Motor imagery ability in baseball players with throwing yips.

The motor imagery ability is closely related to an individual's motor performance in sports. However, whether motor imagery ability is diminished in athletes with yips, in whom motor performance is impaired, is unclear. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aimed to determine whether general motor imagery ability or vividness of motor imagery specific to throwing motion is impaired in baseball players with throwing yips. The study enrolled 114 college baseball players. They were classified into three groups: 33 players in the yips group, 26 in the recovered group (previously had yips symptoms but had resolved them), and 55 in the control group. They answered the revised version of the vividness of movement imagery questionnaire (VMIQ-2), which assesses general motor imagery ability. Furthermore, they completed a questionnaire that assesses both positive and negative motor imagery vividness specific to baseball throwing. In the former, they responded to their ability to vividly imagine accurately throwing a controlled ball, whereas in the latter, they responded to the vividness of their experience of negative motor imagery associated with baseball throwing, specifically the image of a wild throw. No significant difference in the VMIQ-2 was found among the three groups. While no significant difference in the vividness of positive motor imagery for ball throwing was found in either first-person visual or kinesthetic perspectives among the three groups, the yips group exhibited significantly higher vividness of negative motor imagery than the control group in both perspectives. These results indicate that negative motor imagery specific to baseball throwing may be associated with symptoms of yips. Therefore, interventions addressing psychological aspects, such as anxiety, which are potential causes of the generation of negative motor imagery, may be necessary to alleviate the symptoms of yips.

Difference in Personality Traits and Symptom Intensity According to the Trigger-Based Classification of Throwing Yips in Baseball Players.

The triggers of initial onset of yips symptoms can be broadly divided into psychological and non-psychological factors; however, a trigger-based classification of yips has not been established. This study aims to obtain insight into the prevention of yips by clarifying whether there are differences in symptoms and personality traits according to a trigger-based classification of yips in baseball players. A total of 107 college baseball players responded to a questionnaire assessing the presence or absence of yips and its symptoms. They were classified into the psychologically triggered yips group, the non-psychologically triggered yips group, and the non-yips group based on the presence or absence of yips and the triggers of its initial onset. Additionally, we compared whether personality traits examined by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory differed across these three groups. The psychologically triggered yips group had significantly higher agreeableness scores compared with the non-yips group, whereas the non-psychologically triggered yips group had significantly higher neuroticism scores compared with the psychologically triggered yips group. In the non-psychologically triggered yips group, there was a significantly higher frequency of throwing errors than in the psychologically triggered yips group, with a tendency to develop yips symptoms gradually. Since the trigger-based classification of yips is closely related to the strength of the yips symptoms and the players' personality traits, the results of this study contribute to a better understanding of the symptoms of yips and establishment of the prevention of yips. Large prospective studies are necessary to determine the causal relationship between a trigger-based classification of yips and the personality traits and symptoms of athletes with yips.