Today is June 3 and the Navigating the Chaos question to consider is “How often do you allow adversity to strengthen you?”
St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, Rick Ankiel, was named High School Player of the Year and Minor League Player of the Year and was called, "the most promising young left-handed pitcher in a generation," by The New York Times Magazine.
Coach Tony La Russa picked him to play in the first game of the National League division series against the Atlanta Braves at 21 years of age. But in that series Ankiel threw 9 wild pitches and walked 11 batters in just 4 innings. Ankiel had lost his pitching skills. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Ankiel was suffering from yips.
Yips is the loss of fine motor skills in athletes. It is poorly understood and has no known treatment or therapy. Athletes affected by the yips sometimes recover their ability but many are forced to abandon their sport at the highest level. Ankiel was no exception.
The year after pitching in the National League division series he was sent down to the minors but still struggled with yips. After trying unsuccessfully to resurrect his pitching, Ankiel re-started his baseball career as an outfielder.
In his April 2017 book, The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, Ankiel describes how the true test of his character came not on the mound, but in the long days and nights that followed as he searched for a way to get back in the game. For four and a half years, he fought the Yips and, after reconsidering his whole life at the age of twenty-five, Ankiel made an amazing turnaround: returning to the Major Leagues as a hitter and playing seven successful seasons.
Walt Disney noted “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me….You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
Ankiel’s adversity with yips strengthened him. How often do you allow adversity to strengthen you?