Charles Barkley’s golf swing is the stuff of legend, and not in a good way. For over two decades, fans and fellow athletes have watched in amazement (and often amusement) as one of basketball’s greatest power forwards battled what’s known in golf circles as ‘the yips.’
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His swing was infamous, a jerky, stuttering motion that looked more like someone trying to fight off a bee than drive a golf ball. Despite all that, Barkley’s love for the sport never faded.
He’s been obsessed with golf for decades, often playing with Michael Jordan back when the two were closer, and regularly showing up at celebrity tournaments like the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe and the Regions Tradition Pro-Am in Alabama. But even with all that passion, Barkley couldn’t get his swing right.
During a recent appearance on 101 ESPN, Chuck revealed that he even turned to hypnosis in hopes of getting better at golf. “You know how they hypnotize people, I actually went to a hypnosis. I woke up with the same sh*tty golf swing,” Chuck said. He went in hoping for a miracle but came out with the same broken swing, though he joked that at least he got a good nap out of it.
For most, that would’ve been the end of the road. Even Barkley came very close to calling it quits, but he didn’t. He said, “I had the yips for probably over 20 years, and I pretty much had given up.” But Barkley kept grinding and trying out new ways to get rid of his awkward swing.
Then, three years ago, things started to shift. While attending Thomas Latham’s tournament, he met a man named Stan Utley, who is a professional golfer. Utley promised to help him fix his swing. Barkley decided to give him a chance, and for the first time in decades, something actually clicked.
Chuck said that Utley asked him to give him a chance, and he’d help him fix his swing. Initially, Chuck had his doubts, but after repeated requests from Utley, he decided to try his method. “It took me a while to get it. And now I’m probably back down to an eight handicap, and I’m going to play great every time I’m out there,” Chuck added.
Barkley has never shied away from admitting that he’s not the best on the greens, going as far as calling himself a “golfing degenerate.” However, at the end of the day, it’s the effort that counts, and Chuck has put a lot of effort into his game.
During a conversation with Golf Digest, he said, “I have put the effort in, I put the work in, and I’m hoping I just can handle it under the pressure. Let me just say this: I’m not bragging about it, but nobody has worked harder than me to be better at golf.”
Chuck claimed that he practiced five hours a day for six months. And thanks to the contributions of people like Utley, Chuck no longer has the worst golf swing in the world.
