The Phenomenology of the golfers’ Yips, a Video‐Panel Study
BACKGROUND: There is ongoing debate on the nature and the phenomenology of the golfers' yips. OBJECTIVES: To clarify the phenomenology of the golfers' yips, based on assessment of videos by expert neurologists. METHODS: A panel of 13 movement disorder neurologists reviewed videos of 15 golfers (10 with and 5 without the yips). Videos showed wrist movements during putting, in three conditions: both hands, right and left hand only. The presence or absence of a movement disorder and its phenomenology was collected via a short questionnaire. RESULTS: The video panel classified the yips as a movement disorder with high overall diagnostic accuracy (0.84[95% CI: 0.71-0.92, p < 0.001]) and significant inter-rater reliability (Gwet-AC1 = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.46-0.67, p < 0.001). The phenomenology was predominantly classified as dystonia with significant inter-rater reliability (Gwet-AC1 = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.44-0.69, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A panel of expert neurologists considered the golfers' yips a neurological movement disorder, most consistent with dystonia.
Authors
- Giorgia Sciacca (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1629-1282)
- Beorn G. Nijenhuis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8624-3614)
- Christos Ganos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8077-8530)
- Esmee van Leeuwen
- Bart P.C. van de Warrenburg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4412-1616)
- Roberto Erro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7800-7419)
- Marina A.J. Tijssen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5783-571X)
- Rick C. G. Helmich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4035-6573)
- Eavan M. McGovern (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7325-8959)
- Tjard R. Schermer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1391-2995)
- Johannes Zwerver (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8499-2806)
- Hyder Azad Jinnah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1531-3969)
- Francesca Morgante (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9834-3639)
- Tatiana Svoreňová (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5237-8736)
- Davide Martino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2217-0487)
- Anna Sadnicka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6132-2773)
- Erik van Wensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8307-6734)
- Lisette Henriëtta Koens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2864-4225)
- André Dong Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5557-3127)
- Matěj Škorvánek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5497-8715)
Institutions
- St George's Hospital (GB)
- University of Salerno (IT)
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (IE)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Emory University (US)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik (SK)
- Toronto Western Hospital (CA)
- Gelre Hospitals (NL)
- Beaumont Hospital (IE)
- TUM Klinikum (DE)
- Radboud University Medical Center (NL)
- University of Catania (IT)
- Hanover University of Music Drama and Media (DE)
- Univerzitná Nemocnica Louisa Pasteura (SK)
- Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (NL)
- Martini Ziekenhuis (NL)
- St George's Hospital (GB)
- Oxford Centre for Computational Neuroscience (GB)
- Ziekenhuis Gelderse Vallei (NL)
- National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (GB)
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour (NL)
- Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit (GB)
- University College London (GB)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Movement Disorders Clinical Practice
- Published
- 2026-10-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/mdc3.70867
- Primary Topic
- Neurological disorders and treatments
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Gelre Ziekenhuizen
- Stichting Wetenschapsfonds Dystonie