A study by Kazuya Inoue, an assistant professor at the Ritsumeikan University Graduate School of Human Sciences, and his colleagues found that baseball players who have experienced the yips, a condition in which they repeatedly make wild pitches due to psychological or neurological disorders, have a strong tendency to get caught up in their own thoughts.
According to Ritsumeikan University, Assistant Professor Inoue and his colleagues conducted a questionnaire survey of 292 people who had played baseball from middle school to working adults, and analyzed the responses.
-Strong tendency to get caught up in one's own thinking
・There is a strong tendency to feel glad that you did not make a mistake when the throw went well.
・I am often scolded by teammates, managers, and coaches for my mistakes.
- Three trends were found.
Assistant Professor Inoue distanced himself from his own thoughts and changed his attitude of trying to play without making mistakes, and believes that it has become clear to him how important it is for those around him, including the coach and the court, to be considerate of yips.
The yips came under the spotlight once again when Shintaro Fujinami, pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of the American Major League Baseball, made a series of wild pitches and hit-by-pitches during his time with the Hanshin Tigers, leading baseball officials to point out that he was suspected of having the yips.It is said that there are people of all ages who have experienced this, from youth baseball to middle school, high school, university, and working adults, and effective methods of psychological support are being sought.
Paper information:[Journal of Clinical Sport Psychology] Relationships Between Throwing Yips in Baseball, Experiential Avoidance, Cognitive Fusion, Values, and Social Factors
