A little twitch, and ridiculously easy putts start rolling past the cup. A study in the December 30 issue of Sports Medicine hints that these course hazards may lie in the nervous system and points to ways around them. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that of 1,000 avid golfers, as many as half reported the spasms. Sensors attached to golfers' wrists showed that yips victims had much more muscle tension. Using different muscles by changing your grip or your stance, or getting a putter with a longer or thicker handle.
Yips are a mind problem, too.
It's a happy new year indeed for folks in the market for a new computer. Reeling from lackluster holiday sales, many PC makers are offering a smorgasbord of savings. Excess inventory built up in December, usually a gangbuster month for computer makers. Sales dropped 24 percent from December 1999, according to research firm PC Data. But the price cutting will end once this inventory is replaced with newer, more expensive models.