Prev
Next

Six prominent Aussies with a case of the dreaded “yips”

Anthony Sharwood

by Anthony Sharwood

09 Feb 12:30pm

Must Reads

The Punch is moving house - this is a caption

The Punch is moving house

385

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this? - this is a caption

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

122

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming” - this is a caption

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

251

Filed under: Channel Nine, Gerry Harvey, Julia Gillard, Michael Clarke, Punch Lists, Qantas, Sport, Steve Hooker, The Wiggles, The Yips

49 comments

The yips. It’s an old golf term which refers to golfers who lose the ability to putt. They stand over the ball and they tremble. They quake. They can barely hold the damn club, let alone propel the ball into a hole that suddenly appears the size of a thimble.


The term has since migrated across to other sports. Beijing gold medallist Steve Hooker today admitted that he has the pole vault yips. He just can’t place that pole in the right spot anymore, and his London campaign is in severe jeopardy.

If it’s any consolation Steve, you’re not the only person struggling to get your mojo back. Several other prominent Australians across all walks of life have totally lost the ability to do the thing they were once pretty good at. Here are five more prominent cases of the Yips. The Punch heartily invites more suggestions from you.

Julia Gillard
Once upon a time, the Julia Gillard was considered a strong-willed, smart operator who got things done. Then she became prime minister, and pretty much immediately lost the ability to do anything. Since assuming our highest office, Gillard has suffered the carbon tax yips, the pokies yips, the Malaysia yips and 53 other kinds of yips. The worst has been the “real Julia” yips. When you suffer an existential crisis in front of the whole nation, what hope do you have of getting your mojo back?

Perhaps a large bite of humble pie would help. Pic: Gary Ramage

Channel Nine
The once-dominant TV network keeps threatening to return to its former lofty perch – and failing. Excess Baggage was going to be the reality smash hit of the century. It failed. Returning wunderkind Jamie Durie was going to save the network with a smile and a flash of his pecs. He dudded out too. Today is going OK, but only because thieves broke into Sunrise and stole the set. The decision to recast Kerry Packer in Paper Giants is just another example of extreme yippery in Willoughby.

Nine's kangaroo paw-led recovery failed spectacularly

Qantas
Apart from bits falling off their planes, and endless industrial relations struggles, and sponsoring crap teams like the Socceroos and Wallabies, and cancelling all their flights one really busy weekend, they’re actually not going too badly. Which is a bit like saying Ian Baker Finch (Australian golf’s most famous yipster) cut a very handsome figure at the 19th hole bar.

Another shiny new perfect Qantas plane rolls off the production line

The Wiggles
Sam came, then Sam got shafted. Anthony melted down on morning television and Jeff’s still asleep. And to make matter yet worse, the Wiggles lost money last year. The flawsome foursome just can’t take a trick at the moment, and the kids know it. When the four year olds turn against you, you know it’s time to visit the yip doctor.

Biggest PR fail since the Sally Robbins press conference

Gerry Harvey
He sooked because his ancient business model collapsed. Then sookily insulted online entrepreneurs. Then tried to become one himself when his sooking backfired. Then Wayne Swan effectively called him a sook. When that happens, you know you could whinge for Australia. Will Australia ever sing “Go Harvey go!” again? Perhaps not. Gerry’s case of the yips has the rancid smell of permanence.

He's pretty much butchered everything he's tried lately

So how to break the yips?
Easy. Just ask Michael Clarke, the man who couldn’t get anyone onside for a decade, then went out and made 329 runs. To the people on the above list: channel your inner 329. Except for you, Julia. You’d need to make about three million and 29.

Life's a cakewalk when you lose your yips. Pic: Getty Images

Most commented

49 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Tim says:

      11:33am | 09/02/12

      How orange does Julia Gillard look in that photo?

      I didn’t know that Snooki was our Prime Minister.

      Reply

    • subotic says:

      01:05pm | 09/02/12

      How insulting.

      To Snooki….

    • Kathy says:

      05:04pm | 09/02/12

      Careful Tim, that might be sexist…

    • SM says:

      11:44am | 09/02/12

      Good call re Channel 9 - not a creative,original idea in the whole joint.

      Reply

    • fairsfair says:

      11:59am | 09/02/12

      So true.

      Where is a bit of interesting Aussie Drama? And I don’t mean a Packed to the Rafters ripoff (that show is gag worthy).

