When your body won’t behave: 4 ways to beat the ‘yips’ When your body won’t behave: 4 ways to beat the ‘yips’
Centr Team
11 Aug 2021
In golf they call it the yips. In clutch situations – say match point or a penalty kick – it may be labeled choking. At the Tokyo Olympics, we discovered that gymnasts know it as the twisties.
If you stepped onto the workout mat today only to discover that the skills and coordination you had yesterday have suddenly disappeared – you can’t get the hang of a boxing combo, lose rhythm in functional moves, or can’t seem to get your stance right for a deadlift – you’re not the first to suffer a loss of confidence, and you certainly won’t be the last.
US gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of several Olympic events after a shaky vault attempt. She later explained that she had experienced the twisties, a mental block in which athletes lose spatial awareness and control over their motor skills.
While we may not all be under the same kinds of pressure as the world’s top athletes, our physical efforts aren’t immune to these mental blocks and loss of confidence. Even as a total fitness newbie, you may feel ready to give up before you really begin if your body fails to act in ways you might expect, or stringing it all together feels too hard.
Rather than giving up or pushing through and risking injury when you’re just not on your game, try these tips to get yourself back on track.
1. Step away and take a break
As athletes including Biles, tennis champ Naomi Osaka and English cricketer Ben Stokes have shown us, it’s okay to step away, even from something you love, to prioritize your mental health and safety. There’s a growing understanding that it takes strength to do so. Take two days, a week or as long as you need to reset and regain your confidence.
If you’re worried about losing all your progress in that time, aim to stay active in other ways. Try a different training style, go for a swim or a hike, or even just a walk ‘n’ talk in the park with a friend.
Build strong foundations with our functional movement master in Centr Masterclass: Da Rulk.
2. Go back to basics
It appears that overthinking can trigger the yips, so don’t be afraid to strip your training back to basics. As Da Rulk always says, you have to learn to crawl before you can walk – try his Centr Masterclass to gain confidence in foundational movements.
You could also dial your intensity level back or drop the equipment from your training. Running through movements without equipment will mean less chance of injury until you find your rhythm and regain confidence.
3. Clear your mind of clutter
You’re not going to perform at your best in a workout if you’re distracted, anxious or your mind-body connection has been severed.
Meditation can help quiet the thoughts running through your head and ground you in the present. With our performance meditations, you also have a tool designed to help you focus and get into a performance mindset.
4. Try something new or different
Instead of continuing to do the same old things and expecting to see a different result, try doing something entirely new. Hey, it worked for Michael Jordan – he left the Chicago Bulls to try his hand at professional baseball in the early ’90s. While the change wasn’t exactly a home run (sorry), history shows he returned to the Bulls to win 3 NBA titles.
Sportswriter Mark Vancil described that baseball break as “like a spiritual retreat” for Jordan, and a chance to “go back to a place where he was a 19-year-old kid again”. Nothing will give you that childlike kick like breaking out of your routine.
It may be as simple as swapping HIIT for MMA, trying yoga for the first time, or dropping a few lifting days from your muscle-building routine to incorporate some Pilates. Changing it up doesn’t just take the pressure off, but may help you realize what you appreciate about your regular training. You might even find that you’re better served by a different style.
Yes, you can come back from the yips
Do what you need to do to reset, and stay positive. What lies on the other side may be even more rewarding, as the ending to Biles’ Olympic story illustrates. After stepping away for several days, she returned to compete on the balance beam and won a bronze medal: “I’ll treasure this one a lot more after everything I have been through.”
