Objective: To investigate epidemiological aspects of yips among golfers in Japan.

Background: Yips are known as a set of conditions associated with an intermittent motor disturbance which affects precision in movement especially in sports. Specifically, skilled golfers are known to suffer with “yips”, although its clinical characteristics have not studied widely.

Methods: We carried out a survey among highly skilled professional and non-professional golfers to characterize yip related symptoms in collaboration with 2 of the largest golfers’ associations in Japan, the Kansai Golf Union and the Professional Golfer’s Association. The survey consists of golfers’ demographic information, golfing-career related history, musculoskeletal status and clinical manifestations of yips.

Results: A total of 1576 surveys were attempted and 1449 responded. Of these, 96.0% were male and 95.5% were right handed. The median age, golfing careers and monthly practice time were 48 years, 28 years and 15 hours, respectively. Most golfers had a knowledge of yips, and 38.6% had experienced it. Experienced symptoms of yips include spasms (30.0%), jerks (23.4%) and tremors (15.1%). Yips had occurred on various hitting styles including putting (55.4%), approaching (44.5%), and driving (33.5%). Golfers with experience of yips were older, had longer golfing careers and more frequent musculoskeletal problems than those without an experience of yips. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that a longer golfing career (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04–1.11; p < 0.05) and having musculoskeletal problems (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.03–1.13; p < 0.05) were independent factors associated with an experience of yips. Adjustment was made for professional or non-professional, hours of practice per month, and annual total number of golfing rounds. Specifically, the more severe musculoskeletal problems were associated with higher odds of having yips. In golfers with yips, changing a training method and/or hitting style were associated with an improvement of yips.

Conclusions: Our study quantified the prevalence of yips among highly skilled golfers in Japan. Repetition of fine motor control for longer duration and musculoskeletal problems were associated with yips; this suggests that yips have similar characteristics as task-specific movement disorder such as musicians’ dystonia. Interventions used in these areas may have a good potential to reduce the incidence of yips among golfers.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/epidemiological-investigation-of-yips-among-golfers-in-japan/