Teaching pro feed “ yips”

[teachingprotx]

weirdest thing happened the other day . My first clinic of the morning on my normal court with the same group I’ve been teaching for years . As I fed the fist ball of class all of the sudden it was like I totally forgot how to feed a ball ? Then my hand started to shake for some odd reason , then the feeds got worse. Then I explained to my clients that I hurt my hand ( a lie ) to cover up my awful attempt to feed a normal ball series 3 forehands going acrosa the baseline . I’ve been teaching for 20 years there about and it’s never happened to me. After about 2 long excruciating minutes of embarrassing myself it corrected itself .. no problems since . But now fast forward to this morning the yips started to creep out a bit . I got it back after a few feeds . But still . What in the world could this be , hopefully it’s just a phase .. I spoke to some of my fellow teachings pros and they said its happened to them quite a lot . But for me never .. even if my game is OFF. I’ve always been able to feed great , no questions asked . But now .... anyone else has or have at this awful yips thing happen when first starting your first clinic of the day ??

 

[Knox]

I hunch that the yips are caused by trying to consciously fire a motor engram that is already sufficiently myelinated to the point of unconscious competence.

 

[Dou]

could be just some tension/stress that's unrelated to tennis... but the fix is easy... if you feed continental, just start with the lightest grip possible, then gradually increase the squeeze to make the feed go a bit longer.

relaxation usually fixes this type of thing.

 

[teachingprotx]

could be just some tension/stress that's unrelated to tennis... but the fix is easy... if you feed continental, just start with the lightest grip possible, then gradually increase the squeeze to make the feed go a bit longer.

relaxation usually fixes this type of thing.

Yep that’s the easy part! Squeeze for more gas . But getting it to the perfect spot is the hard. It’s funny I can usually feed a ball and hit a lying ball that’s already on the court . It may take me a few times but can usually hit it within 10 feeds . But when the yips are present . That feed could Spray or die 20 feet of the target . Ughh it’s so embarrassing man. The key is to relax . I know . But that’s not always easy to do when you feel the yips coming on ..

 

[travlerajm]

Could be an underlying cause. I would get a medical checkup to make sure there is no blood chemistry imbalance or neurological condition starting to creep up

 

[Dou]

Yep that’s the easy part! Squeeze for more gas . But getting it to the perfect spot is the hard. It’s funny I can usually feed a ball and hit a lying ball that’s already on the court . It may take me a few times but can usually hit it within 10 feeds . But when the yips are present . That feed could Spray or die 20 feet of the target . Ughh it’s so embarrassing man. The key is to relax . I know . But that’s not always easy to do when you feel the yips coming on ..

keep some alcohol in your bag, that should relax ya

and your student will find you more likable too lol.

 

[coupergear]

How old are you? Could be larger issues, worth a visit to a doc.

 

[teachingprotx]

It’s all mental . I know it have had every test imaginable cats mri; Neuro scans, physche evals . Not for this but I have a nerve in my abdominal wall that causes great chronic pain I take all sorts of turmeric and alpha bio supplements and gabapentopin and have it managed . Asked if this was related and they said no, my therapist says it’s just the yips, being that it’s somethung with motor skills done on repetitive motors they get out of wack , they said it’s more comparable to getting vertigo from a normal ear but sometimes it gets out of balance and will eventually correct itself ,
My fix is to feed a few minutes before my first drill to get the motor engrams firing and I’m fine. As it only happens for the first few minutes of the day . Anyway , thank you for your responses . I’ve spoken to other teachers and they have this problem from time to time too

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

It’s all mental . I know it have had every test imaginable cats mri; Neuro scans, physche evals . Not for this but I have a nerve in my abdominal wall that causes great chronic pain I take all sorts of turmeric and alpha bio supplements and gabapentopin and have it managed . Asked if this was related and they said no, my therapist says it’s just the yips, being that it’s somethung with motor skills done on repetitive motors they get out of wack , they said it’s more comparable to getting vertigo from a normal ear but sometimes it gets out of balance and will eventually correct itself ,
My fix is to feed a few minutes before my first drill to get the motor engrams firing and I’m fine. As it only happens for the first few minutes of the day . Anyway , thank you for your responses . I’ve spoken to other teachers and they have this problem from time to time too

Out of curiosity:
- does it happen if you feed with a BH vs [I'm assuming] a FH?
- does it happen if you feed with your opposite hand?

 

[teachingprotx]

I wish I could feed w my opposite hand ! That would be amazing . But I’m not ambidextrous at all
And I only use a continental when I feed . It’s the only one I can use when feeding . I can’t even use an eastern FH.. has to be cont

 

[mikespinstowin]

Have that too. Suddenly you can't feed. I aim for a spot on the court like putting in golf. It works for me to get my feed back.

 

[Nashvegas]

Hate the yips. I can’t give my opponent a good feed and end up apologizing throughout the warm up.

Hope it works its way out of your system soon.

 

[Searah]

have you found any of your clients sexually attractive? maybe your being thrown off due to that.

or maybe worried one of your clients is becoming better then you?

then again maybe just random yips.

 

[Deleted member 23235]

i just own it,... and feed against the fence or something.
like you said, i don't think it's about the yips or nerves.... just need to get the correct motor neurons firing...
imo the feed, can be so close to other strokes - but slightly different - ebh serve, dominant hand on 2hbh, volley... that just having slightly the wrong grip will send the feed embarrassingly flying
my $0.02

slightly related... i get the "yips" during baseline warmups sometimes (especially if i don't do mini)... i try to rally "easy" which slows down my rhs... resulting in shanks, net, long... generally look completely incompetent to my opponent... or when trying to give "easy" balls to someone practicing at the net... the solution for me is to speed up my swing to normal rally speed

 

[sureshs]

i just own it,... and feed against the fence or something.
like you said, i don't think it's about the yips or nerves.... just need to get the correct motor neurons firing...

