1. Introduction:
Ben Hogan was possibly one of the best players that the game of golf has ever seen. He faced many obstacles throughout his career including world war two and a horrible motor vehicle accident, but even this could not stop him from returning to the amazing, mentally tough game of golf. However, his downfall came when he experienced the “yips” while putting. The yips is a type of dystonia. According to Joseph Jankovic (2009: v) dystonia is a neurologic disorder characterized by involuntary, sustained, patterned, and often repetitive muscle contractions of opposing muscles that cause twisting movements, abnormal postures, or both. This essay is going to describe who Ben Hogan was and what lead to his downfall. The neuroanatomical and physiological functions of the three motor neural pathways (pyramidal system, extra-pyramidal system, cerebellar system) will be discussed as well as their role in movement control. Certain practical implications of learning new and re-learning neural pathways will also be identified within the text. The yips, focal dystonia and the neurological cause of it will be explained. Finally there will be a discussion on how focal
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Axons descend form the pyramidal cells to the spinal cord and it conveys nerve impulses from the motor cortex to innervate skeletal muscles on the opposite side of the body (Tortora, et al, 2011). For this reason the function of the pyramidal system is to transmit information to control movement associated with the performance of the fine motor skills (Magill, 2014). Klawans (1996, p.88) stated that “it tells the spinal cord neurons when to perform a specific movement and precisely what to do in order to carry out that task: take a step, lift the leg, and bend both the hip and the