Putting & the Right Hand Yips

First, I find it amazing that the last post on this thread was in 2021. In theory, on a par 72 course, and assuming two putts per hole, putting strokes account for half of all strokes. HALF. My concern is the lack of posts on this thread may result in few folks seeing this post...LOL.

Most folks struggle with their right hand. The right hand can develop involuntary flicks, twists, throw outs, etc. This can be quite maddening, especially on short putts where tension is 10X higher, and especially after making 2 or 3 smooth practice strokes prior to the weird, errant putt. As soon as the ball is in front of the putter, all hell breaks loose.

I moved to the claw grip which alleviated about 50% of my yippy right hand putting errors. However, it's just as easy to start over-powering putts, or push the heel open, or close the face with the right hand using the claw grip.

So what I've been working on is going to the putting green and putting with my right hand only. I use a standard reverse overlap grip, then remove my left hand. I start with 2 footers. This was quite eye opening in terms of how my right hand wanted to literally throw the putter at the ball, or how my wrist would rotate such that the face is closed or wide open. As I stated, it's maddening. But what I have is a very poorly trained right hand.

But after about 150 putts, my right hand started to "calm down". Like it needed to be trained to relax, quit panicking. Then after my right hand relaxed, I went back to the reverse overlap grip and putted with both hands. The difference was substantial in terms of how the right hand started to play a neutral role in the stroke vs. being over-powering...yippy. To that extent, I'm sure some folks have seen Tiger on the practice green at tournaments putting with his right hand only, with a pair of tees that were maybe 1/4 inch wider than the putter blade positioned in the green, like croquet wickets.. He hit 100's of those putts. Even Tiger had to constantly train his right hand to relax, and/or work in concert with the left. If you watch the video, the stroke should be smooth just like Tiger's, not jumpy, flicky, etc. Back through.

If any of you right handers have played guitar or piano, the left hand is often the toughest to train because we tend to use our dominant hand to do things that require precision. Golf is the opposite in many respects.

So my advise to folks who are struggling with putting is to do Tiger's drill. 100's of putts. Do not worry about being "terrible"...it's expected. If still hitting lousy...stop and try again the next day because it's an iterative learning process. I'm on day 10 now and it's quite interesting that I have gone back to my reverse overlap grip on the course because it actually feels better than the claw grip. Plus, and I don't know why, but due to the practice process, my shoulders suddenly started to take a primary role in my putting stroke vs. dominant right hand putting. Plus, while on the course, I practice with the right hand only while waiting for the other guys to reach the green or while waiting to putt. It can never be practiced enough.

My other advice is to get a wrist lock putter grip. It's longer such that the putter grip rides up the left arm which eliminates left hand variability. Plus, when the left side is "locked in", the right hand tends to take a more passive role. That said, the right hand can still wreck a putt, so the above practice AND trying the wrist lock grip could be a great option.