The long, steep hill to overcoming the yips

Matzek’s not alone in making such a comeback after working with Kuhn.

Since the lefty’s success story, a number of players have reached out to Kuhn; even a professional coach struggling with tossing batting practice sought his help.

Kuhn’s working with 11 players today, ranging from minor leaguers to SEC players to lower-level guys. One of those college arms is Robert Synodi, a pitcher at Eastern Connecticut State, a Division III school.

Kuhn shared with him the same program he employed with Matzek, including a focus on feeling the seams at release. Synodi also began taking medication to address what he learned was significant anxiety.

Also helping Synodi: coming to peace with the idea he may never pitch again.

A common thread through many of these cases: the individual identifies as a baseball player and everything else comes second. When that existence is threatened, it exacerbates the issues.

Synodi paused our conversation to find and repeat exactly what Kuhn had told him. “‘What I do does not define who I am, who I am defines what I do,’” he recited.