A Cure for the Yips

Let me tell you a story. If you’ve never heard the name Rick Ankiel or a condition called the “Yips,” this may interest you. Our story unfolds like a parable about the fragility of human confidence and the audacity to begin again. Just 21 and only beginning his career, Ankiel stood at the pinnacle of baseball, with his raw ability as a pitcher hailed as once-in-a-generation. But in the heat of the 2000 postseason, something inside him cracked.

In Game 1 of the Division Series, he faced a surreal and public unraveling. Five wild pitches in a single inning—a record no one aspires to—left him visibly shaken. The cause was the “yips,” a psychological phenomenon that transforms muscle memory into betrayal. It wasn’t his arm that failed, but his mind clouded in fear and doubt. For the rising star, his collapse marked not just the end of a game but the undoing of a career.

For years, Ankiel wrestled with the weight of that moment.…