      I watched The Straights last week and can’t wait for the second episode tonight. It is something a bit different. How come the ABC is the only one interested in offering a bit of choice? They have had Downton Abbey-type shows on for years and nobody watches them until Channel 7 puts it on.

      The ABC is producing shoes like Crownies and The Straights, but the other really have nothing. Yet for some reason, few people go off 7, 9 and 10. Bor-ring.

      Oh and Channel 9 - FFS put something else on other than Two and a half Men and the Big Bang Theory. Every time I turn the bloody TV on it is one of those two shows. Who the eff is watching that crap to make them keep putting it on?

    • Rick of the Dustbowl says:

      12:19pm | 09/02/12

      This could be said of all of TV at the moment.They have lost the young to internet or is the bad programming and endless comercials a ploy to get us to hook up to cable? I’m not young anymore but they’ve lost me as well. I would get pay TV but when reading the guide and seeing that the high light of the week was reruns of I dream of Jeani no thanks, Although Barbara does look good in that hareem outfit.

    • Brent says:

      01:07pm | 09/02/12

      Channel 9 completely destroyed Top Gear as a watchable commodity.  They treated the show with contempt- mixed up promo’s , showed episodes without continuity (the fact that they thought the continuity of a show like Top Gear did not mattered showed how little they knew about the product and the nature of the show they bought).

      Don’t even get me started on Top Gear Australia.

      Now I am watching them try to destroy T20 cricket as a watchable commodity. The fawning Mark Nicholas and state nothing Ian Healy. The 45 minute intro to the game that is purely an excuse to have an ad break every 7.5 minutes.

      But unfortunately they seem to be a network entirely run by advertising dollar, rather than sourcing and respecting content.

    • SM says:

      03:02pm | 09/02/12

      Channel 9 have only one strategy to attract viewers - dumb the content down more and more and more.  Mr Packer must be turning in his grave.  Surely the two-time failure Gyngell must be on borrowed time.

    • Michael says:

      03:44pm | 09/02/12

      Don’t forget ‘Rake’ on the ABC. One of the best Aussie shows I have ever seen.

    • Tubesteak says:

      11:50am | 09/02/12

      Gillard - did she ever have it? Not sure. She was education minister for a while but nothing seemed to really happen. At least not enough to bring our 19th century education system into the 21st century.

      Channel 9 and Gerry Harvey
      Both need to wake up and realise that their business model is dead in the water. We want it cheap and we want it now and we want it delivered directly into our living rooms. Whether that’s electronic goods or TV shows from the US. If TV networks haven’t figured out that we’re not interested in reality TV dross or imported stuff that’s 6-12 months out of date then they will become extinct. The entire media network needs to change their game plan. Offer us easy to download stuff through a portal and not the “sit-there-in-a-timeslot-that-we-tell-you-and-watch-what-we-say-amongst-20-minutes-of-ads” tripe that’s offered now. Adapt or die.

      Qantas - the weekend Punch had a good article as to why they’re failing. Too much cheap competition. Cheapen or be a premium provider. You aren’t going to win the middle ground. Adapt or die.

      Michael Clarke - I’m not convinced he’s over the yips. Lets see how many more half centuries (at least) he scores in the next test series

      Reply

    • Craig2 says:

      11:51am | 09/02/12

      Anthony: let’s not get the labor loony readers started again! They’ve been bashed all week the poor buggers. Maybe Bob is right, we should lay off her…...na, beating Juliar up way too much fun! Wonder who’ll bite today….wink

      Reply

    • Rick of the Dustbowl says:

      12:22pm | 09/02/12

      No thats all right well let you loser liberals enjoy the Juels bashing love in

    • Crickets says:

      02:00pm | 09/02/12

      Chirp

    • BJA says:

      11:53am | 09/02/12

      Once you get the yips, and i mean really get them,  its almost impossible to revcover. I’ve had the yips playing cricket and it stopped me playing after 12 years of enjoyment. Lets all hope that Hooker can get back his mojo!!

      Reply

    • Macca says:

      12:16pm | 09/02/12

      I used to get the Yips occasionally in cricket. I used to love being in the field, took plenty of slips catches in the early overs and then would find myself sweeping the leg-side boundary when the tailenders eyes lit up at the sight of the team’s offspinner. My confidence in the field was only paled by my enthusiasm.

