The YIPS!
Yips. Soo many yips. Let’s look up yips in the dictionary. Hey! It’s in there! Yips “a state of nervous tension affecting an athlete (such as a golfer) in the performance of a crucial action” -Merriam Webster.
I had them BAD. So bad. I still get his wave of uncomfortableness when I think about it. Bleh. As practice approached every afternoon, a knot in my stomach formed because it was almost time to play catch. I absolutely dreaded warming up.
Watching me play catch was cringeworthy. One could sense my unease from the apartments in left field. Some days were worse than others. It was embarrassing and killed me inside.
Before games, teams take pregame which consists of the coach hitting balls around the infield and outfield. Pregame is how you flex to the other team before a game. A pretty pregame shows off the discipline and skill of the team. It’s truly poetry in motion. So… Sorry team. I killed us! I don’t think I did one pregame clean in the infield.
The bang, bang plays weren’t the problem. It’s when I had time that I would struggle. A quick image would flash in my mind of a wild throw and what do you know.. another error or I’d send my throwing partner running.
I had no such problem as a Little League shortstop. There was never any thinking. Just playing ball and having fun with it.. I struggled a little when I played short in high-school, but this was mostly mechanical. The real problem showed in college as a distinct mental malfunction.
Yogi knows. It was particularly frustrating because everybody called me a freak athlete, so why the hell couldn’t I throw the freaking ball straight!!! Oh and not to mention, I started this weird thing where at least once or twice a day warming up, I’d throw the ball behind me.. Yikes.
So I tried everything. I tried different mechanics. I’d have long talks with older players and coaches. I’d stay after practice and make somebody play catch with me. I’d talk to my mother who passed on her athletic prowess to me, but even that didn’t solve anything. Nothing really helped.
My confidence in my game was at an all time low. This was compounded by the one time I got to play as a freshman at second base and a ball came right to me and of course.. E-4. I think it went under my glove actually, probably because I was already thinking of throwing the ball away.
The Solution
Ha! I never figured it out completely, but I did end up having a very successful back half of my college career.
There’s a couple very successful major leaguers who have found success, despite having the ole yips. Jon Lester is a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs is 4 Time All-Star with 3 World Series Rings. He can’t and won’t throw the ball to first base. However, he has found a way to limit the amount of people stealing bases off him.
“I’ve always said if you’re not good at something, then you try to improve in another area that will help,” — Jon Lester.
In my case, I was no help to my team as an infielder. When I got my shot to play outfield, the fear of throwing the ball away still lurked, but I also had a much larger margin of error for my throws. I felt much more comfortable out there which actually lessened my throwing anxiety and increased fun!
I learned to deal with it. This doesn’t mean I fixed the problem, but I accepted it. My teammates respected me and knew that I was putting in my best effort to improve. They were also always on their toes when I had the ball in my hand, ready for anything.
Khris Davis, power hitting left fielder for the Oakland A’s, recently published an article about his yips or as he calls it, “The Creature”. It’s incredible that he addressed this publicly and I’m sure it’s helped athletes around the world.
Beyond Ball
The yips manifest themselves everywhere in alternate forms for different situations. They come in the form of a hesitation, a self-fulfilling prophecy, or just negative chatter inside the brain. They are hard to rid I’ll tell ya. What a pest! The sooner one recognizes those yips, puts them in a box in the brain, and sees right through them, the better off they’ll be.
Furthermore, how often do we find ourselves doing something that we are not naturally adept to? Developing our weaknesses is something that all people need to do. Growth occurs as we face our demons and learn. However, we shouldn’t torture ourselves all the time by focusing solely on our low points instead of hammering down our strengths. Our strengths and natural abilities is what distinguishes us apart from others. Besides, a well-constructed organization consists of talented individuals who utilize their complimenting expertise towards their common goal.
Daily Stoke Report
Day 12 of Pablo and 5 of writing.
Yesterday- average stoke. I was stuck watching the surf contest in Hawaii all day. I geek out for Pipeline. I miss watching that with the boys though. We used to watch in class, it was horrible but bonding.
I played some pong yesterday. Boy how I love a good ping pong game. Sometimes I think a ping pong game can be won on mindset alone. Anyways, it’s great, I get so much flow. I wish all bars had a ping pong table. That’s how I like to dance.
I think I’m moving today? Like right now? Idk. Ya, I think I’m gonna go to a hostel for a week. I seriously love living with people. I better go pack. BYE
The yips and the yaps and they yipperdydaps. I had them BAD. So bad. Every day I’d walk up to practice, especially as a freshman and a sophomore when I was trying to play infield and dread warming up! It was horrible. I still get a
