Minute With Mallon: Overcoming The “Yips"
Welcome to Minute with Mallon!
Something I Taught:
I play a lot of pickleball. Don't judge it until you try it!! It's super fun and great for staying fit. Not bragging, but I've gotten quite good and regularly play competitively with athletes half my age.
Anyway, for the last 3 years or so, I've had a good serve. One day back in April, a person I was playing against made a suggestion that I'm sure he thought would make my serve even better.
So I tried it.
It felt pretty weird, but over the next several days I continued practicing the new serving technique. Over the next couple of weeks, I found that the new way DIDN'T work for me. And then I found that I couldn't get my old serve back. Over and over again I served the balls out of bounds. My frustration mounted, and I seriously started to panic.
NOTHING WAS WORKING!!!
Every time I got up to serve, I'd say to myself, "Don't hit the ball out of bounds." And where do you think it went??? 🤣
I was literally hitting 75% of my balls out of bounds and had no control over it. I was so embarrassed that I stopped playing for several weeks. I was in a downward spiral. The weird part was that all the rest of my game stayed good. It was only the serve that was giving me problems.
I had the "Yips!"
If you haven't heard of this, the "yips" in sports refer to sudden and unexplained loss of fine motor skills, often during specific actions like putting or serving. It leads to a decline in performance despite prior proficiency. It can be physically and psychologically debilitating and strongly affects an athlete's confidence and execution.
My wife Sandy suggested that I probably needed to hire a coach to help me. Luckily, one of my good friends Pat has a daughter named Jamie who's a pro. So I called him up and asked him if he could ask her if she'd work with me. Thankfully, she said yes!
When we met at the courts, she brought all kinds of equipment, including about 100 balls to practice with.
She asked me to hit a few balls. Most went out of bounds. She heard and saw my frustration.
Very calmly, she began making a few adjustments to my serve. She moved my feet a little bit. She helped me realize that my head wasn't staying down and that I wasn't watching the ball hit the racket. I was looking up during the serve to see if the ball was going to go in or out.
And on it went.
And here's the neat part: within one hour, I was hitting 95% of the balls IN BOUNDS! My confidence soared and I was ready to get back to the courts to enjoy a game that I love.
Why am I telling you this?
● If you're facing challenges in your personal or professional life, consider seeking coaching or mentoring like I did to overcome obstacles and improve my performance. Whether it's refining your skills in sports or enhancing your effectiveness in business, investing in expert guidance can make a significant difference.
● As a professional coach, I'm here to help you navigate challenges and achieve your goals. Whether it's improving your serve in pickleball, growing your business, or enhancing your leadership skills in the workplace, let's work together to unlock your full potential. Reach out to schedule a consultation and explore the first step toward success. Robert’s Scheduling Link
Something I Learned:
In the book The Laws of Lifetime Growth I came upon this nugget. How does this apply to your life?
Enjoyment is essential for lifetime growth. Some people believe that success has to be hard earned to be real. They are highly suspicious of any gains that come as a result of enjoyment. If they earn rewards this way inadvertently, they feel guilty. If others appear to be profiting from enjoyment, they question those people’s morality, certain that such gains can only be ill-gotten.
Meanwhile, they continue to toil away at things that give them no pleasure, suppressing any hints of enjoyment that may creep through, lest these be interpreted as signs that they’re not “serious” or “professional” and deserving of success. In the process, they cut themselves off from a major source of energy, creativity, and motivation. Finding ways to get more and more enjoyment from your activities is one way to ensure continued growth.
If you approach life as a game with growth as the objective, you’ll put yourself in the right frame of mind to engage in and enjoy the adventure, whatever it brings.
So the key is to prioritize enjoyment for lifelong growth! By finding joy in your pursuits, you'll see your potential flourish. So are you ready to level up? Start by adding a dash of fun to one activity today.
Something to Ponder:
Pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on me.
My friend Rachael Auyer.
Something I Saw:
The Art Loeb Trail - Pisgah National Park
As I wrap up another edition of my newsletter, I want to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude to my readers. Your enthusiasm, passion, and comments drive me to create content that matters. Thank you for being an integral part of my community!
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Hope you have an incredible week!
Robert
