If you are as infatuated with this game as we have been for the past 24 years, then you will inevitably encounter what we call a “plateau” in your shooting or performance. How long you stay there and where your next one will be is in large part determined by your attitude toward being on the plateau.
All of us would like to be able to just shoot more and get better. We know there are a lot of people who have tried this approach, and any improvement is short-lived and typically results in getting worse, not better, in the long term.
We do appreciate and understand that it is sometimes not a lot of fun being on a plateau. We do, however, find it quite interesting that the plateau is the most important part of the learning process. In fact, it is where the real learning takes place. Not understanding the real value of a plateau has caused many to throw up their hands in frustration and just quit trying to get better. They accept mediocrity.
As we study the learning and performance process, our findings indicate that because most people look at a plateau as a slump, their attitude keeps them from accepting it, and they begin to resist it. And it’s what happens when they begin to resist it that really makes people spiral out of control.
One of the first things that happen when a shooter realizes they are on a plateau is they make a greater commitment to practice or train more, hoping that they can shoot their way out of the plateau. This is how shooters create a slump. We find that it is typically not the amount of time or number of shots in practice that need to be adjusted; it is the quality of the time and effort that need to be adjusted. This is where a person’s attitude toward their situation plays a huge role in if or when the improvement will occur and new levels of performance will emerge.
First, we need to look at what a plateau is and what needs to occur in order for a person to push through to a higher level of performance. No improvement happens without change. For every change there is a price, but the value is in the commitment to the change. Simply put, if you always do what you‘ve always done, you’re always going to get what you have always gotten.
If you want to get better, you are going to have to change something. You are going to have to learn a new skill or mold or shape your present level of skill to a higher one by changing the way you do it. And with change comes the plateau.
Many look at a plateau as a bad thing, but it really is the most important stage of the learning process. Accept the fact that this is where you are now, but it is not where you will always be. Visualize a set of steps leading up to a doorway. Each one is higher than the one before, but you had to go through each one to get to the next one. The thing that scares people about plateaus is that nothing appears to be happening, yet they are still practicing and training. Regardless of how hard they train and practice, there is no noticeable change in their results because their scores are not improving.
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