      However, every now and then, I’d spill one. There are three occasions I can vividly remember where I dropped a relatively straight forward catch and the rest of my cricket match was a complete shambles. I was absolutely useless.

      Training would come round next week and I would be horrible. I couldn’t get willow on leather, would not be able to land a ball on the pitch, until I went out to the middle and someone cracked a dozen balls at me to catch.

      I’d have to work bloody hard to gain that confidence in my fielding ability back to bring my mind back into the game.

      The yips is truly the most horrendous thing.

    • JamesH says:

      11:59am | 09/02/12

      Qantas is circling the wagons in a fierce bid to protect their interests and keep the number of foreign airlines allowed to fly here down while claiming they are in dire financial straits to justify spending cuts.  Telstra was similarly dodgy under the Mexican and Qantas will only improve once that Mick is sent packing.  As for Channel 9?  Same deal.  Try to hog every major event (even when the schedules clash and this causes issues), obsessive focus on sport over other content and trash the competiton at every opportunity.  They need a serious reality check, and the TV rights negotiations with the NRL may do this to them

      Reply

    • Dan says:

      12:00pm | 09/02/12

      They replaced Rob Carlton in Paper Giants?? I’m outraged! Who the hell for? And why?

      On another Channel 9 note, does anyone still listen to the TV commentary anymore? Or are we all just putting up with the 1-sec delay on the ABC commentary?

      Reply

    • Macca says:

      12:20pm | 09/02/12

      @Dan, the delay with digital radio is a bit more than 1 second. It’s a bit frustrating. I prefer to do the gardening or something else and listen to it. I’ll have the TV on in case something big happens (wicket, six etc.), but generally its all about Maxwell and O’Keefe

    • LostinPerth says:

      12:45pm | 09/02/12

      ABC for me. I can live with the delay.  Tubs is more annoying then Bill and Tony, which is quite an achievement, though not in a good sense.

    • Kika says:

      12:08pm | 09/02/12

      Once upon a time, back in primary school and high school I played netball. I loved it.  Was always selected to play for the precious ‘A’ team but refused to because my friends were all in the B’s and they had more fun. The A’s were too stuck up and rigid.  I was always defence. Loved defence. Wasn’t much good in attack or shooting. My niche was WD and GD and loved it.

      Then something happened. Something almost magical. Almost within a few months I couldn’t miss a shot. Everyone. People were mystified. It ran for a whole season. I couldn’t understand it either. I was GS and was damn good at it. My school were up there in the leading sports in our league and damned if I know what happened.

      Next year. Couldn’t get one in. Not one. My mojo was lost and lost forever. I have no idea what happened. I was really disappointed because I told them all I could shoot, and shoot well and there I am missing every one I tried.
      Back to GK for me… And that was it for my netball and GS careers! hahaha.

      Reply

    • Shing-a-ling says:

      12:17pm | 09/02/12

      Abbott has the stutters. Is that like the yips?
      His theme song should be Nobody But Me
      by The Human Beinz

      here is a verse for you to ponder.

      No no no no no no no no no
      No no no no no no no no
      No no no no no no no no
      No no no no no

      Nobody can do
      the skate
      Like I do

      Reply

    • Rick of the Dustbowl says:

      01:15pm | 09/02/12

      Made my day

    • Macca says:

      12:25pm | 09/02/12

      I had a slight case of the yips with my putting a few years ago, well over the past few years. However, I bought a new bit of kit and my game has improved substaintially in the past 3 months.

      I think that’s what Adam Scott has gone through; change the equipment and you’ll see a change in mindset as well as performance.

      Unfortunately that is useless if you are Steve Hooker.

      Reply

    • Bill says:

      12:33pm | 09/02/12

      The worst thing about channel 9 is its disgraceful Sydney-centric attitude. It’s almost as if they think that Australia doesn’t exist outside of NSW. That’s why I refuse to watch the station, except for the cricket.

      Reply

    • TChong says:

      02:20pm | 09/02/12

      Another voice from the provinces !
      Channel 9s Sid- a - nee and NS focus is entirely appropriate.
      Not only is Sydney NS capital, it is also Oz’s capital city , and therefore the southern hemispheres most important city and state, far ahead of Melbourne and Brissy.
      Cant deny them facts.

