Rinker’s Golf Tips Anne Cain Top 100 Teacher grew up in Springfield, Missouri where her father and brother introduced her to the game. Anne was a good athlete and would initially go out to the golf course with the promise of “being able to drive the golf cart.” Anne got to play a couple of times with another Springfield native, Payne Stewart, and some of Payne’s friends and people that influenced him took Anne under their wing. Payne and his mother actually both sponsored Anne when she turned professional. Anne ran into Top 100 Teacher Rick Grayson when she was 13-14 and “he had the knack, sort of corralled me, and got me to change my attitude. It really helped me and I started winning tournaments winning the state amateur at 15. Springfield was very pro-active in golf.”
I asked Anne how she got in to teaching and she said, “I had no trouble dragging training aids out to the practice tee. I was working on my swing plane and used to travel and check as luggage a big wedge pillow that was waterproof. I was in Columbus, Ohio practicing and up walks Annette Deluca. She says, hey, what are you doing with that thing? You look like you’re swinging pretty well. Annette I tend to be a little under the plane so I bring the pillow out and it keeps me on track. She says man that’s what I’m working on. Can I borrow that thing?” After some begging Anne gave her a mini-lesson and told her to put it her locker after she was done. The next day on the range here comes Annette and Anne is thinking ut oh…Annette says hey I shot 66, can I borrow that pillow again? Annette wins the tournament so Anne felt a small sense of satisfaction that she helped someone win. After that tournament a few players started to come up to Anne and ask for help with their game. Anne realized she had an eye for things and enjoyed helping people.
Anne said the putting yips actually occur in other professions and sports. Surgeons, neural and dental doctors, people with fine motor skills under stress will run into the yips. We have even seen it with a catcher for the Yankees who couldn’t throw the ball back to the mound. Anne believes it starts with poor technique and she starting getting the yips with poor aim. They even have a name for it; neurological focal hand dystonia. I, Larry Rinker, got out of the yips the first time by changing my goal and how I evaluated things. Success for me was a smooth stroke and the ball rolled nicely. The second time I got out of the yips I putted looking at the hole like Jordan Speith does inside of four feet. Anne said, “Doing a new motor pattern, or changing your grip, creates a new neural pathway that isn’t fried like the yipping pathway.” Anne Cain can be reached at www.AnneCainGolf.com