The MLB's Mysterious Mental Disorder

It's not just athletes, either. I've been drumming since I was 11 and have gotten the yips a few times during live performances. Wrists and muscles in my arms locked up and completely lost a sense of rhythm. Things I'd done a million times with zero difficulty became alien. It was awful. When I learned about the common attributes of people prone to experiencing them I was not surprised in the slightest.

I got the Yips during my High School tryout during my Sophomore year. I had failed to make the Junior Varsity team my freshman year, and I was so worried about getting cut again, that I would spike every throw directly into the ground. I still made the team due to my hitting, and was a Designated Hitter for most of the year. Ironically enough, I overcame the Yips during my Varsity tryout Junior year. My teammates were encouraging and supportive during that tryout, and it helped me regain my confidence. I made the team as a backup Bullpen Catcher.

Apparently I was born with the yips.

The harder you THINK about throwing the ball, the harder accuracy becomes. The harder accuracy becomes, the harder you THINK about throwing ... etc. etc. A VICIOUS spiral.

I got the yips when I was 13 and it stayed with me on and off through high school. At first, it was only when I was catching and had to throw the ball back to the pitcher. But my senior year it became every single throw. I had no idea where the ball was going when it came out of my hand. I was the starting catcher but a week before the playoffs I got benched and that was how my baseball career ended. It still haunts me to this day.

All I think of is poor Chris Davis. Went from 53, 33, 47, 38 HR seasons to practically barely any after

I’ve noticed a lot of the guys in baseball that started getting the “yips” were on New York based teams. I just went to a Yankees and Mets game in nyc for first time a month ago and I’ve been to 10 other MLB stadiums for games and let me tell you the atmosphere is a lot more harsh at these games. The fans literally live or die with every pitch. I watched people cuss at a pitcher who walked his first batter of the game in the 6th inning while up 5 runs and you would’ve thought he just walked in the winning run. I have no doubt that an atmosphere like that can mess with a players mind. Also some of the other players lost their abilities during very high leverage situations. It seems like they make that one mistake and the stress just takes over their entire being. It really is fascinating to see someone with such talent be reduced to not even being able to play catch anymore.

cant sit through a game, but i can binge this channel all day

I always thought the “yips” were just something someone said a player had when they suddenly stopped playing badly. Never knew it was a real psychological issue

I know this is AI generated because of the changes in name pronunciation and mistakes. The last reference to Sasser is as a pitcher. Before he was a catcher. AL should be labeled and maybe a human should check it. This is lowering the bar on Youtube. Now is the time to control this.

NFL kickers also get the yips as well. Would love to see a video on that

Steve Blass's hometown had a parade, in his honor, after he won the World Series.

Thank you for posting the video.

This year I have been more superstitious than ever, it’s been a bad year for me so I’ve been trying out everything, what I eat before a game, how I tie my shoes, how I put on my clothes, where and what I do during warmups, and what I do in the box

How did u miss Tyler Matzek. Got over the yips and pitchedone of the greatest innings in World Series history in 2021. He defeated the yips and earned the name Tyler Nutzak.

Yips cost me high school baseball. Was going into my Sophomore season of school and during tryouts, I couldn’t make a warmup throw for the life of me. The guy would be 10 feet away and I would throw it 5 feet to his left or right. When playing outfield, I was fine, making the line drive, cannon throws I was used to. I eventually worked through it with the help of my father, but tryouts were a month long process and I got it all figured out just 2 days before final tryouts. It was too little, too late.

I had the yips once my senior year in high school. I played centerfield from little league thru college but as the only lefty, got to pitch on occasion to throw the opposing team off. About midway thru the season, I came in to close out the game with bases loaded, no out, and holding a 5-4 lead. I struck out the side on 10 pitches to pick up the save. We played the following afternoon and coach was giving me the start on the mound, my first pitching start since I was 12. I don’t know if it was because I pitched the day before, or if it was nerves, or a combination of both, but I didn’t last 2 innings. I hit 3 batters and walked 4 while giving up no hits. It was like I forgot how to throw the ball, throwing it behind hitters, even hitting the chalk line several feet behind the batter. We still picked up the W easily but that was the last time I ever pitched in high school. I did pitch 2 games after the season in Legion Ball and never had the problem again but I do remember it like it was yesterday the frustration of seemingly forgetting how to throw and not really knowing how to explain to coaching staff what was wrong as if they would even understand anyway- they chalked it up as me just being “wild”, but no it was a mental block more than it was me not having any control on the mound

Its called choking. Not being able to withstand the mental pressure. These days every mistake is over analyzed and mocked.

YIPPPPPPPEEEEE FOR A YIPS VIDEO, MORE PLEASE I LOVE ALL 3 VIDEOS ❤

How don't you have any highlights of Sax's throws. Also, you only have one highlight of Knoblauch. No one is going to know what the yips really are without seeing what those two went through. It was brutal.