Hello i am searching for advice. I am a poker dealer, this is my 5th year of dealing cards actively (160hrs+/month). The problem is i think i forgot how to pitch the cards. During my shifts i always tried to improve the speed of my technique by slightly changing the mechanics of throwing (someone who never dealt cards will not understand what this post is about). I came to the point a cannot actually pitch the cards the way i did it before i started experimenting. If i want to deal that way its slow and i start to expose the cards. What happened? I need my old technique back the current one is not professional. It suddenly happened from one night to another.

Sounds like the Tiger Woods Syndrome. He's changed his swing so many times he's forgot how to do it.

Sympathies but no idea what to do about it.

PairTheBoard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips

thank you so much guys, i had no idea such thing exists, but it absolutely checks out. Dunno how to really feel about it but it kind of fascinates me that this can happen. How can my brain forget something i did according to my calculation around 5,000,000 times

We are a weird organism.

OP, Have you talked to a doctor?

Stop thinking about it. Try to deal while thinking about a math problem. Your body will default to what it knows best which is the old way of dealing. (if you keep your mind off of it, I mean)

different part of brain firing?

a teaching golf pro once told me '...do you think about walking, putting one foot here and one there or do you just do it without thinking...'

The point being is the more you over think it the worse you get.

He teaches something that requires no real thinking? Keeping your eye on the ball before a shot involves thinking you must keep your eye on the ball.

I agree with your own point though. At what point it becomes overthinking is the question.

he tried to keep it simple, swing the club easily and naturally and get the ball in the way.

I remember an old story of a young golf phenom who was a natural and was winning national tournaments. He decided to write a book and explain his technique, became so bad at the game he had to quit.

3. Ralph Guldahl

Ralph Guldahl is, arguably, the greatest golfer that most (casual) golf fans of today have never heard of. He's in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and his collapse is truly mysterious.

From 1937 to 1939, Guldahl won three majors: two U.S. Opens (1937 and '38) and the 1939 Masters. He won three straight Western Opens (1936-38) at a time when the Western Open was the equivalent of a major. In his brief PGA Tour career, Guldahl won 16 tournaments and finished second 19 times.

But after his 1939 Masters victory, things quickly went south. He won a couple times in 1940 (when he turned 29), then ... nothing. Guldahl never won again after 1940. He quit the Tour in 1942, returning only briefly in 1949, but essentially his career was over after the 1940 season.

What happened? Nobody really knows. Guldahl's game just disappeared. One theory that is often quoted is that when Guldahl - who was no technician and had never paid much attention to swing theories - wrote an instructional book, he overnalyzed his swing and, poof, it was gone. "Paralysis by analysis," as the saying goes.

Well, i tried not to think about it just like when you are walking. But its no longer possible its like cursed cycle. Few days later i talked to our general manager explained to him my issue and it went suprisingly well. Long story short i am managing tournaments now. Life is strange

Really glad I read this thread and can't wait to get out on the golf course again.