The Mentorship that Changed my Life (and fixed my yips): Powered by @FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats It all started with a desperate message. “Hi Rachel, I have the yips really really bad. I heard you were coming to Sydney to coach, and that you’ve had the same throwing struggles. I was wondering if we could talk some time”.
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats It’s late 2020, and I had just come off 2 weeks of isolation quarantine in Sydney, Australia. Leading up to this point I was consistently in the mid 90s and throwing strikes in my bullpens. I was ready for a breakout season in 2021.
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats This felt apart one night during a Live BP session. I felt ‘off’ because of the 2 weeks in quarantine. Regardless I pitched - when one of my FBs slipped out of my fingers. I look up, and the hitter was on the floor squirming in pain. He just took 95 mph to the head.
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats Fast forward 1 month, I’m deathly afraid of throwing. When I did throw, it would either spike right in front of me or sail past my catcher. I had no feel for the baseball.
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats I was desperate, and reached out to anyone for advice. 1 of these people happened to be Rachel Balkovec. An unlikely mentorship began.
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats Rachel Balkovec @_rachelbalkovec is the first full-time female hitting coach and manager in Minor League Baseball. Basically a Bad-Ass. She will go down in history and paved the way for many others to follow. I'm extremely grateful to have spent time together.
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats @_rachelbalkovec Rachel and I spent 3 months together, and it would be impossible to compile all my learnings into 1 thread. However I will go through the major components of what we worked on: 1) Anxiety and Fear Management 2) Identity 3) "Mental Injury" Throwing Progression
@FlatgroundApp @FlatgroundBats @_rachelbalkovec 1) Anxiety and Fear control The yips for me rooted in anxiety and fear. My brain would go into fight-flight-freeze mode every time I made a throw. I couldn’t run away from throwing the ball, so I froze up. My muscles tensed. Throwing to a target suddenly seemed impossible.