It happened to me in cricket. We call it the Yips. It occurred in a match in May 1998. I remember the day. I have only bowled an handful of overs since. I may try to bowl a couple of overs in a game every two or three years. It's pointless and I only do it when there is nothing on the game because I can barely land the ball.
Up until that point I had been the most successful bowler in the club that decade. But I ran in and lost my release on the ball and it landed in front of me. That was it, gone.
I've never worked it out. When I try to bowl the ball my brain goes to mush and all I can think of is the point of release. A part of my brain that wasn't in play before suddenly starts interfering. I did some research and found out that some cricket careers have been ruined by it. So the same would apply in other sports.
I just don't get why some folk issue judgements without thinking or asking questions. I don't get asked anymore why I don't bowl in games and I know some folk are just bemused by it. But thankfully I wasn't a professional so I could slip away without Twitter setting its diseased primates on me.
It's common amongst golfers, and Steven Hendry the snooker player said he suffered from the yips for 10 years
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip... the yips applies,forced to abandon the sport.
Your research may have already led you to the England cricket team sports psychologist Dr Mark Bawden's paper published in the Journal of Sports Science. If not here's the link....
https://www.researchgate.net/public...rsonal_experience_of_the_'yips'_in_cricketers
Last edited: