My son is a catcher and has been plagued by the yips since June. It started abruptly one day and has not gotten any worse...or any better...in almost 5 months.
Before the yips began his throws back to the pitcher were crisp (often times harder than the ball was pitched), and his throwing mechanics were excellent. Now, it is a lob with no set arm slot. It has been so bad for so long that I think the coaches have forgotten that he was ever able to throw with authority.
Relative to his throws back to the pitcher, his snap throws and his throw-downs to 2B are decent and generally without hesitation, it's just the throws back to the pitcher.
He has worked with various private coaches trying to help, hearing a little of everything like, correct your arm slot, get over it, throw as hard as you can, focus on the arm or target, don’t focus on the arm or target, you don't have the yips-you just don't know how to throw a baseball, don’t worry where it goes, you look like a girl when you throw, read books, surf ****, smoke weed, etc. We’ve heard it all! But come game time, the hesitation and F'd up arm angles are back in all of their glory.
He sought help from his HS coach who sees him in action the most, and specifically requested assistance while playing and practicing, but the extent of the coaches feedback has been limited to "throw the ball" and telling my son that his opportunities will be limited because of his "throwing problem". While I would appreciate the help of the coach and could go on about the coaches feedback, my focus here is to try to find a solution for my kid exclusive of the HS staff.
As a parent, it is frustrating to see my kid struggle through this. What's worse is that I see no end in sight. I see it affecting his confidence and eating in to his time to work on catching in general, and frankly, I'm at a complete loss now as to what direction to take to help him.
Ultimately, I'm not worried too much about the things we have tried and some of the negative (and sometimes funny) feedback he's received, I just know that we're generally lost right now and need a fresh sense of direction. My biggest fear is wandering on the current path for another few months and still seeing no real change, so here I am seeking a fresh solution.
The more I read the more I see mention of psychological assistance being the silver bullet, and I suppose there's no downside to trying that route....is there?
Thank you in advance, any feedback will be deeply and humbly appreciated.
Signed,
A Despondent Parent....
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