The Tapping Evidence Base
Athletic Performance · Trauma (other)

Preliminary evidence for the treatment of type I 'yips': The efficacy of the Emotional Freedom Techniques

Rotheram, M., Maynard, I., Thomas, O., Bawden, M., Francis, L. · The Sport Psychologist · 2012

Case series👥 1 participantsPreliminary✓ Source-checked📍 United Kingdom
In plain English. One elite golfer struggling with the 'yips' — involuntary movements that wreck a golfer's stroke — went through four two-hour tapping sessions focused on a significant past event linked to when the yips started, and improved across every measure researchers tracked, including actual putting success on the course. Because this is a single-case study, it's a proof-of-concept suggesting tapping can help this specific performance condition, not evidence it will work the same way for others.

What they found

1
people took part

A single elite golfer with Type I 'yips' underwent four 2-hour EFT sessions targeting a significant life event linked to the condition, and showed improvements across all dependent measures — visual yips symptoms, putting success rate, and motion analysis — that transferred to competitive play.

How the study worked

Who took partelite golfer with Type I 'yips' (n=1)
What they didThis is a detailed report following a small number of individual cases through tapping.
Measured withvisual inspection of yips symptoms, putting success rate, motion analysis data

The full record

DesignCase series
Participants1 people
Populationelite golfer with Type I 'yips'
Outcome measuresvisual inspection of yips symptoms, putting success rate, motion analysis data
JournalThe Sport Psychologist
Year2012
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
MethodEFT / tapping
Publication typeCase report
Verification✓ Confirmed against the primary source

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Cite this study

APA

Rotheram, M., Maynard, I., Thomas, O., Bawden, M., & Francis, L. (2012). Preliminary evidence for the treatment of type I 'yips': The efficacy of the Emotional Freedom Techniques. The Sport Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.26.4.551

This record is part of the Tapping Evidence Base — an openly-sourced, fully-referenced directory of the research on EFT/tapping. Explore more studies on Athletic Performance · Trauma (other)

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THE TAPPING EVIDENCE BASE Athletic Performance 1 participants WHAT THEY FOUND A single elite golfer with Type I 'yips'underwent four 2-hour EFT sessions targetinga significant life event linked… Case series · 1 participants Rotheram · 2012 · evidence.thetappingsolution.com