The Most Mysterious Mental Disorder In Sports 

Enjoy your 9k a yr slandering baseballers more talented then you could ever be Chaim

Let's talk about mental illness, brought to you by compulsive gambling.

Yeah dont be a shill for sports books please.

are you kidding me??? you make a whole video about mental health in baseball and put a gambling sponsorship in it???

You're part of the problem.

Boooooooooooo

Lolol it’s pretty funny though 😅

I’d say it’s more scummy then ironic

I’m so tired of these gambling site ads; gambling is terrible and ruins lives all the time. It’s one of the easiest addictions to have and ruins the lives of the majority of people it hits. It’s almost like crack

Thank you for using the word irony correctly

Hey, I went through the exact same thing for two years in college and never recovered so I had to stop playing. What strategies helped you overcome it?

Mate if you cand help that'd be great

I have almost quit high school baseball due to this, please share your strategies.

​@@cartertaylor9012 My brother, it's going to be okay and you have the skills to do it. The hardest part is going to be learning that the yips are not YOU. You have already learned how to do it successfully, it's just a matter of tuning back in to what you already know how to do. You're giving the poor skills too much weight and neglecting your training.

@@cartertaylor9012 Taking a break to help “reset” your mechanics can be quite helpful for some. During that time, you need to refrain from doing the action. By continuing to do the action poorly, you’re only making it harder to pull out of the yips. Taking the break allows both your mental and physical to relax and reset. When going back into the movement, ramp up slow and go from there. Bard’s story that was discussed in the video is actually a great representation of this, although he didn’t do it on purpose.

It still shows. $3+ mil salary for an ERA of over 12. I hope he gets out of it because he has some good stuff.

@@cdeanda21 Yeah I know he’s a bust recently. But I think it’s not a bad gamble for the A’s. Because he has potential close to Ohtani both physical & pitches and the problem is his mental & stableness but those have chance to get fixed suddenly. Especially moving to US is a huge environment change. Maybe, sending him down once to minors would work. Giving him some shock might wake him up. If he recovers, it’ll be a jackpot for A’s.

Yips isn't why this guy isn't ohtani. He was never going to be ohtani because the guy is the biggest phenom literally since babe Ruth.

@@JohnSmith-im8qt Well, sorry , I agree most of that but my English level was too poor so it might sounded like that . Let me try one more time. I’m a long Hanshin Tigers fan since childhood and Fujinami was Hanshin Tiger since debut. Of course He’s not 2way. Their debut year was almost same (different league) and and they were both top prospects, also both looked as future ace of the Team. Hope of the team. And First few years they both grew well at same pace. As a pitcher, people’s opinion about witch is better was 50/50. To be fair, performance was real close…. Until he Yips came. You know their physical is really gifted & rare from a Japanese standards Their velocity was almost same too. Also they both started pro career right after high school . One more thing. Ohtani,s ridiculous level of 2way bloomed in US. He only played in Japan for 5-6 years and he was mostly looked as pitcher

@@JohnSmith-im8qt Japan praised Fuji’s pitching as on par with shohei in regards to velocity and pure stuff. that’s what they meant. Fuji unfortunately isn’t meant to be a starter and I doubt the A’s pitching coaches know what they’re doing. (The team has an ERA above seven.)

Honestly shocked - well documented and written about very well, not only the struggle but the journey back to world champion.

Was thinking the same thing, glad someone beat me to it

This is interesting because it calls attention to one thing: you don't know WHY you were good. To become a better athlete, you can't take the subconscious things for granted. You HAVE to know WHY if you're going to improve. It's not a sign of incompetence; as a matter of fact, it means your skill has caught up with your natural-born abilities and now it's time to sharpen the knife.

