13. 6. 2014.

Yips - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips 1/4
Yips
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yips or the yips is the apparent loss of fine motor skills without apparent explanation, in one of a number of
different sports. The technical term is focal dystonia. Athletes affected by the yips demonstrate a sudden,
unexplained loss of previous skills. Athletes affected by the yips sometimes recover their ability, sometimes
compensate by changing technique, or may be forced to abandon their sport at the highest level.
Contents
1 In golf
2 In cricket
3 In baseball
4 In other sports
5 In popular culture
6 See also
7 References
In golf
In golf, the yips is a movement disorder known to interfere with putting. The term yips is said to have been
popularized by Tommy Armoura golf champion and later golf teacherto explain the difficulties that led him
to abandon tournament play.
[1]
In describing the yips, golfers have used terms such as twitches, staggers,
jitters and jerks. The yips affects between one-quarter and one-half of all mature golfers.
[2]
Researchers at the
Mayo Clinic found that 33 percent to 48 percent of all serious golfers have experienced the yips. Golfers who
have played for more than 25 years appear to be most prone to the condition.
Although the exact cause of the yips has yet to be determined, one possibility is that the condition may result
from biochemical changes in the brain that accompany aging. Excessive use of the involved muscles and intense
demands of coordination and concentration may make the problem worse. Giving up golf for a month may help.
Focal dystonia is mentioned as another possibility for the real cause of yips.
[3]
Golfers seriously afflicted by the yips include Bernhard Langer, Ben Hogan, Harry Vardon, Sam Snead, and
Keegan Bradley, who missed a simple 6 inch putt in the final round of the 2013 HP Byron Nelson
Championship due to the condition (although he may also have been suffering from Strabismus).
Interventions looking to treat the 'yips' have been few and far between. Most golfers have attempted trick
strategies, either by changing their putter, their grip or even switching hands. However these strategies only
provide temporary relief. A recent case study by Rotheram and colleagues (2012) in the Sport Psychologist,
looked at a novel intervention to treat Type I 'yips' (i.e., the focal dystonia end of the continuum provided by
Smith et al., 2003). They used Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to help the golfer in question completely
overcome their symptoms. EFT was targeted at potentially significant life experiences which occurred prior to
the initial experience of the 'yips'. The authors postulated that the 'yips' in some cases may be caused by
significant life events.
13. 6. 2014. Yips - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips 2/4
In cricket
In cricket, the yips applies mostly to bowlers and seems predominantly to affect left-arm spinners. The affliction
seems to involve bowlers having trouble releasing the ball at the end of their action. A notable recent example of
this was Keith Medlycott, who was forced to abandon the sport, having reached the England squad. Another
player, Gavin Hamilton, having played a Test as an all-rounder, largely abandoned his right-arm medium pace
bowling, following the yips.
[4]
He did not make another Test appearance, but has enjoyed a One Day
International career for Scotland, predominantly as a specialist batsman. Collins Obuya was one of the stars of
Kenya's 2003 World Cup - he gained a contract with Warwickshire on the back of it - but soon after his game
fell apart when he developed the yips.
As reported in a 2011 interview in the Wellcome Trust's educational magazine Big Picture,
[5]
England cricket
team sports psychologist Dr Mark Bawden suffered from the yips himself as a teenager. He completed a PhD
on the topic and has published a paper on the yips in the Journal of Sports Science.
[6]
In baseball
In baseball, the yips usually manifests itself as a sudden inability to throw the baseball accurately. Pittsburgh
Pirates pitcher Steve Blass is the classic example: from 1964 to 1972, he was a dominant pitcher and All-Star,
however, beginning in 1973, he suddenly lost his command, walking almost a batter an inning; he retired in 1974
due to continued loss of his pitching ability. Steve Blass Disease has been attributed to talented players (such
as New York Yankees second baseman Chuck Knoblauch or Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Steve
Sax) who inexplicably seem to lose their ability to throw the ball accurately. Another, similar, case of the yips
occurred with St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Rick Ankiel. Ankiel had early success as a pitcher until he suddenly
lost his ability to throw strikes and began throwing an inordinate number of wild pitches. After several years in
the minor leagues attempting to regain his control, he abandoned pitching altogether and became a position
player. Ironically, much of his success as a position player has resulted from his strong, accurate throws from the
outfield.
