Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The yips are a complex phenomenon that leaves athletes unable to perform previously mastered athletic skills. Here, we coin the term athletic skills mental blocks (ASMBs) to collectively define the phenomenon, which has garnered several terms across scholarship and media outlets. Previous ASMBs literature is often post-positivist in nature, offers minimal insight into complex firsthand experiences, includes small sample sizes, and/or analyzes one or two sports. Through a pilot study of 12 tumbling athletes, and a primary study including 16 collegiate and professional athletes and coaches from baseball, golf, and tumbling, this study offers an in-depth understanding of ASMBs that highlights shared ASMB rationalizations across multiple sports. Guided by sensemaking theory, we use a rigorous thematic analysis to draw out themes within four aspects of the experience: phenomenon, perceived causes, strategies to overcome, and consequences. We highlight the role communication plays in ASMBs sensemaking through revealing the importance of internal dialogue and communication with coach, family, and teammates. We offer theoretical implications by illuminating how naming/labeling processes and identity are vital components to ASMB sensemaking and generating an ASMB sensemaking model that can be used in future research. Practically, this research serves sports organizations by expanding the vocabulary surrounding ASMBs and helps destigmatize the mental health complexities inherent in ASMBs across sports.
Source: Communication & Sport
Institutions: The University of Texas at Austin, Baylor University
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4403442029