Top athlete, Connor Garnett had one of the worst cases of the yips pro pickleball has ever seen. The yips are when an athlete or performer experiences sudden loss of fine motor skills, muscle control, or spatial awareness. For Garnett, it impacted his serve so severely where he basically couldn’t serve for months on tour.

“It was really weird,” began Garnett on the Pickleballers Podcast.

“Sports is one of the truest forms of who you are. When you have insecurities, at least for me, it comes out in sports. So if I’m not playing well, there’s probably something else going on in my life that’s affecting that,” shared Garnett.

“It’s one of the reasons I love sports because you’re literally going to bat against yourself. And I run a little more nervous than most. It was a challenge and I’m always battling it,” he continued.

Most often, the yips are more of a mental hurdle than a physical one, often induced by stress, overthinking, and nerves.

“It’s a very under-talked about thing. In most sports, I’d say 80% of the game is mental. And it shows up for everyone in different ways. Mine was just a very obvious way. And you start to see that across the board with everyone that plays any sport. Everyone has nerves but they just flare up differently for different people,” explained Garnett.

To combat the yips on a practical game level, Garnett altered the mechanics of his serve to a simpler and reliable swing.

“For me, it was about figuring out how to develop systems to manage those nerves. I wanted to understand the mechanics that I can rely on to make a shot no matter what happens. It forced me to break down the shot and understand what actually makes a shot work. And it’s actually been a fun journey,” said Garnett.

Garnett came from a high-level tennis background. So when he first started playing pickleball, he was able to get good at the game quickly. However, he didn’t have a grasp on the fundamentals.

“I never thought about how to hit a shot, I just went out there and sent it. So getting the yips forced me to take a step back and look at the mechanics,” he said.

Because of that, it made his game stronger and taught him lasting skills for his life on and off the court.

So, does Garnett think he could get the yips again?

“I think anyone could slip back into anything,” he admitted. But he has more tools in his toolbox to combat the yips if they return. Now, Garnett prioritizes warming up the mind as much as warming up the body before a match.

“I’m warming up the mind as much as I’m warming up the body. I’ll go hit for ten minutes but I’ll do some mental work as well for 15 minutes and I think that’s just as valuable. I’m still figuring out what’s best for me, whether that’s mediation or visualization. But I love learning about myself and I love analyzing situations. So this is just another way for me to do that,” concluded Garnett.

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