Not getting the correct motor neurons firing IS the yips

 

[Jamesm182]

had plenty of the yips or misses in the feeding department but never to include the shakes. worth getting checked out. I find when drills are more targeted the problems goes away, its just your basic run of the mill feed i'll miss.
Don't know if its a concentration issue

 

[Dave Mc]

The only times I've noticed the shakes in my hands during tennis, which could definitely cause yips in my hand/eye coordination, I've determined that it was from having a little too much coffee that morning. So I've switched to a 50/50 mix of decaf/regular for my morning coffee, and the shakes never returned. Just thought I would mention in case you are also a coffee drinker.

 

[sureshs]

It is related to the level of stress in your mind and body

 

[ByeByePoly]

have you found any of your clients sexually attractive? maybe your being thrown off due to that.

or maybe worried one of your clients is becoming better then you?

then again maybe just random yips.

"have you found any of your clients sexually attractive? maybe your being thrown off due to that."

If that caused the yips ... guys would be in a constant state of yips tourettes.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

slightly related... i get the "yips" during baseline warmups sometimes (especially if i don't do mini)... i try to rally "easy" which slows down my rhs... resulting in shanks, net, long... generally look completely incompetent to my opponent... or when trying to give "easy" balls to someone practicing at the net... the solution for me is to speed up my swing to normal rally speed

Exactly what I was going to suggest. Same problem with serving to a weak player: I slow way down and my chances of missing go way up.

 

[sovertennis]

I wish I could feed w my opposite hand ! That would be amazing . But I’m not ambidextrous at all
And I only use a continental when I feed . It’s the only one I can use when feeding . I can’t even use an eastern FH.. has to be cont

Fellow teaching pro here--I too have had the feeding yips off and on over the years to the point that I don't know when they'll show up (could be at the outset of the day, when I'm not really warmed up, or could be after a couple of hours). Although I've had some wrist injuries from mt bike falls, I've concluded--like you--that the problem is mental. Because it became a source of great concern (and some embarrassment) this is how I've responded:

I start almost all lessons with hand feeds (aka "drops"). With all levels of players, I've found this to be the best way to begin for many reasons, among them that my proximity to my player is close so I can communicate in a softer voice; I can easily control the tempo and height of the feed and the player can concentrate more on the basic elements of the stroke. In using hand feeds to start the lesson, I eliminate the stress of not knowing if my racket feeds will be accurate.

I learned to feed left (ie my non-dominant) handed. This was not as difficult as you may believe it to be, especially if you have a two handed backhand. Took me about a week to get proficient at it; now, I feed at least 50% of the time with my left hand and my players don't notice any difference in the quality of the feed. It's also very beneficial if you're feeding from various places on the court because you can provide a better angle on the feed if you can alternate hands.

As well, I do a lot of live ball exercises with my players (though not so much in clinics), so that reduces the amount of feeding that I do as well.

Good luck.

 

[teachingprotx]

Thank you that’s great advice man !! Yeah the yips are horrible . Never had them until recently .

 

[teachingprotx]

Great news I fixed the FEED YIPS!
I used a 14 oz old pro staff all leaded up it was so heavy but it totally irons out the wrinkles in the block feed . I mean instantaneously fixed . So if any of you ever get the tips get a crazy heavier racket than your normal and usually lighter frame and it may cure your yips!

 

[sureshs]

Great news I fixed the FEED YIPS!
I used a 14 oz old pro staff all leaded up it was so heavy but it totally irons out the wrinkles in the block feed . I mean instantaneously fixed . So if any of you ever get the tips get a crazy heavier racket than your normal and usually lighter frame and it may cure your yips!

But your arm will hurt afterwards

 

[sovertennis]

But your arm will hurt afterwards

True that. A guy I once coached with had the yips and started using an old Pro Staff and damaged his wrist. Got this huge bump at the base of his wrist and had to quite coaching for awhile.

 

[teachingprotx]

Good to know ✅
The yips are gone thank god . That was so weird how that happened .guess my father being ill has crept into my work life , stress will do it no doubt in my mind .

 

[teachingprotx]

Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement. I was getting kind of nervous about it but it just corrected itself with the heavier frame . I used it a couple times and returned back to my normal frame . Scary how that just happens . But the heavier frame did it for me. Granted I didn’t use it for long period of time so no hurt wrist thank god . I wonder if I had used an old woody I have a few lying around if that would have helped or just exasperated the situation?

 

[sureshs]

Good to know ✅
The yips are gone thank god . That was so weird how that happened .guess my father being ill has crept into my work life , stress will do it no doubt in my mind .

Yes. I get the feeding yips (not coaching, just starting rally) on my forehand on stressful days when I rush back from work. On weekends, when I am well-slept and relaxed, there is no problem.

 

[dennis]

Could it be using a different racket made you focus and pay attention in some way. It's not so much it's heavy, it's that it's different.

If you're using your normal racket you have no 'excuse' for missing, also it would be embarrassing and ridiculous to miss easy feeds by a large margin... thoughts like these might put you off. If you were given some kind of racket that would seem to make the job harder eg a really small racket meant for children I bet that would have fixed it as well. You might hit the first one or two a bit short but then you'd figure it out.