The Yips

An older version of this article was previously published on TheDinkPickleball.com

Even writing the word is dangerous.  Please don’t say it aloud.  In golf, the Y word is like saying Beetlejuice. It’s never to be uttered, not even once.  

That said, if you have ever had them, it’s worth understanding how they got there and what you can do about them.

What are the Yips?

The yips are the inability to execute a relatively easy shot in a sport, especially when you have time to think about it.  This time dimension is why coaches attempt to ice kickers in football with a strategic time-out, which often works.

I have written an entire article on mindset, but in short, if you want to play a sport at the highest level, you need to keep your thinking mind out of it.  Flow state is achieved only when internal mechanics are automatic, and the athlete focuses solely on what is happening externally. 

Golf is the most common sport in which the yips take hold. While every golf shot is susceptible to the yips, they tend to infect the slower-speed shots the most, such as puts and chips. 

Famously, the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods, allegedly had the yips around the green, and his rival Phil Mickelson helped him overcome them.  

Though Tiger would ultimately blame the yips on a pinched nerve, I suspect he knew that the best way to keep them away was never to admit they existed!  “The first rule of fight club is that you don’t talk about fight club,” type remedy.

In pickleball, the yips typically only affect the serve, as it's the only relatively easy shot that one has a lot of time to ponder.  Connor Garnet allegedly had the service yips in 2024 for a few MLP matches. That said, the yips are much more rampant at the amateur level.

I have taught players who have switched to a backhand serve permanently due to the yips.  The condition can sometimes last for months and affect not only a player’s performance but also their enjoyment of the sport. 

What Causes the Yips? 

The yips are rooted in fear. Sometimes players don’t realize it's fear, but at its core, it's a fear of embarrassment and of letting one’s partner down. This aspect of letting one’s partner down is key, as the yips rarely affect a singles player. 

This fear manifests in an involuntary lack of coordination of the kinetic chain. The hips, shoulders, elbow, and wrist don’t coordinate, and the serve goes anywhere but in.

The yips often stem from a single event that starts the cycle.  Many years ago, when I was learning the game, I was traveling in Florida and found some indoor open play.  I didn’t typically play indoors.  I decided to jump right into playing without warming up.  I went to serve this weird orange indoor ball and launched it straight at the older player at the net.  I was mortified.  I apologized profusely.  I didn’t know how I could have “Nasty Nelsoned” the gal; they didn’t believe it was an accident. My serve was gone for two weeks. 

Backup Serve

Before we work through the yips, we need a relatively simple backup serve that does not use the same kinetic chain as your primary serve.  Though I stress having a backup serve, some players end up stuck with it as their only serve, so it is just a backup serve!  

The slice serve or screwball is consistently repeatable as a backup serve.  Most of your weight is on the front leg, and the wrist is locked at impact.  It doesn't have that many moving pieces.  That said, I implore all of you not to give up on your standard drive serve.  This fear must be conquered!  The only way around the yips is through!

Prepare to Succeed 

Playing pickleball well starts with intentionality and preparation, and that preparation starts with a confident mindset and a solid pre-serve routine. 

Begin by planning the serve and determining how you want the first few shots to go. Who are you hitting your thirds to? Are you trying to drive and crash or slow the game down? 

Be intentional about how you want the point to go. This puts the serve as a means to an end and is no more important than any other shot in the game.

Finally, develop a physical, repeatable pre-shot routine like a tennis player or a free-throw shooter in basketball: two bounces, looking up at the target, touching the paddle to the ball, etc., before beginning your swing. Make it your own, but do it every time you serve a ball: practice, recreation, or tournament. 

As an aside, if you are calling the score, plan to call it and pause. Many people rush through their serves and call the score in their backswing, which causes many missed serves—yips or no yips, so slow down!

Developing Trust Takes Practice

Once you have a good rhythm and routine, it is time to take your bucket of balls and practice trusting your serve.  This starts by closing your eyes.  That’s right, begin trusting your swing explicitly by shutting your eyes. First, at the beginning of your backswing, then longer.  

Get to the point that your eyes are closed well after impact, only looking up to see if your serve landed in. Play with it. Have fun with it. Feel the relaxed swing that you can do with your eyes closed!

Conjure that Trust

Gratitude is one of life's secret weapons. Pickleball is fantastic, whether at a tournament or in the park. If you feel any nerves, plan to bask a little in that and just breathe. 

Once back on the court do your routine: take a breath, and close your eyes for the first portion of your swing to harness that sense of calm and relaxation.  Of course, open them casually as you begin your downswing to ensure solid contact.  

By closing your eyes in your backswing, you unconsciously tap into your practice session and that trust of your kinetic chain. You stop guiding your swing with mechanical thinking and let go, releasing that tension with a strong exhale into the ball.  

The only way to conquer fear is with trust.  There is no better way to find trust than to believe you can hit this serve. . . even with your eyes closed!  

A Quiet Contempt 

The final and possibly the most important aspect of squashing the yips is belief.  In a conversation with pickleball pro Phillip Locklear he described that in order to play at your potential you need to believe in yourself so much that you have a quiet contempt for the other players on the court.

You need to believe, either real or manifested, that you are the best player on the court, and that includes the belief that you are better than your partner! 

As noted above, in my experience the fear of letting your partner down is the primary driver of the yips.  Though it may sound arrogant, a player with the yips needs to consider over correcting their mindset when it comes to confidence and walk out on the court believing they are the best player at the park in that moment.

This level of confidence is displayed in some of the best “up and coming” pro players in the game, such as Gabe Tardio or Hayden Patriquin, whom may not have the experience of a Ben Johns, but they play with a swagger that shows that they belong on the court with any player. 

So serve with some swagger!  Visualize you are alone on your side of the court saying to yourself “singles, singles, singles” and commit to the serve with a quiet contempt for all the other players on the court. 

Couple that mindset with your bulletproof service routine you can hit with your eyes closed and go beyond serving “to get it in” to crushing it!  Now go out and conquer your fears and bury those yips once and for all!

John is a PPR-certified instructor and a professional rec player known by his pickleball friends as “The Professor.”  He aims to help players navigate their pickleball addiction with tips on everything from etiquette to technique to injury prevention.