Hip, Hip Hooray....Yip, Yip, Boohoo...

Tripped, Yipped, all Twisted Up; Even if you're just a WA (weekend athlete) or, recovering from injury suffered from tripping over your own two feet, you find yourself an AA (armchair athlete) relegated to getting vicarious fulfillment from watching the feats, feets, followed by tweets (#a pro just wiped out; I don't feel so bad"), you/we can all identify with what is generally, globally referred to as "The Yips" 😞Which, in sports, refers to the sudden, unexplained loss of control and/or skills previously mastered to such a degree it's been almost automatic. Ranging from a momentary, subtle Yip which is only detected by the athlete and not the gallery or TV viewers, to more dramatic loss of control which can result in injury. In gymnastics, where it's referred to as "The Twisties" (to become a common reference, excuse to be sure), we had a vivid illustration in the form of Simone Biles, Ms. Consistency, a model of calm, focus, resulting in her walking off the mat, out of the arena, and away from competition, at least temporarily (we hope), away from performing at such a high level (literally, where she suddenly lost focus and found fear). We all empathize, Simone. Ugh, group hug.

Universal (banana)peel: We've all had our moments -- embarrassing, if not down right humiliating, cringe worthy, forgettable. I've had my share and now that I'm writing about this, I'll have to practice a bit of what I preach to put these moments back in the sub, sub, subconscious where they belong. From the classic Yip of golfers in putting--where they, of course, try the simplest of cures like changing putters, while tennis players switch rackets when they can't suddenly find the inbounds line or get it over the net (this is after they have tried asking for a new ball or blaming the line judge). Or in baseball the pitcher just can't find the strike zone, which seems to have shrunk or, on the other end, the batter complains the ball has shrunk to that of a golfer ("swing and a miss!"). In hockey, the occasional 'losing your edge' or tripping over the blue line (as if a line embedded in the ice can rise up and trip them, but it sure looked as if...) and a runner, like the few we witnessed in the Olympic trials, tripped over their own feet or other obstacles like hurdles they have stepped over a thousand times before...Or, in other performance domains, an actor forgets their lines after performing the same play for over a year straight, or an otherwise experienced orator gets 'tongue tied' after giving 1K speeches on the campaign trail (in the case of a longwinded politician we may experience more relief than empathy). Writer's block (banish the thought!). The point is, we've all had them, and all had our own ways to either cope with them, get over them, or continue to purchase new gimmicks. My advice: do whatever it takes, take whatever time it takes, get whatever support you need, but whatever makes you feel more confident (within limits, like new putters/drivers, umpteen tennis rackets, new fangled running shoes...), but in the end, try to find a way back to the thing that brought you joy (and US watching YOU) for so long...

Going out in style, making a splash: If you're gonna screw up on occasion, you may as well do so in style, with finesse even, have some rehearsed lines, excuses, or even some orchestrated ways to make the gallery believe it was part of the act. If you ever find yourself going off the diving board in a public domain and realize in mid-flight ("#%@* I'm losing it!"), you still have a choice -- to do the classiest belly flopper the world has witnessed ("It must have been on purpose Harold, no one has ever done it to that perfection!") or, if the gallery was not convinced, get right up on the board again and do a world class...CANNON BALL ("Now they're all wet, that'll teach 'em!"). Great comebacks, all.