Zverev and the serve "Yips": what is it - and how does it feel?
The "serve yips" - a well-known phenomenon. Is Alexander Zverev currently affected? After all, he recently made 20 double mistakes when he was eliminated in Cincinnati against Miomir Kecmanovic. A guest post by a tennisnet reader who is also affected by the "Yips".
by a tennisnet reader
last edit: Aug 16, 2019, 03:49 pm
Don't worry - and sorry if you expected a scientific article. Since I am neither a sports scientist nor a sports motorist, I will not and cannot tell you much about what happens mechanically in the body. I think that few or maybe no one can do that properly, since there are hardly any solutions to the "Yips" problem. What I can tell you exactly is how it feels. What is going on in you and how this changes the movement practiced thousands of times. And why can I do that? Because I've had it myself for almost 10 years.
No, I'm not a full professional. But I would say I know what I'm talking about. I have never been listed in the official world rankings, but I have won high national prize tournaments and also work as a tennis coach. But let's start with the so-called Yips.
What happens when you have the "Yips"?
It's just a demon sitting in you. Most of you out there who don't have it smile at it. You can't understand how Alexander Zverev, number 6 in the world rankings, can't play this damn second serve. (I will mainly speak of the serve, but it could well be any other blow.) But the blow hand is no longer part of the body at the meeting point. You can no longer feel your hand and can no longer control the movement. It is difficult to explain the exact feelings, but I try to let you share the thoughts and feelings in the body in the worst "Yips moments".
Your heart is pounding with fear and excitement. Before you run to serve, you have only one thing in mind: "Please don't make a double mistake!" And: "Hopefully nobody sees it ..." Your hand becomes sweaty and begins to tremble. You throw the ball up and practically fall at the meeting point inside of you because the body tension is lacking. You carry out the movement normally and nobody actually recognizes it from the outside, since the movement supposedly hardly changes. You have no idea whether the ball will go into the field or not because you just not feeling it at the moment, not in the sense of "not feeling any contact at all." Yes, you feel it. But you lack this self-evident control and the feeling of steering the ball wherever you want. The arm is blocked, there is nothing you can do about it: the ball can go to the center of the net, or worse: even come up in front of the net (sometimes absurd as well as funny to watch).
"You don't feel this damn mark anymore!"
All of this can be done with a few second serves in important situations in the match. But it can also get so far worse that you can feel it with almost every serve. The racing heart and trembling of the hand only occur in the worst case. The loss of feeling when striking can nevertheless occur with almost every serve.
The craziest and most paradoxical thing about the whole thing is that you hardly have it in training. After a few years with the problem, you still have it in the back of your mind, if necessary even in training. The Yips only appear in tight training match situations, but usually not. But as soon as you are in real competition and the second serve MUST be in the field, the problem is suddenly there as if by magic and you can no longer feel this damn serve. The same thing can happen with the forehand or any other punch, but it is sometimes easier to avoid, since you don't have to open the game with it.
"Yips" often result from the worst stroke
My own approach to this is that it is a mix of psychological, physical and technical problems. In tennis, the yips usually occur at the player's worst stroke. First of all, this has technical problems. In pressure situations, this is usually the blow that breaks in first. The fear of this blow is so great that you absolutely want to avoid it. The fears create a mess in the head that you can no longer trust your instincts and the learned movement completely fails. Actually, you shouldn't think about the sequence when executing the respective stroke, since it is automated. But in this case, you rethink the whole movement and this disturbs the movement. The fear of failure inhibits you and makes your body cramp. The movement is no longer round and the yips are created.
The craziest and at the same time likeable thing about the whole thing is that both the best professional athletes in the world can be affected as well as the amateur players from the village club.
Think of Anna Kournikova and Sara Errani
And not only tennis is infected with the Yips. There are probably countless examples. I am best known for basketball players, baseball players and golfers. In tennis I spontaneously think of Zverev and Dimitrov for the men and for women Anna Kournikova and Sara Errani . In the basketball of the NBA player Markelle Fultz, number 1 pick of the draft 2017, who sometimes did not get a straight free throw anymore.
Is there a cure? I think very few get a handle on it 100 percent. But you can learn to deal with it. And you can do that by facing the problem and not running away from it. That means constantly facing the situation, being brave and not taking the whole thing too seriously. Because in the end it's just a sport.
What do you think? Do you have a blow yourself that is affected by the Yips or do you know other players?
Finally: Don't make fun of the "choker" too much. As you can see, it can affect anyone at any time?