Last month, I forgot how to hit a forehand.

Mind you, I’ve been playing tennis for probably 30 years now. I know how to hit a forehand; in fact, it’s usually my strongest and most consistent stroke in tennis.

But one day, I went to my doubles match for tennis league and I could barely hit a single forehand in. They went into the net; they sailed out of bounds. It felt like I was possessed, like someone else was hitting my forehand.

Over the next few weeks, I could count on one hand how many forehands I was able to hit in. About two weeks into this sad saga, I suddenly realized: I have the yips.

I knew it was the yips because it happened to me once before. My senior year of high school varsity tennis, the pressure of deciding about college and finishing up my senior year hit me right at the start of tennis season and I could barely play for weeks — a total mental block keeping me from playing my usual game. 

If you don’t know what the yips are, lucky you. The term originated with golf, but it can happen in a lot of sports. The yips can manifest physically, mentally, or both. It boils down to suddenly not being able to execute a skill you’ve been practicing for years, be it a putt in golf, a throw in baseball, or a tennis stroke as in my case.

If you’ve never played a sport or had the yips yourself, let me see if I can describe the experience. It’s like your brain and body are disconnected and totally at odds with one another. It’s like you woke up one day and suddenly couldn’t do a basic thing you’ve done for years — tying your shoes or brushing your teeth. You can remember the mechanics of how to do it. The knowledge is right there like words on the tip of your tongue, but despite your best efforts, you can’t execute it.

It drives you crazy, and it’s humbling. It’s also a little scary — there were several weeks where I dreaded going to play tennis. You start to think it might last forever, and you’ll never play like you used to. The most frustrating part is that you’re fully aware of what’s happening, but there’s just not much you can do about it. The only solution I’ve found to the yips — you simply have to keep playing, get to the basics, and wait it out.

I don’t think the yips happen only in the context of athletics. As I’ve muddled my way through some very mediocre tennis this summer, I’ve been thinking about what it means to go through seasons of the yips in life. Sometimes you’re in a flow state with life where you feel so in your element and everything feels like it’s clicking, and sometimes it feels like you can’t do anything right no matter your best efforts.

And just like the yips in sports, there is no quick fix. You just have to ride it out. You have to get comfortable being really uncomfortable. Be patient. Easier said than done and certainly not my forte. Acknowledge the difficult feelings and the frustration that comes along with the yips without judgment and move on. Know that it won’t last forever.

Inexplicably, one day things will magically start clicking again. I didn’t really make any huge adjustments to my tennis. I just kept playing and trying to have fun despite my frustration and fear. Sure enough, just like when I had the yips in my senior year, after about four weeks, my forehand slowly started to come back.

Putting photo by Peter Drew on Unsplash