Sports push us in so many ways—mentally, physically, and emotionally. For most athletes, competing isn’t something they just do, but is something rooted in who they are. So when challenges arise and athletes can’t compete, the impact runs deep. One of the most challenging things an athlete can face is a mental block—an invisible and silent opponent that linger days, months, or even years.
Virginia Tech (VT) pole vaulter, Lyndsey Reed, knows this struggle intimately. After facing a mental block that rocked her confidence and strained her relationship with the sport she loved, she found herself questioning if she would ever get back to her old self. What followed was a journey marked by confidence, growth, and refound joy in her sport and in herself.
In her final collegiate season, she not only returned to the runway, but she soared. This spring, Reed won an Atlantic Coast Conference title in the Pole Vault and qualified for the NCAA Championship meet. Her story is full of resilience, healing, and the power of belief. She is a reminder that setbacks don’t define an athlete, but the ability to keep going does.
The Initial Block
Mental blocks are so common that the sports world has a nickname for it: “the yips.” The yips can form from any number of reasons or factors, and often build over time, only worsening this block in our minds.
Reed experienced this first hand. “Some people only experience the yips a few times randomly throughout their career, some have a bout after an injury or accident, but others (like me) get into ruts that last months or even years,” she said. It was very frustrating for her. “You can be in the absolute best shape of your life and completely healthy, yet you still can’t do it,” Reed told us.
Reed had a passion for her sport like no other, but this mental block caused a strain in her relationship with pole vault. “Unless you’ve been through the months or years of struggle with the yips, people around you don’t really understand what you’re going through and often don’t know how to support you. A lot of my early practices were spent frustrated, running through, and feeling hopeless,” she said.
Seeking a Support Team
Through these mental blocks, it’s easy to feel isolated and like no one will truly understand what you are going through. Reed found comfort in her coaching staff and teammates at VT.
“I want to share how deeply grateful I am for Virginia Tech, Bob Phillips, Eric Hale, my fellow vaulters, and our athletic trainers. These people played a huge role in helping me bounce back from adversity, rediscover my passion for pole vaulting, and ultimately finish my career on my own terms. Their belief in me—even when I struggled to believe in myself—made all the difference. That sense of belonging and support reminded me that setbacks are never the end—they’re just part of the process,” Reed said.
This emphasizes the importance of finding a group of people to surround yourself with that will see you as a person first and an athlete second. Their unwavering support for Reed allowed her to find the strength to keep fighting through her mental blocks and get back to the athlete and person she wanted to be.
The Signs of Change
When facing a mental challenge, there’s no easy switch that sends you rocketing back to where you were before you felt this way. But by being in tune with yourself and listening to your mind and body, you can begin to see signs of returning to your most confident self.
For Reed, there was not an exact moment when she knew she was ready to get back on the runway. But once she did, her body sent her signals, proving that she was on track to becoming herself again.
“I was finally feeling those pre-meet butterflies again, and weirdly enough, that was when I started to feel like myself in competition again. For so long, my relationship with the sport had been so strained that I stopped getting nervous for meets altogether—I had lost the competitive edge. So the fact that I was nervous told me something really important: my passion for the sport was starting to come back. I wasn’t just surviving in the sport anymore—I was starting to love it again,” she said.
Patience, support from her circle, and mental fortitude got Reed back on the runway. Though the journey was long and hard, she fought fearlessly to get back. Her passion for vaulting returned and she was able to compete with joy again.
Final Season of Growth
As Reed’s collegiate journey came to an end this spring, the things she learned through her struggles are lessons that she will carry with her for the rest of her life, far beyond the runway.
After all that she went through, Reed learned to redefine her ideas of success. “After getting through this, success looks more like showing up on hard days. It's choosing courage over comfort, and fighting for joy in a sport that almost broke my spirit. I’ve learned that healing doesn’t always happen on a linear timeline, and that growth often happens quietly, in the background, when you feel like you’re making no progress at all,” she told us.
Throughout her career and her mental block, she learned what it meant to be vulnerable. She said, “I used to think being an elite athlete meant being tough all the time, but I now believe that strength is being honest with yourself, asking for support, and letting people in when you're struggling. At the end of the day, I walk away from this experience with a stronger sense of self, a renewed love for the sport, and the knowledge that I’m capable of getting through things I once thought I wouldn't be able to.”
“Healing and progress look different for everyone, and just because it’s taking longer than you hoped doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”
Lessons from the Runway
Reed’s journey has so many valuable lessons for women athletes. Anyone who may be struggling with a mental block needs to know that, like Reed says, “Setbacks—whether physical or mental—don’t define your story, but how you respond to them absolutely will.”
It’s okay to be frustrated. It’s okay for your road back to joy in your sport to take a while. No one is on the same timeline when it comes to recovering from mental blocks. “Healing and progress look different for everyone, and just because it’s taking longer than you hoped doesn’t mean it won’t happen,” Reed reminded us.
Too often, we beat ourselves up for not living up to the high expectations and goals we set for ourselves. We will face challenges and setbacks as athletes, but what’s key is how we respond to them. A mental block is not permanent, but it will take time, patience, resilience, and a support team to get through.
Reed wants us to always remember that “you are still valuable even when you’re in a season of rest, reflection, or rebuilding.” No matter what, we will get through it, and we will come out stronger than we were before.
