‘The pressure paralysed my ability to function’: Surgeon describes his nightmare year with the yips
A US surgeon tells 6minutes he’s highlighting the time his 'head got in the way of his hands' to help younger doctors.
![](https://www.ausdoc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/4x3_Dr_James_Naples-300x225.jpg)
“The operating theatre became a courtroom to me and I felt on trial”.
Dr James Naples is talking about his time as a trainee surgeon when he experienced what gets described in the sporting arena as the yips — that repeated spasm of anxiety in the heart and the sudden and unexplained loss of the ability to act despite knowing what you need to do.