Overcoming the Yips
How do you overcome the Yips? “It began the moment I let go of the last pitch I ever truly trusted, the one that went to the backstop and changed my life, and in the few seconds that followed.” --Rick Ankiel, Major League baseball player 1999-2000, 2007-2013. Are you an accomplished athlete suddenly unable to keep the ball in play, find the bottom of the cup from 3 feet, hit the mitt, or kick the ball between the goal posts? Are you suddenly unable to get your body to perform a movement or a sequence it has repeated effortlessly in the past? Are you overwhelmed with difficult thoughts and feelings? Are you this person? If so, consider this… Nothing is closer to the experience of the yips than stuttering. Nothing. I know because I’ve been greatly affected by both and had to learn over the years how to navigate through the landmine of absurd thoughts and emotions that go with each. The yips, like stuttering, are a case of an “automatic ability” gone awry. What’s the ...