“A puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”
That’s the complexity of solving the yips as metaphorically described by British Mental Performance Coach Trevor Jones.
As complicated and challenging as it is, minor league pitcher Brady Choban figured it out and is well on his way to a potential Major League career in the Los Angeles Angels organization. My recent post, “Explore a Personal Encounter With the Yips,” details the struggles he experienced with the yips. This installment explores his successful mitigation of the problems he encountered.
Choban gave his full consent to sharing his experience and insights emanating from an interview I conducted with him earlier this summer.
Let’s have a listen.
Solving a Befuddled Puzzle
“Trying to get back up to speed too quick,” began Choban, “and on top of that the lack of body awareness, and the lack of having any idea where the ball was going, played into the frustrations and heartache of going through the whole process (solving the yips).”
“I got through that initial stage of the confusion of not really having a clue what was going on,” Choban shared. “It turned into—okay—talk to the sports psychologist (the author of this piece). We figured out why it could be happening and ways to work through it.”
“All the times I’ve worked with you (Dr. Udelf), and then just throughout my career, being able to handle failure and ending the constant pursuit of perfection has been the biggest thing,” Choban confided. “Knowing that it’s not going to be perfect every time, and that I’m going to make mistakes—make a lot of mistakes.”
“Then, just the overall belief in my preparation and all the things I do to be successful on the field,” he continued. “That in combination with being okay with failing, has been the biggest thing moving forward. Knowing I’ve done everything I possibly can to go out there and compete has helped take the pressure off. Doing that made things a lot easier, and just simpler to play, to compete.”
Achieving “Easier” and “Simpler”
“I do a couple things—today—that we talked about in our first session,” Choban shared. “The biggest one has always been the breathing—getting that down—being present and getting some type of rhythm down. It’s always been deep breaths for every step of a coming set. I do two little steps when I come set on the pitching mound, it’s inhale, exhale. When the second step starts, inhale, exhale, then I’ve come fully set. Then it’s one more big inhale, exhale and then pitch.
Here, Choban describes an in-game routine that incorporates breathing to insure attention.
“So, the big one is the breathing,” he reiterated, “and being able to slow the moment down and regroup. Breathe in through the nose, hold it for a couple seconds, then push out through the mouth. Clear the mind. And then another thing that helps is having something in my mouth, whether that’s chewing gum or snacking on something, it’ll sit there and chew gum to just think about the gum, trying to not think about anything else.”
He focused on his breath and gum instead of unworkable thoughts and emotions that can disrupt performance
“And then another one that we talked about was having a focal point that’s not on the field,” continued Choban. “It’s somewhere in the stadium that I can go (look at) for two or three seconds to reset the mind when distracted. Typically, I’ll do something like the second deck or the top of the roof of the stadium, just look up to it for a second or two, and then that brings me back down, resets it.”
“I try to make it as simple as possible,” Choban explained. “Don’t overcomplicate anything, and just do what you do. Now it’s simple, just one pitch at a time. As soon as you throw the last pitch or the next pitch, you just keep moving on from pitch to pitch. You’re not thinking long-term, you’re just in the moment, one pitch at a time.”
“That took a lot of pressure off things,” he reflected, “and it just turned it back into baseball, like it was just a simple game. There’s no need to overcomplicate it. If you go out there and enjoy it, instead of putting all the pressure in the world on it, it’s gonna be a lot easier to perform and compete at a higher level. It was focusing. Obviously, there’s still the big picture goal (Major League Baseball).
Life Routine Outside the Game
“Another thing was just developing a routine outside of in-game and getting ready for a game,” Choban explained. “A day-to-day routine. So now you have something else to fall back on when you’re not performing as well, and if things aren’t going right on the field. Having that routine. outside of the game, that you can go back into and always have, was big.”
“That was something important, especially last year,” he elaborated. “Being the first year in pro ball, being at the field for 10 hours a day, and having time to do everything that I needed to get ready, that was a big thing. I really started working on a day-to-day routine, having something I could do to make sure I’m mentally and physically ready to go.”
“Just having a routine allowed me to tell myself, ‘alright, we’ve done our routine. We’ve done everything we possibly can. We’re ready to go!’ So, no matter what the outcome, we’ve done everything we can, so it’s just time to play. Thinking too far ahead, before you’ve even thrown a pitch is thinking about what could happen in the future, compared to just being in the moment right there.”
Critical points for any performer emerge from Choban’s reflections: Focus on the process, not the outcome, as exemplified by Choban’s routines—on and off the field—which incorporate processes, allowing for focus on the doing, not the thoughts and emotions that can sidetrack performance. Worrying about a future event distracts from the process of doing the skills required for optimal performance.
A Wrap
The approach utilized with Choban and his successful extermination of the yips was Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT).
What Choban shared perfectly captures the essence of ACT: awareness, breathing technique, in-the-moment presence, focus on what you’re doing, not unworkable thinking and emotion. Thoughts and emotions can be very sticky, and what he accomplished removed the stickiness of his perfectionistic narratives and fear of failure.
He sidestepped the mental traps we all experience in our unique ways by breathing, slowing things down, focusing on one pitch at a time, and behavioral process. Those are all things that we control. While we do not control outcomes, executing what we do control optimizes the chances for desired results.
While Choban’s yips saga shows ACT effectiveness, the more essential ingredients of his successful navigation of a challenging journey are the character and due diligence he demonstrated. It’s those qualities that provide optimal fuel for the launch of a Major League career.