I'll try to explain it. You don't really think when throwing a ball. You know where you want it to go. You have repeated the motion thousands of times. Eventually, you just look where you want it to go and throw it. Your muscle memory tells you how hard to throw and in what direction. Now, suddenly change the strength in one of the major arm muscles. The throw misses it's mark and you don't know why. In fact, you hardly notice. We all brain fart a throw now and then, even playing catch. You chalk it up to that. Then another muscle loses strength and you miss again, still just a brain fart. Then at some point you start to question mechanics. This is what really screws you up. You cannot think your way through throwing a baseball. Eventually, you lose your confidence to make even the easy tosses. So, it is a physical problem that ends up messing with your brain. If your arm just got weaker and stayed that way, you could adjust, probably unconsciously. But if the muscles act different all the time, your brain cannot keep up and it loses confidence for muscle memory to work and tries to think the process out, which creates a disaster. This is why guys go to the outfield. They don't have to think about throwing. Just throw it hard. It is why a catcher can still throw BBs to second but can't throw back to the pitcher without problems.

Hahahaha

I deadass went through the same thing this last bowling season

You nailed it; if you don’t correctly diagnose what you’re doing right, you won’t have a checklist to fall back on when things go wrong. Only thing you can do to fix it without a checklist is to reboot.

Dude, same experience for me happened freshman year of high school. I was a decent catcher with good mechanics and blocking, but I would get such nerves from throwing the ball back to the pitcher or down the first baseline. Ended up getting cut going into JV but it was so demoralizing just trying to get through warmups when I would fret over every throw.

Same here. Happened in hs, I threw 2 balls over the umpire in the middle of the game and could never find it again. I tried a few things and could finally hit the plate throwing super slow so I just stopped pitching. My primary position was first base so I just went and stayed there. It even affected my batting.

I haven’t played baseball in a long time, but i used to be a pitcher and I was pretty good at it. Since around 2 or 3 years ago I haven’t been able to throw a ball straight. It either goes into the ground or 30 feet plus in the air. I can’t seem to let go of the ball at the right time.

I could have sworn his implosion happened against the Mets

The Ankiel situation has become the quintessential example of the yips

Surprised that Steve Sax isn't mentioned. I thought they named the condition after him.

I remembered that game too, I still can't believe a mental issue could be torn down a pro career.

I'm a lifelong Braves fan so I was on the other side of that. We were flat out confused. Wondering if he was injured or something. It was wild to watch.

Never too late to take a shot at independent ball and work your way back brother, never give up on the dream!

What is your name??

Theres alot of players that go from good hitters to ones cant hit a lick anymore

Theres one of these oh yea i can relate stories at the top of the comments on every video and i know some of yall are lying and thats weird as hell😭

Couldn't throw strikes from 90 feet away but was pinpoint from 250. Sometimes, it's just a change in perspective.

Check my comments that small grade of TOS may be the underlying cause for yips.

This happened to me in most sports. I got a pretty decent injury mixed with covid and i quit everything for a year and a half and have never been the same. I have high mental anxiety especially for sports, comign back i was so scared i was gonna be washed and fallen off i actually couldn't do snything snymore. From far outside the box free kicks to struggling on lifting the ball for penalties, its ridicolous and thats only one exapmle Ive slowly been coming back since and with some more confidence im pretty decent again at all the sports i play

How'd you get through it

No one cares

For me, I took a break from swinging for a little bit, hit the gym some more, and then got back into it when I was home. The familiarity of my home cage I think helped me out.

@@mattsupachat5962 I do

@@mattsupachat5962 who hurt you?

One of our family friends had the same experiences with him! I never got to see him pitch, but they all said he was a nice guy and was really good. Go Drive!

I met mark wholers as a kid and I was the biggest Braves fan. Such a great player! Very nice guy

Played his kid in all stars a while back. That kid could sling it.

It really ain't that deep

As a sophomore and just had the yips in my freshman year of high school at the beginning of the season. We would throw inside and it started off well but the third practice I physically could not throw and I hit a dude three times next to me. I thought really nothing of it but as the next week of throwing in the gym I could not throw and I physically did everything to stop it and I tried not thinking lobbing it and throwing it as hard as I can, changing arm angle etc.. they would tell me just breath and relax but nothing worked. But all it took for me was to throw against a wall everyday before I pull throw. Idk why it worked but now a days I can throw perfectly fine.

