tried new grips (think cross-handed grip and yes even chipping with one arm). 

Hours of hours of practice trying harder and harder. I tried hypnotism, tapping and many other emotional freedom technqiues. I signed up with the latest short game guru hoping they would be my savior. 

Sometimes something would “work” for a little while, that would give me a false sense of hope, but unfortunately it never lasted. I was treating it like a technical problem, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t.

The Turning Point

The shift didn’t come from another tip. It came from stepping away from the constant need to fix.

Through my own inner work consisting of Qi Gong, stillness, awareness, daily surrender and Presence, I started to see something clearly. Nothing was wrong with my swing. What I was experiencing was a pattern of pressure.

A loop of insanity that consisted of fear, control, judgment and identity tied to the outcome. And every time I tried to “fix” it, I was feeding the very thing creating it.

A Different Way Forward

Instead of trying to fix my chipping I began to work with my state of being. I simplified everything down to three things.

Stillness

Pause. Breathe. Slow down. Step out of urgency. Expand my consciousness. Connect to something deeper within my Self. 

Awareness

Feel one thing. Not ten. Not a checklist. I became aware and stopped trying to fix my swing. I just became present to it as a casual observer detached from the outcome. 

Surrender

Let the motion happen without interference. Be the witness. I simply got out of my own way without the labels of good or bad. I stopped giving emotion to the shot by realizing it was just a shot. I gave the yips energy and reality to them when I became attached to the label.

At first, it felt almost too simple. But something started to change. Not all at once, but gradually as I did the process over and over. Stillness. Awareness. Surrender. 

The tension softened. The hesitation eased. The need to control began to fade. And for the first time in a long time I started to feel free around the greens again.

Beyond the Chip Yips

What I realized is this: There is nothing to cure, because the “yips” are not something you have. They’re something you experience when pressure, fear, and control take over. And when you change your relationship to those, everything begins to shift.

The Presence Golf Chip Method

What came out of this journey is what I now call: Beyond the Chip Yips: The Presence Golf Chip Method.

It’s not a quick fix. It’s not a technique. It’s a simple, repeatable way to return to stillness, clarity, trust and your own natural motion. 

Why I’m Sharing This

I know what it feels like to feel embarrassment and shame over a simple shot. To lose trust in yourself. To search for answers that never stick. 

And I also know there is a way through it. Not by trying harder. Not by thinking more. But by returning to something deeper.

A Final Thought

Golf has a way of revealing what’s happening inside of us. For me, the short game became a mirror. Not of what was wrong, but of what I was holding onto. And when I learned to let go the game started to feel like freedom again. I started to play the game again the way it was meant to be played, for fun and enjoyment and to challenge myself to grow as a person on and off the course. 

If this resonates with you, you’re not alone. And more importantly you’re not broken. There’s a different way to approach this. And it starts with something simple:

Be still.Feel one thing.Be the witness

If you’re struggling with this, I created an 8-week coaching experience called Beyond the Chip Yips: The Presence Golf Chip Method. 

When you change the relationship to the shot, you change everything. 

Happy chipping.