What do you do when you get the yips?

[AR15]

My partner and I both played horrendously last night. It started out with him not being able to make a shot, then the virus spread to me. We ended up losing to two players (that I've never lost to) because we hit too many unforced errors.

What do you do, during a match, to correct your unforced errors?

 

[Fuji]

Stop for a minute and just take a deep breath to relax. Try to lighten the mood a bit with your partner, whenever I start missing (especially on my serve) My partner always says something along the lines of, "I'm standing right here, try not to hit me, okay? " Generally just relaxing and loosening up really helps cure the yips! After all, in doubles your not playing alone, you have someone there to help you!

-Fuji

 

[Angle Queen]

^^ +1

Laughter is indeed the best medicine...for many things in life. A running joke for me et al. is that we've "gone out to lunch." Some days, when it's really bad, we'll say we've "gone out to a 3-martini lunch." So...a very good friend/mentor/player....told me to "bring a brown bag. Don't go out to lunch." LOL These days, I actually keep a small, brown paper bag in with my tennis gear. When I feel myself "going to lunch," I'll dig around in my bag for it, have a good laugh and go back on court with a new attitude.

All humor aside, the true "yips" call for slowing things down and hitting conservative targets til you can get things back under control. In doubles, my usual yips are on service returns...so I refocus on aiming for the intersection of the outside service box/line/alley. I call it "putting it back in play." If I tell my partner that's what I'm doing, she knows where I'm trying to play the ball, nothing fancy...and that I'm struggling.

In singles, I'm aiming for The Diamond. Imagine the shape starting at the baseline center hash mark, going out to those same service box/alley intersections and rejoining at the divider line at the net. (Sorry...wish I could come up with a quick graphic) Granted, that's a fairly large target area and unlikely to generate any winners (from me), but as I begin to hit (even that large) target...I start to narrow it down. Eventually, I feel comfortable to again...hit outside The Diamond (deep corners and drop shot/short angles.

Don't often get the yips on serve or volleys so I don't have many tried and true tips to overcome them.

Good luck and I look forward to reading other replies...as well as any success you have going forward!

 

[Morgan]

Holy crap - there's YIPs in tennis, too?

I moved from golf back to tennis just because of my golf chipping yips.

Now I've got this seed to deal with.

 

[andfor]

Shift your focus from results oriented outcomes (in this case just making shots) to process oriented areas. Focus on things like moving your feet, breathing, seeing the ball early, the feeling of the ball on your strings, enjoying the environment your in, taking your time between points, etc.

Try it in a match as a new mind set, let me know how it goes.

 

[kylebarendrick]

Something has to be working. Stop for a second, figure out what it is, then focus on getting more attempts with whatever shot is working (volleys, backhands, whatever). Once you get a little confidence back the problem may resolve itself.

 

[Rhythm Man]

Shift your focus from results oriented outcomes (in this case just making shots) to process oriented areas. Focus on things like moving your feet, breathing, seeing the ball early, the feeling of the ball on your strings, enjoying the environment your in, taking your time between points, etc.

Try it in a match as a new mind set, let me know how it goes.

Nice way to put it, this works for me. I specifically try to focus on the ball because i tend to find myself watching the court where i'm hitting rather than the ball when i get the yips. For me the yips come from my desire to win so my goal ultimately is to not care if i win. Its more fun just playing good tennis anyway. Focusing on good tennis results in more wins for me than focusing on actually winning. Once you don't care if you win, you can relax and hit your shots. You have to be comfortable saying whatever, i lost, not a big deal, much worse things could happen. Its not like they'll come repo your car because you lost. Nothing bad happens, so relax, stop caring about results, and you could play the best tennis of your life. I rarely even get the yips now.

 

[LuckyR]

First determine that you will not hit a shot into the net. Then if you are able, decide to not hit any balls out, if they hit winners, they hit winners, but you will not lose the match.

 

[Rhythm Man]

First determine that you will not hit a shot into the net. Then if you are able, decide to not hit any balls out, if they hit winners, they hit winners, but you will not lose the match.

You have to find the right balance of hitting 'balls out', without hitting any balls out

 

[accidental]

increase your work rate.

Dont hit any balls down the line, hit all balls cross court. Run harder, focus on taking more adjustment steps and extending points longer and longer. Take pace of first serve and make sure it goes in. Stand back a little when recieving and hitting from the baseline to give yourself slightly more time to take a full swing.

play those percentages

 

[reboj]

relax,focus, play on percentage, talk to your partner before and every after point.

 

[jc4.0]

First, I try to get myself calm by taking a few breaths and maybe stretching a bit, off by myself. Then I go back to tennis 101.

Go for consistency, not winners unless you get an obvious chance. Tell yourself (internally, not out loud please ) short phrases stuff like:

• Eye on ball
• Move your feet
• Finish your stroke
• Turn shoulders and hips

--whatever your coach has pounded into your head lately.

If none of this works, just be thankful you're out on the court hitting balls instead of sitting in your office typing at your computer, like I am right now!!!!