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 best way to deal with the yips? What’s the best way to re-establish your footing in the middle of landmines?It depends on the person, but one thing I emphasize with my students is to remember why it’s called “the yips” and not “you’re awful” at this or that sport. In your pre-performance and post-performance process so to speak, there is power in remembering what my friend Dr. Rob Bell has highlighted in his research on this phenomenon-- it’s only the experienced and accomplished performers that are rightly labeled as having the yips. If there’s no accomplished performance in the past…then there’s no such thing as the yips. 

There’s lots to consider when tackling this monster…but going back to what did and didn’t go into your previous performances  is definitely a powerful place to begin.

Sources:
Rob Bell and Charles Thompson, Solution-Focused Guided Imagery for a Golfer Experiencing the Yips: A Case Study, accessible at http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol9Iss1/GolfImagery.htm

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