Crashing and the yips
 

Crashing has taken some tolls on my confidence in the past but it always varies as far as returning to 100% on the bike. Sometimes my psyche recovers much faster than the injury (broken hand) but I had one bad crash (vertabrae, ribs, collarbone, rotator cuff) that I still don't think I've bounced back from over the last few years. Still a little bit of lingering fear and doubt in the far recesses but I've gotten back up to 99% and that's good enough.

Anyone else ever have a case of the yips from cycling crashes?

Just now recovering from a broken hip....
I've mounted the bike (same one I crashed) on a Cycle Ops Fluid 2 in my living room and I am doing a couple of hours a day to stay in shape for the day when I can walk without a cane.
They tell me that the leg will be even stronger than before with the titanium rod in there so I can't say I am too worried.
Although, given the choice , I would pass on a repeat performance!

there was one morning In my 9th grade on my way to school when i ride my "daily routine bike" , I bent my head and put my arms on the handlebar, suddenly I rised my head and seen a taxi opened the door....bump! and my collarbone broke, for a long time I've shadowed under this, and last year I also crashed several times because of the unstability of bike----every time I crash, I happened to be taking something out of my clothes...However, these injuries on me increased my courage of cycling, and i ain't have no idea of why....

Yeah. I crashed in a turn on a descent a year ago, badly busted my shoulder. Was back on the bike by January, but didn't regain my confidence descending until a few months ago. In the first few months back, I actually ran off the road during a few descents because I was riding so skittishly and didn't dare to lean enough into the turn. The gravel on the roads in winter didn't help (my crash was gravel-induced). So the past few months, having returned to nice and zippy descents, have been great :-)

I think if you're nervous about a particular situation after a crash then you need to drill your skills until you feel comfortable in said situation. Break down the crash into individual components and decide what you feel even 0.1% uncertain about. Factors when drilling include soft landing spots (grass, dirt), slow speeds, support from other riders, etc.

how many grams did you save with the titanium rod?

I was hit going down a mountain, because apparently passing a cyclist going uphill around a blind turn is a good idea, and I still go down hills slow 6 months later, unless I am following somebody who knows what they are doing. This isn't helped by the fact that the front wheel of my motorcycle slid out from underneath me while I was going a whopping 5 or so MPH (lightly damp pavement, first rain in a while, on a surface where cars park, wet oil on ground...). And while it was slow, I am now nervous on both the moto and the bicycle with regards to turning with any real speed.

I'll get over it, I hope. If not, I can live with being slow, the key word being live.

being gunshy after a crash is completely normal and healthy. if you don't learn from your errors they will definitely happen again.

however, CDR is right, as usual. you must practice what you fear. you don't jump right into the deep end. it can be a big descent, but take it slowly. or you can find smaller hills and go slow, then medium, then fast.

confidence is massive and so is your focus. if you stare at the guardrail, you become much more likely to hit the guardrail. believe in yourself and always look where you want to go.

I should point out that I've analyzed all my own crashes (seems like endlessly). I've had some bad ones, I've had some harmless ones. I crashed on my own frequently for about 5 years, learning limits. For the next 20+ years I basically crashed due to others, with two exceptions.

The worst for me are wet corners - with such a wide range of traction levels available at a given time, I tend to be very slow in wet turns.

Everything else I've drilled/practiced and know that I'm okay, therefore I'm not afraid. This goes for group riding, cornering hard in all but wet conditions (solo/group), descending fast on unknown roads (solo/group), etc.

I'll add that cornering is a significant skill that many (most?) riders lack. This applies, at lower rates, even at the ProTour level. Cornering is the key to descending; understanding cornering is the key to making moves while either giving yourself an out or taking the risk of not having an out.

Group riding skills are important too, and mainly this comes from being able to focus on more than one's own riding.

Descending is just going fast and cornering speeds become slightly higher. Most riders don't corner properly. This isn't a problem at lower speeds, but it becomes terribly important when going fast.

Cornering is free. There's no fitness involved. All normal bikes corner reasonably well (excepting some tire/surface combinations, like knobby tires on pavement). And you can practice cornering every time you drive, even every time you're a passenger (focus on what the driver should have done).

I guarantee that once you can corner proficiently you'll descend with much more confidence.

Sometimes crashes aren't about skills or lack thereof. In those cases, for me the yips is hard to get rid of.