I feel ya man. Same thing happened to me. I can throw lasers from the outfield but as a catcher I’d struggle throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Man it sucked and lead to some embarrassing moments and was a big reason I quit baseball all together

No one cares

Always enjoyed the 1st baseman’s reaction when 2nd rifles one into the dirt😂

I got the yips in middle school travel ball. I was a really good third baseman in terms of fielding but one day I just stopped being able to throw the ball across the field. I got moved to the outfield and hardly ever made any bad throws. As far as things go now, I’m almost 28 now so 15 years later I still can’t make throws to 1st from 3rd in freaking slow pitch softball. I guess I’ve still got them lol

Sounds like anxiety lol

@@mustbemeechyes, it’s a specific form of severe anxiety

@@wm_9640 yeah that shit is no joke

That's a confidence issue not the yips. The yips rarely start as a result of a lack of confidence & can be completely unrelated psychological issues ;o)

@@JustMeELC but I think when you get the yips, especially with throwing, you kinda get caught in between throwing hard and soft. An unnatural motion to you. As the guy said, his coach teaching him to let it fly stopped his in between motion(if that’s what he suffered from)

@@EweCantHandletheTruth The term is now being incorrectly used to describe any performance issue like this. The cause of the actual yips is a much deeper issue & isn't overcome with drills etc. That is simply a performance issue not the yips. For one mlb pitcher the underlying cause went all the way back to childhood trauma & presented itself as a throwing problem over a decade later. There are throwing problems that can be aided with drills & then there are the yips which is a symptom of the deeper issue simple drills can't fix ;o)

No one cares. Everything doesn’t have to be about you

I remember it well. He went from the Tigers closer to walking off the mound in Spring Training and never returning. I remembered his career when Dontrelle Willis came along and suffered pretty much the same affliction.

This is exactly the way I feel with basketball, and well, everything at the moment. I have some kind of mysterious muscle disorder I am having trouble getting diagnosed. But because of extremely tight joints/tendons, muscle weakness and deterioration, I have to “manually” control every muscle and limb movement with my conscious thoughts. It sucks. I can barely exercise anymore….exercise intolerance.

all accomplished with heart breaking\heart warming PEDs

Came here to say this. His was the most interesting, because he could still fire it down when a play was on, but couldn't deal with throwing it back to the pitcher. The strangest occurrence was when he would have the ball in his hand, pump it like he was about to throw, but then wouldn't release it. Had the effect of looking like he was waving at the pitcher.

@@tvtitlechampion3238 I'm pretty sure his yips came after a collision at the plate. I think he got rocked and was never the same afterward.

@@skiprockjr.6881 maybe some kind of PTSD, then. The human condition is curious thing.

Hell yeah and he’s such a factor for the Rockies 17 years later. Great point how pitchers especially ones like Bard need some time to develop and get comfortable in the bigs which takes YEARS

Totally understand this. Lost the ability to throw short distances during catching tryouts. Got stuck in the outfield and could throw fine. To this day I still have the yips playing casual catch but am fine throwing longer distance or on the move.

No one cares. Everything doesn’t have to be about you

😂😂😂😂😂😂 I really respect that you own it I’m not laughin at you I’m laughing with you. Most these comments are people making excuses imo, you’re not one of them.

and a proven PED user

Check my comments that small grade of TOS may be the underlying cause for yips.