    • Steven says:

      02:42pm | 09/02/12

      Can someone get the big billy goat, i can see a troll under the bridge. Nice try Tchong

    • harley says:

      12:38pm | 09/02/12

      I know, it’s not like he can change his pole or runners.

      Reply

    • Rose says:

      12:46pm | 09/02/12

      At least Hooker is brave enough to admit to having the yips and isn’t trying to blame someone or something else. Good on him for that, but I really hope he can get over it and get back to his best. He has always come across as a great sportsman and a top bloke.

      Reply

    • S.L says:

      12:50pm | 09/02/12

      Why are the Socceroos a crap team? Because they failed to win a World Cup tournement in which every country in the World competes (unlike every other football code)?  Or the Asian Cup was a failure too because they only made the final? I think you kicked an own goal there Ant….........

      Reply

    • Daniel says:

      08:27pm | 09/02/12

      Who is talking about Soccer S.L.?

    • Aitch B says:

      12:51pm | 09/02/12

      You can suffer from ‘short term’ yips as a musician. Some days you just can’t nail that riff, lead break or difficult chord.

      I usually play every morning and I can tell within 10 seconds whether I should continue or just put the guitar back in the case and have another cup of coffee.

      Oddly, I’ve never had the yips when gigging. Must be an adrenaline thing…......

      Reply

    • Jasmine says:

      01:01pm | 09/02/12

      Some sporting yips are terminal, eh, Ian Baker-Finch?

      Reply

    • sunny says:

      02:53pm | 09/02/12

      Terminal to his playing career. These days he’s quite a good commentator with plenty of insight including the psychological side of the game (or maybe psychiatric might be a better term).

    • Marrickvillain says:

      01:05pm | 09/02/12

      Tourism Australia.
      It can’t make an ad to get people to come here from overseas and hasn’t since Hoges threw a shrimp on the barbie.
      And it can’t stop Australians going overseas for cheaper holidays than we’ll ever get here.

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      02:30pm | 09/02/12

      Oh my yes, well said sir smile

    • The Old Salt says:

      01:15pm | 09/02/12

      Channel 9"s biggest problem it’s monotonous self-promotion. Almost every ad break also carries a Channel 9 promo. To me is smacks of self-doubt and a huge inferiority complex. If they just got on with the job, dropped all those programs featuring losers and/or fat people, then the channel might be taken seriously again. Mind you, I am drawing my conclusions from a very limited viewing of Nine . . . the cricket and the NRL. I don’t watch anything else on that channel. The names of their so-called top shows are enough to put me off (see comment re losers earlier in this post).

      Reply

    • The Old Salt says:

      01:17pm | 09/02/12

      Channel 9"s biggest problem is it’s monotonous self-promotion. Almost every ad break also carries a Channel 9 promo. To me is smacks of self-doubt and a huge inferiority complex. If they just got on with the job, dropped all those programs featuring losers and/or fat people, then the channel might be taken seriously again. Mind you, I am drawing my conclusions from a very limited viewing of Nine . . . the cricket and the NRL. I don’t watch anything else on that channel. The names of their so-called top shows are enough to put me off (see comment re losers earlier in this post).

      Reply

    • Fred says:

      03:35pm | 09/02/12

      I remember an ad where they tried to make out Peter Overton to be a serious journalist. Hilarious.

      However I don’t think the other TV channels are any better. They’ve all got an agenda or are just fluff like channel 10.

    • ZSRenn says:

      02:26pm | 09/02/12

      They Tell me Bert is looking for work. Maybe channel nine or Julia could give him a call.

      Reply

    • Bitten says:

      02:31pm | 09/02/12

      Gerry Harvey is absolutely classic. Thanks Punch smile

      Reply

    • RJB says:

      03:37pm | 09/02/12

      In a documentary on British racing driver James Hunt, who won the World Formula 1 Championship in 1976, he remarked that his premature retirement was driven by fear and he could no long compete. Similarly, Australian speedway rider Todd Wiltshire (3rd in 1990 world championship) retired relatively young for the same reason but made a successful comeback 5 years later after conquering his fears.

      Reply

    • Marc says:

      03:44pm | 09/02/12

      Channel 9’s programming for your average weekday night:
      A current affair
      Recycled big bang theory
      A show about cops breathalyzing drunks
      Recycled cop drama
      Recycled 2 and a half men
      Recycled movies that everyone has seen a million times.