I think that's a valid point and could explain a lot about my yippyness now. the freak accident thing can't be prepared for that well

Last (first ever broken bone) major crash I got taken out about as intentionally as intentional gets. Although an unrecoverable impact (at least for me), I understand what happened (guy swerved sideways at 30 mph on purpose). No yips.

The one shortly after I turned back to check for cars just as my teammate slammed on the brakes. My fault. I look back a bit less now. No yips, but some close calls in groups of inexperienced riders.

I've also fallen hard in (flat) turns, descents (turns and straights), etc. I've had blowouts on front and rear and both, at high speeds. I've had spokes break, due to stuff hitting them or due to plain failure. I've made a conscious decision to stop using a fork or frame or bars or stem or wheel or tire or cable or brake etc etc etc because I no longer trusted them. I know that if my fork failed I'd be on the ground really fast so I try and make sure that that doesn't happen.

I back off when I feel uncomfortable too, so that's my personal thing. Maybe those are yips, just so automatic I don't think of it.

Let's call it what it is. Yips are fear and uncertainty.

So if you're not afraid of your own skills and decisions-- and trying to improve them-- then what is it you're fearing?

A) others crashing into you
B) physical pain of crashes regardless of cause, risk of injury or death, etc
C) economic loss (I can't replace a bike worth $x,xxx)
D) road conditions
E) motorists

You simply have to be able to mitigate the risk and fear in some way. Each of the above has things you can do to help, but nothing and I mean nothing will take these things completely away. Everything you do has risk and if you're uncertain about them then your performance is going to suffer or you're not going to be able to do it at all.

And I'm not saying this like I'm some badass who is never afraid. Ignoring risk is a good way to get hurt or killed. Dealing with risk, on the other hand, whether it's having a plan in your head or practicing a skill is a good way to perform in spite of your fears.

Right-hooked by a car in August. Took a month to get a new bike and get back on the road. Still overly-concerned about getting right-hooked but it's getting better. I'll have an 800 mile month this month and I think that time in the saddle really does make things better.

PTSD comes in all forms.

This is the most important rule of safe ridind and driving. External, as well as internal conditions (expertise in riding, familiarity with road, concentration, fatigue, etc.) can vary widely. The brain does all the calculations unconsciously in background and finds out *your* limits for every conditions you meet. If you don't feel safe, you bet you aren't.

Accidents happen mostly when you take risks that exceed capabilities, or if you take the risks lightly (which leads to the same thing).

The first thing I've learned about riding in busy urban traffic was the eye contact with drivers. Eye contact won't prevent them from opening the door in your face (all the while looking at you in the side mirrror), but it will alert you to that possibility. Eye contact will tell you which possible actions a driver (or pedestrian, child, etc.) can take, so you'll be prepared for the worst.

Which all boils down to matching your speed to your current agility, concentration and awareness, coupled with road and traffic conditions. This matching is done automatically by the brain in background already. Just follow your safety instincts and you should be mostly OK.

BTW there are books for efficient and safe riding techniques. I regard them as prerequisite for cycling.

I was in a bad crash a little over 25 years ago.

Afterwards, every time my speed went over 25mph or so, I'd start reliving the last few seconds before the crash. It totally sucked and it was about 5 years before I felt comfortable riding a bike at any kind of speed.

Yeah,Thank You，I Really appreciate your advice^_^

I ride through the intersection where I was hit in Oct. I sat accross the street in my my car a few times, drove through it the way she was going when she hit me and finally got on my new bike and pedalled through. Some days are better than others. After two full months of daily commuting I still take a quick breath and a pause, quick double check to see if anyone is going to run the stop sign at that intersection. I think a little fear is okay, there are way to many idiots with cellphones and drivers licenses out there. I would rather ride through the fear than not ride at all.

My dad had a real bad crash a few years ago, that to this day sometimes still gives me a case of the yips.

I crashed descending and it was caught on tape. After looking at it I realized I was very lucky. I haven't descended the same since. It's not worth it to me.

After having a crash
of my own today, I too am just struck (literally and figuratively) by the whole incident. Physically, the body can recover just fine, but that mental damage just sticks to ya like a rabid mongoose. At least my crash was completely my fault (wasn't paying attention.. don't all crashes begin with those three words? read my thread for full details), so the only thing I am going to be worrying about is my own dumb ass not paying attention, and not other cars or bikes.