I am writing to ask you a question and I am not sure anyone can help me out but if not, I am hoping you can point me in the right direction. I am 26 years old and have played ball for about 19 years, the majority of that at fairly high competitive level. I currently play in a very competitive senior womens league. Teams in our league are packed with former and present national team players along with University and other high level ball players.
I have been a catcher for 10 years and in the last 2 seasons I have started to develop Chuck Knoblauch syndrome or the Yips or whatever you want to call it. The simplest throw back to the pitcher has turned into my worst nightmare on the field. I can throw anywhere else during the game with no problem, pick off a runner at 2, try for a play at 3, no problem. But throwing back to the pitcher every pitch is like the hardest thing in the world. It happened to me once for a few games years ago but I was able to shake it off and then at the end of the 06/07 season it came back and I haven't been able to shake it since. I didn't want to tell anyone it was happening or the extent to which it was happening because it seems ridiculous to me as I've thrown thousands, maybe even millions of balls to the pitcher over the years but at the moment it is the hardest thing to do. So last year I started avoiding catching as much as I could...
I know that it's a viscous cycle and a mind issue...I end up over thinking each throw more and more and lose form or technique more and more which each attempt but no matter what I do I can't seem to get it out of my head. For whatever reason I can't shake it and I need help figuring out how to shake it.
Sorry that this is such a long posting and I hope it makes sense. Eventhough it's off season here I still think about this problem all the time...and more consistently as we get closer to training and preseason practices. Any help, advice or recommendations would be REALLY appreciated.
Thanks for listening
I have been a catcher for 10 years and in the last 2 seasons I have started to develop Chuck Knoblauch syndrome or the Yips or whatever you want to call it. The simplest throw back to the pitcher has turned into my worst nightmare on the field. I can throw anywhere else during the game with no problem, pick off a runner at 2, try for a play at 3, no problem. But throwing back to the pitcher every pitch is like the hardest thing in the world. It happened to me once for a few games years ago but I was able to shake it off and then at the end of the 06/07 season it came back and I haven't been able to shake it since. I didn't want to tell anyone it was happening or the extent to which it was happening because it seems ridiculous to me as I've thrown thousands, maybe even millions of balls to the pitcher over the years but at the moment it is the hardest thing to do. So last year I started avoiding catching as much as I could...
I know that it's a viscous cycle and a mind issue...I end up over thinking each throw more and more and lose form or technique more and more which each attempt but no matter what I do I can't seem to get it out of my head. For whatever reason I can't shake it and I need help figuring out how to shake it.
Sorry that this is such a long posting and I hope it makes sense. Eventhough it's off season here I still think about this problem all the time...and more consistently as we get closer to training and preseason practices. Any help, advice or recommendations would be REALLY appreciated.
Thanks for listening