      Nothing of real interest to a mid 20’s bloke like myself. Commercial Television will die when all the boomers shuffle off this mortal coil and stop watching it, as everyone will have already been using torrents for their entertainment by then.

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      09:30pm | 09/02/12

      Yips is an internal languish, and it really is a result of a victim not having the talent to resolve their own dilemmas.
      They get advisers, minders and horoscopes to develop a compensation, ( or perhaps that should be a reconciliation) for the accroutements of energy versus brain-power, (then of course, pollies always want to look good, which just destroys the academic tradition of sandals, hessian and flowers) but us, the un-yips, who know that Jules, Tony and the other blokes, (and why no female Independents ?) are not that smart, but then, here’s my question :
      Why no election ?

      We demand one now Prime Minister, if only because, if you value this country as much as your critics do - and you do, don’t you ? - then one must be called.

      Kevin Rudd cannot be called to take the fold.

      He would be a disaster.

      Reply

    • E. Barton says:

      09:19am | 10/02/12

      @stephen

      Don’t you remember the election we had in 2010, or the one in 2007, or 2004, or 2001, etc? We’ve been having them since1901.

      Don’t you know anything about our democracy?

    • stephen says:

      03:11pm | 10/02/12

      Julia wasn’t elected Eddy, and though she is doing her best, I suspect that the deal to get her in The Lodge was that so many minders would be backstage playing with strings until 2013, when Bill Shorten will be launched with all guns blazing, and with a new suit.

      Sorry, but this country is now using Democracy as an excuse, not a reason.

      By the way Ed, you dropped your brown paper bag.

    • E. Barton says:

      02:36pm | 11/02/12

      @stephen

      I thought it was a rhetorical question but you really don’t know anything about democracy. I shouldn’t have given you the benefit of the doubt.

    • Rong says:

      11:42pm | 09/02/12

      Apparently Paul McCartney had some difficulty after remarrying too.

      Reply

    • Ross Whitby says:

      10:38am | 10/02/12

      It’s ABC or SBS from now on for me I do not waist my relaxation time watching some loud mouth screaming at me every few minutes.Note to advertisers remember self praise is no recommendation.

      Reply
 
Sorry, comments are now closed for this article.

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Malcolm Farr

farrm51 25 May 13 09:41PM

RT @CrawfordFund: @farrm51 u may like 2 help spread word of our #foodsecurity journo award http://t.co/FwbMWwJmLf

Daniel Piotrowski

drpiotrowski 25 May 13 12:59PM

RT @adamroy37: Just received a phone call from a young girl apologizing for her actions. Lets support her please #racismitstopswithme#Indi…

tory_maguire

_Tors 25 May 13 12:42PM

RT @adamroy37: Just received a phone call from a young girl apologizing for her actions. Lets support her please #racismitstopswithme#Indi…

Daniel Piotrowski

drpiotrowski 25 May 13 12:03PM

Australia. Where you die for your country and get a rest area named after you http://t.co/hO6LpfwDvI

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

The Punch is moving house

by The Punch Team

385

The Punch is moving house

Good morning Punchers. After four years of excellent fun and great conversation, this is the final post…

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

by Hannah Harborow

122

Will Pope Francis have the vision to tackle this?

I have had some close calls, one that involved what looked to me like an AK47 pointed my way, followed…

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

by Sarrah Le Marquand

251

Advocating risk management is not “victim blaming”

In a world in which there are still people who subscribe to the vile notion that certain victims of sexual…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: Hasbro, go straight to gaol, do not pass go

Tim says:

They should update other things in the game too. Instead of a get out of jail free card, they should have a Dodgy Lawyer card that not only gets you out of jail straight away but also gives you a fat payout in compensation for daring to arrest you in the first place. Instead of getting a hotel when you… [read more]

From: A guide to summer festivals especially if you wouldn’t go

Kel says:

If you want a festival for older people or for families alike, get amongst the respectable punters at Bluesfest. A truly amazing festival experience to be had of ALL AGES. And all the young "festivalgoers" usually write themselves off on the first night, only to never hear from them again the rest of… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

Superman needs saving

Superman needs saving

Can somebody please save Superman? He seems to be going through a bit of a crisis. Eighteen months ago,… Read more

28 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free News.com.au newsletter