I had this as a catcher growing up! I started off as a center fielder and did really well. Because of this i was eventually moved behind the plate. Kinda got a feel of the whole game and now as captain despite it being my first year at this position with this specific leadership role I was excited. Something about being able to throw a a ball on an absolute zip without thinking is straight instinct for us Baseball players. We could whip that mask off real quick and not even hesitate when it came to releasing it on a rope towards second. We could find ways to keep wild pitches from being not so wild with quick reflexes when that ball takes a bad bounce and pops up from the dirt. That wild pitch alone is another bad pitch closer from turning your pitchers confidence washed. Yet it’s instinct for us. If your pitcher is struggling it’s our job to go out their and tell him that he’s got this. It’s our job. We can block the plate and slap a tag down on someone without thought…not even flinching yet when things slow down and I need to get that ball back to my guy on the mound? One game I couldn’t reach him AT ALL. AT ALL. Who’s gonna come settle me down? What is their to settle? It’s not wild…I can’t reach the guy on the mound. What the fuck man. I was brutally short on a number of different occasions. It was bizarre. Catchers are important. I try n tell my little cousins how much fun I had and how much of an impact you can make. Great years but it really is the little things like this that get athletes all caught up. It’s almost like my subconscious took over and my arm would just go stiff. I somehow knew I might not reach him again yet I’m throwing it. My body just kinda took over. Yet any other day your coach is complimenting that rifle we got planned for teams this season during practice when someone is thinking about stealing 2nd come first pitch. Damn man. Very strange. I fuckin loved being a catcher though! That position is FIRE. Starting catcher for the all star game in my babe Ruth league and the short stop took a cut off throw from the left fielder. This kid was looking to score from 1st on someone else’s gapper of an eventual triple. The Short stop on my all star team was actually a kid I had fought in my first ever fist fight years prior lol. His boys said I won but the kid def earned my respect! Anyway, that same kid threw an absolute BULLET from cut off at short right into my glove at home and buddy coming from first to home didn’t even slide! He thought he was running on in no problem. That kid at short delivering that straight 🎯 despite our past history was a sick little moment tbh. I loved that shit. In the moment catchers are just ready! The Kid running in at full fucking speed almost took off my wrist/hand from his momentum but you already know i kept that ball in my mitt baby. It’s what we do! The ump thought it was sick to see up close. Def one of my favorite plays ever during my baseball years. Loved that position man.

And honestly... my coach made it worse. He made fun of me about it and it magnified the issue tenfold 😭 If you know anyone with the yips... support them. Don't try to bring them down. It's literally a pure psychological issue, it has nothing to do with the love or passion someone has for the game.

Check my comments that small grade of TOS may be the underlying cause for yips.

Check my comments that small grade of TOS may be the underlying cause for yips.

No one cares. Everything doesn’t have to be about you

the yips ruined my love for lacrosse my favorite sports growing up

@@jakeh_13 no one cares

Wow, how terrible! I cant imagine how cruel it is to have it rob you of an enjoyable past time. Does this plague you in other areas of life too? Hope life is generally better for you & thanks for sharing your story!

Check my comments that small grade of TOS may be the underlying cause for yips.

Guess I shoulda watched the vid before commenting 😢

Check my comments that small grade of TOS may be the underlying cause for yips.

Check my comments that small grade of TOS may be the underlying cause for yips.

I was looking for Mackey to be in the video too. I remember McCarver and Kiner getting all frustrated having to talk about it after every pitch, sometimes counting the taps. Those early 90's Mets teams were just cursed. Plain and simple. Up and down, they were cursed. From '85-'92 I would watch 100+ Mets games a year and I finally tapped out after they traded Cone and didn't start watching again until they got Piazza.

No one cares. Everything doesn’t have to be about you

Your story sounds so familiar… Especially about being OK during practice and in my case, I was new to my high school as a junior and excelled when I had to try out. I’m probably a lot older than you… This was in the 70s and I still think about it from time to time. I was an all-star second baseman in Little League but when we moved up to the bigger diamond, if I had to play shortstop or second base, I was petrified. You know” please don’t hit it to me.” A scout came to one of our games to check out one of our pitchers, I was playing shortstop. During infield practice before the game, I was picking up everything, I had a bullet arm. Then the game started. I made five errors in the first two innings, three of them throwing. I’ll never forget the way our pitcher glared at me from the mound. I got comfortable at third base as long as I could play in. They were bang bang plays and didn’t have enough time to think. Made a lot of diving stops and looked incredible. But When the coach moved me back or over toward shortstop, the anxiety came back. Also did not like to play in front of my parents or relatives. By the way, I never had the yipps at the plate only in the field. Anyway… I just came to believe I wasn’t good enough. Back in those days they use the word choke… Or he choked and you could get stuck with that label. Sometimes I wish I could go back and rethink all that. Here’s to hoping that some kid with the ability won’t let something like this stop them.