OT: Wisconsin situation gets even more bizarre, Stave is *not* injured, but has "yips"

Man, to be a fly on the wall in Wisconsins locker room at halftime. Between this and the Gordan stuff it just seems weird how different they looked the second half.

You know his yips don't lie,

And he just doesn't feel right.

I played on a very good high school baseball team. My junior year I had a serious case of the yips when throwing the ball back to the pitcher. Throws to Second or Third were fine.

Yes, I was basically the catcher in Major League 2. And I'm not lying.

I can totally relate and I never knew this was a "thing".  Suddenly I feel much better about myself.

I used to play 3B in baseball.  I was not outstanding by any stretch of the imagination.  I had a solid bat, good reaction for the "hot corner" but my arm wasn't as strong as it could have been.  

There was one play I took a line drive, rifled it to 1st and was off target.  Hit the runner in the face badly injuring him.  Sounds stupid but it gave me the "yips".  My arm became a noodle and I had to quit. 

To this day I can throw a great football spiral.  I play basketball regularl without a problem.  But if you put a baseball in my hand and tell me to throw it, I will look like Denard in Comerica.  I know it's in my head, but I just can't freaking throw a baseball.

http://www.si.com/vault/1996/02/05/209832/a-serious-case-of-the-yips

They used it in context of his reads that led to those two horrendous interceptions that handed the game to Dallas and the most ridiculous MVP trophy ever to Cowboy's CB Larry Brown.  But it would have been better placed if they applied it to his first quarter passing, which was mostly bounce-passes or overthrows.  Happens to lots of QBs on the Super Bowl stage.

The dreaded yips.  

I always thought the most famous case of the yips was Johnny Miller's inability to putt. But then again, a lot of people probably don't know who Johnny Miller is.

But yeah, dude had all the game in the world except for when he was holding a putter. Straight up baffling.

All I can think of is....

 

"Stoooooove.  Are you an appliance?"

Hope Stave gets it together and starts playing again.

Getting a case of the 'yips' is a well-know malady especially in baseball, although not that common.  Other than the players already mentioned in this thread, known cases go all the way back to Hall-of-Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander taking a short of bourbon between innings of his starts to help with them, to more recent cases like former pitcher Dontrelle Willis.  Hall-of-Fame outfielder Dale Murphy started his professional career as a catcher but turned to the outfield after he couldn't make the simple throw back to the pitcher.  Throwing to the bases was okay, he just got the yips throwing it to the pitcher, and sometimes resorted to rolling it back to him!  Other known cases are second baseman Steve Sax, pitcher Steve Blass, and others.   The problem can be dealt with behaviorally; most remedies have the subject focus on a particular point with their eyes before releasing the ball, causing their mind to concentrate on the point and not on the throwing motion itself.  The problem is that this type of therapy can take months and is no sure cure, what might work for one player might not work for another.  It is a very real illness, and I wish Stave luck in trying to overcome it.

It happened to me in h.s. football. I was thinking I'd play QB for sure, had very good touch and a decent arm, but when we had our "position tryouts" I'll be damned if I could hit anyone in stride. I ended up playing CB and safety. Strangest thing... 

as a high school baseball pitcher.

Pitching, no problem, but hit one back to the mound or an easy one hop bunt and I'd overthrow first base wildly on a short easy toss or bloop it five feet short.

I liken it to getting your "muscle memory" locked in on a single velocity and there's no smooth linear change to different velocities.  And then your brain gets involved trying to troubleshoot, analyze the event as its happening, unfortunately there's not enough bandwith thru the hardwired nervous system.

Sometimes getting mad helps as the emotion of anger takes away the thinking part.  It may somewhat explain why "getting benched" could be a theraputic move by the coach/manager to stir up such emotions, e.g. player pissed for not being out there and having to watch someone else play. 

Every one is a little different build, psychologically speaking and so the best coaches figure this and other techniques out to get the most out of their players after the fundamentals have been developed.

In dreams I find it a physical impossibility to throw ANY sports ball. Without sounding arrogant, I've always been able to throw a football with strength and accuracy and I'm only 5-10. I think it's the arm length/hand size:body size ratio. I'm basically Uncle Rico (ha). Yeah, in dreams I literally can't throw it (or even a baseball). My arm feels heavy and it won't move correctly. I'm thinking about it so much it becomes impossible and it just falls to my feet after the sally-est motion ever. Such an awkward feeling. Also, not to that extent at all but I was always a better FB player and wrestler in practice. Still good (not great, good) but I was your typical "thinks too much" kid. My coaches loved and hated me ha. They'd either get 3rd place in a weak field me or 1st in a much stronger bracket. 200+ yards and and lockdown DB or barely 100 and give up two TDs in the air against scrubs. They truly loved me but were very hard on me at times as I couldn't explain it.

The Yips -- a phenomenon explored in depth in the novel The Art Of Fielding, by Chad Harbach.

It's Wiscy!

by any other name.