Relationships Between Throwing Yips in Baseball, Experiential Avoidance, Cognitive Fusion, Values, and Social Factors

Abstract

Despite the high prevalence of yips, a psychoneuromuscular impairment affecting fine motor skills in sports performance, the specific aspects of its causality and treatment have not been identified or verified. This cross-sectional study examined psychosocial factors relating to throwing yips in baseball. Amateur baseball players (N = 292) living in Japan completed a self-report questionnaire on their anxiety/fear about throwing the ball, the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, the Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire, the Short Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and self-reports evaluating values and social factors relevant to baseball. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that a low values-based throwing score, a high Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire score, and overreprimanding others’ mistakes were positively associated with baseball players’ yips symptoms. These results suggest that changing the context of playing baseball, reducing cognitive fusion, and improving coaching methods could reduce the risk of baseball players’ throwing yips.

Functional Characteristics and Coping Strategies among Rugby Athletes: A Cluster Analysis Approach

“…In the sport psychology research strand, cognitive fusion is often referred to as the occurrence of excessive self-criticism, self-doubt, or intrusive distractions that might hinder an athlete’s capacity to concentrate and perform optimally, ultimately resulting in burnout. Cognitive flexibility serves as an opposing force to the construct previously mentioned by prioritizing the improvement of cognitive skills [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. This cognitive ability allows for nearly simultaneous multitasking, creative or divergent thinking, and the ability to shift perspectives [ 40 ].…”