In other sports
The yips also affects players in other sports. Examples from other sports includeRoy Hibbert, Chuck Hayes
free throw shot
[7]
in basketball and Guillermo Coria and Elena Dementieva struggling with serving in tennis.
[8]
In
darts, the yips are known as dartitis, with five-time world champion Eric Bristow as the best example. In the
NFL, a normally reliable placekicker who starts struggling is also said to have the yips. Stephen Hendry, seven
times snooker World Champion, revealed after his loss to Mark Williams in the UK Championship that he had
been suffering from the yips for 10 years, and that the condition had affected his ability to cue through the ball,
causing him great difficulty in regaining his old form.
[9]
In popular culture
The song "Yipps (My Baby Got The)" by English Indie Rock band Half Man Half Biscuit, on McIntyre,
Treadmore and Davitt, 1991, discusses the symptoms of the yips ("She goes out in 32 but comes home in 54")
and various golfing figures of the time. The Yips is the title of a 2012 book by English novelist Nicola Barker,
which deals with an aging golfer. The Yips is the tenth episode in the third season of the television series How I
Met Your Mother. In Nip/Tuck, Dr. Sean McNamara experiences the yips during the beginning of season 2.
The character Dave Rose in Happy Endings (TV series) suffers from the yips in the tenth episode of season
three called "KickBall 2: The Kickening".
13. 6. 2014. Yips - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips 3/4
Chad Harbach's 2011 novel The Art of Fielding also centers on a fictional college baseball shortstop who
loses the ability to successfully throw to first base.
In To The Beautiful You, a 2012 South Korean television drama series, a significant plot element hinges on
whether the male lead, Kang Tae-joon (Choi Minho), has the Yips.
See also
Dartitis
Target panic
References
1. ^ Barkow, A. and Barrett, D. (1997) Golf Legends of All Time. Publications International.
2. ^ Smith et al., 2000.
3. ^ Farias J. Intertwined. How to induce neuroplasticity. A new approach to rehabilitating dystonias. Galene
Editions 2012.
4. ^ "Gavin Hamilton | Scotland Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo" (http://content-
uk.cricinfo.com/scotland/content/current/player/14020.html). Content-uk.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
5. ^ "'We very rarely talk about winning' " (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/Education-resources/Teaching-and-
education/Big-Picture/All-issues/Exercise-energy-and-movement/WTDV033018.htm). Big Picture. Wellcome
Trust. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
6. ^ Bawden, M.; Maynard, I. (December 2001). "Towards an understanding of the personal experience of the
'yips' in cricketers" (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=bawden%20yips). Journal of Sports Science
19 (12). pp. 93753.
7. ^ bballvideos (2007-12-21). "Chuck Hayes Ugly Free Throws vs Denver 12/20"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wQq9YWZ568). YouTube. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
8. ^ "Tom Perotta - The Yips" (http://tennisworld.typepad.com/string_theory/2009/01/the-yips.html).
Tennisworld.typepad.com. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
9. ^ "BBC Sport - Snooker - Hendry reveals 10-year battle with the 'yips' "
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/9267691.stm). BBC News. 2010-12-08. Retrieved 2011-
11-29.
Rotheram, M.; Maynard, I.; Thomas, O.; Bawden, M.; Francis, L. (2012). "Preliminary Evidence for the
Treatment of Type I 'Yips': The Efficacy of the Emotional Freedom Techniques". The Sport
Psychologist. 26: 551-570.
Athletes' Focal dystonia rehabilitation (http://www.focaldystonia.net)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yips&oldid=608980190"
Categories: Golf terminology
This page was last modified on 17 May 2014 at 17:00.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered
13. 6. 2014. Yips - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips 4/4
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.