“Just throw it harder…”
This is advice that my mental performance coaching client, “Johnny,” got from one of his baseball coaches.
Johnny is a catcher who received the advice to “just throw it harder” from his coach after gingerly skipping a ball to first base.
He felt every eye in the park on him.
Hearing the advice to “just throw it harder” only made him tighten up.
The harder he tried to “just” fix his throwing troubles, the harder it got.
Johnny’s experience working through the yips brought us together while he was in a “gap” year at a sports academy after graduating from high school.
The first step: Understanding the problem.
When I start working with any client, I focus on understanding them.
However, understanding an athlete challenged with the yips is just different.
It’s hard to know why the yips happen to athletes.
Some research suggests that the yips may be linked to personality traits, such as agreeableness. I even had Johnny take a personality assessment, but people-pleasing wasn’t his issue.
The point is: the yips aren’t simple, and every athlete’s path is unique.
The next step: Experimentation.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach in mental performance coaching.
Every athlete’s situation is different, so I often ask them to try interventions that I think might help them.
I introduced Johnny to imagery, or visualization.
I introduced Johnny to mindfulness to practice being present without judgment.
I introduced Johnny to journaling to help him focus on incremental daily improvement.
Johnny found the tools valuable, even though at first he told me imagery felt awkward — like pretending. But after a week, he noticed his brain felt calmer before each throw.
Ultimately, none of these tools was sufficient on its own.
Johnny was making progress, but still searching for a way to take down the yips.
Then, he started piecing together elements of each new tool he had been learning.
Receive the ball mindfully.
Grip the seams comfortably.
Pick up the target visually.
Take a hop step toward the target.
Let it rip.
That’s when it clicked. Johnny wasn’t just trying my tools anymore. He was building his own.
The result? A confident problem-solver.
Through experimentation and repetition, Johnny found a way to consistently improve his throws.
He practiced his routine in bullpens, in drills, and in games.
He started to judge success by consistently executing his routine, and positive results followed.
Six months earlier, he dreaded routine throws. Now, his coaches told him they trusted him behind the plate.
Johnny was open-minded, experimented with new approaches, and practiced consistently to develop a new way of thinking.
Most of all, he was patient and didn’t panic.
The Takeaway
So, what’s the point?
Confidence doesn’t always come from the desired results.
Confidence comes from the ability to solve problems under pressure.
A confident problem-solver:
- Responds rather than reacts.
- Applies the right combination of tools to create a solution that works.
- Learns from mistakes instead of letting them define identity.
If your athlete is struggling, remember: It’s not about finding the perfect fix.
It’s about helping them experiment, stay patient, and trust they can figure it out.