DeepSummary
The episode explores a phenomenon called the yips, where elite performers suddenly and inexplicably lose the ability to do the very thing they have practiced their entire lives and are best at. The story of former baseball pitcher Rick Ankiel, who developed a severe case of the yips during a playoff game at age 21, is used to illustrate this baffling condition.
Despite trying everything to regain his pitching ability, including working with psychologists and breaking down his mechanics, Ankiel was unable to overcome the yips and had to retire from pitching. However, he eventually made an improbable comeback as an outfielder in the major leagues after experiencing a profound revelation about switching positions.
While the yips were once thought to be purely psychological, new research suggests they may have a neurological basis involving a movement disorder called focal dystonia. Understanding the yips could provide insights into how the brain learns complex skills and what allows some to excel while others struggle despite similar practice.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The yips is a baffling phenomenon where elite performers suddenly and inexplicably lose the ability to execute skills they have practiced extensively.
- While once thought to be purely psychological, new research suggests the yips may have a neurological basis involving a movement disorder called focal dystonia.
- Overcoming the yips often requires acceptance rather than obsessive practice, which can exacerbate the condition.
- Studying the yips could provide insights into how the brain learns complex skills and what allows some to excel while others struggle.
- The story of baseball player Rick Ankiel illustrates both the anguish of the yips and the possibility of an improbable comeback.
- Understanding neurological conditions like the yips is an area of vast uncertainty, highlighting opportunities for future breakthroughs.
- The ability to perform at an elite level in a particular domain is in many ways still a mystery of the human mind.
- Acceptance and reframing one's mindset can sometimes be more effective than stubborn persistence when facing certain challenges.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “It's one of the loneliest places you ever want to be.“ by Rick Ankiel
- “Neurology has lots of therapeutics, but it doesn't have a lot of cures. It's just tumbling. How little we know about this, really. I think 50 years from now, people will look back derivatively like, I can't believe they thought that. I can't believe they were treating it this way. Didn't they know this? They're probably going to think that of people who are seeing these patients today.“ by Steve Fruct
- “There isn't another disorder that I know of that gives you a window into talent and cognition and motor learning the way task specific dystonia can do so well.“ by Steve Fruct
- “I felt like I floated around the bases on a magic carpet.“ by Rick Ankiel
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Episode Information
Unexplainable
Vox
3/27/24
Think about the thing you’ve practiced more than anything else in the world. Maybe it’s painting. Or writing. Or playing the piano. Now imagine you wake up one day and you just can’t do it. You’re not sick. You’re not injured. But that one thing is impossible.
It’s called the yips, and even the most talented people in the world experience it. What could cause them to lose their superpowers? And is there anything they can do to get them back?
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