If you play sports long enough, you’re going to have “one of those moments.” Missing the easy shot, striking out with the bases loaded, or getting beaten on the play to give up a big score. It’s frustrating, and sometimes those mistakes feel like they define your whole game. But here’s the truth: every great athlete that you’ve ever seen, no matter their sport, has made a big mistake. What separates them is how they learned to mentally reset, move forward, and continue to compete with confidence.
It’s a skill that every athlete can learn. In fact, the ability to reset might be the most important skill you ever develop in sports. Here are a few mental reset techniques that you can take with you into your next game!
1. Use the “Pause–Breathe–Refocus” Method
Every game is fast, and it’s easy to let moments get past you when you’re not thinking straight. Especially after a mistake. Your brain floods with frustration and self-criticism, the space around you can get louder and it becomes harder to think. That’s when you need to slow things down.
Pause – Don’t rush to fix it on the very next play. Just take a split second to acknowledge what happened and stop the spiral of negative thoughts.
Breathe – Take one deep, steady breath in through your nose, then out through your mouth. This helps calm your body’s stress response.
Refocus – Shift your attention to the next play, not the last one. Picture yourself doing the next thing right—making a clean pass, squaring up the ball, staying locked in on defense.
The whole process takes a matter of seconds, but it can completely change the direction of your game. No matter how big the moment may seem, or how much pressure you feel to succeed, there is always time for a deep breath.
2. Create Your Own Reset Cue
A reset cue is a short word or phrase you say to yourself to get back on track. It’s like pressing a mental “reset button.”
Some examples:
- “Next play.”
- “Eyes up.”
- “Lock in.”
- “Let it go.”
It should be short enough to repeat quickly in your head and positive enough to shift your focus forward. Over time, your brain will connect that phrase with the feeling of moving on. It may seem simple or hard to believe, but think of it like your training. Every rep counts, and you have to put in the reps to see results. Developing your mental game is done the exact same way.
3. Build a Physical Reset Routine
Sometimes, the fastest way to change your mindset is to change your body language. This is something a lot of elite athletes do without even realizing it.
You might shake out your hands, slap your thighs, adjust your jersey, or bounce on your toes. These little, intentional movements are similar to a deep breath. They take your focus off of what just happened for a split second and can signal to your body that it’s time to move on. Time for the next play.
Think of it like shocking your system back on track with a quick, comforting movement. Sometimes you really can just “shake it off.”
4. Focus on What You Can Control
After a mistake, it’s easy to obsess over the outcome: the missed shot, the bad throw, the goal you gave up. But focusing on the outcome keeps you stuck in the past.
Instead, zero in on the things you can control right now—your effort, your positioning, your communication with teammates. You can’t change what already happened, but you can influence what happens next. Sometimes it can be hard to remember how much your routine matters. You focus on making the most of every practice, every rep in the gym, and every step towards recovery, but that mentality gets lost on game day for a lot of athletes. The pressure of competition can outweigh the work and preparation we’ve put in. If you can lock in on the things you can control, just like you do all week in practice, then you can compete at your best on every play!
5. Practice Mental Resets in Practice
You can train your brain to recover faster, just like you train your body.
Next time you make a mistake in practice, don’t roll your eyes or check out—use it as a chance to run through your reset routine. The more you practice bouncing back, the easier it becomes in real games. Once again, every rep counts. It’s up to you to execute them.
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