Flush It: what to do in the eight seconds after a mistake

Every athlete has been told to move on from a mistake. Almost none have been told how. The instruction assumes the athlete has a mechanism, and most do not, so the error keeps running in the background while the next play starts without them.

Flush It is the in-performance reset in the Mindset Performance System™. It exists because the window is small. Between a turnover and the next puck battle there might be eight seconds. A reset that takes a full bench shift is not a reset, it is a delay.

Step one is physical: one exhale that is longer than the inhale. That is not calming for its own sake. A longer exhale shifts the balance back toward the system that keeps fine motor control available, and it takes about three seconds.

Step two is a verdict on the play, not on the player. One sentence, factual: 'stick was flat.' The brain will label the event whether or not the athlete chooses the label, and an unclaimed error tends to get labeled as identity. Naming the mechanic keeps it a mechanic.

Step three is the cue phrase for the next rep. Short, in the athlete's own words, pointed at what happens next rather than at what just happened. 'Feet first.' 'Wide and early.' Attention has to land somewhere, and this is where it lands.

The reason it works in a game is that it was rehearsed when nothing was on the line. Run it after failed reps in practice, when the cost of a bad rep is zero. By the time the season needs it, the sequence is automatic and does not require a decision.

This is mental performance training. It is not therapy or mental health treatment.