Breaking Through the Plateau: How to Revitalize Your Golf Game

Golf, often considered one of the most challenging and rewarding sports, offers a unique blend of relaxation and frustration. If you’re like most golfers who strive to improve their skills and lower their scores, you’ve likely encountered a common obstacle: the plateau. Learn about this critical point at which golfers stall out in improving their games and practical recommendations to help you break through that golf plateau and revitalize your game to reach the next level of skill.

What is plateauing?

Plateauing is a common phenomenon in skill development and learning. It is a point where progress slows down or even comes to a halt, and individuals may feel like they are not improving, even with continued effort. 

There’s quite a bit of psychology behind the plateau. Regardless of what type of skills people are learning, they go through common phases: the cognitive phase, the associative stage, and the autonomous stage.

During the cognitive stage, the individual collects knowledge and information about how a goal can be obtained–in this case, how to get the ball into the hole. Golfers learn how to hold the club, how to swing, how to measure distance, when to switch clubs, etc.

Next, the individual moves into the associative stage, or what you might refer to as dedicated practice. In this phase, the golfer knows what they should do, but in very deliberate practice, they seek to refine their skills. They get frequent feedback, and they keenly self-evaluate every move.

Last, the individual arrives at the autonomous stage. Once here, the learner no longer has to think about what they’re doing–they’re essentially fluent, and the actions or decisions flow freely. If you think about driving to work every day, you can probably relate to what it feels like to be in an autonomous stage: you don’t have to think about what you’re doing and may even tune out segments of the journey. Golfers experience this same phenomenon.

The plateau often happens in the autonomous stage. Individuals reach this level and either become satisfied with their current skill level and stop trying to improve, or they lose sight of how to improve since they’ve already accomplished all of their initial goals. In golf, a player may have implemented all the recommendations provided by their coach and feel unsure about how to improve further. Unfortunately, doing more of the same is unlikely to reveal different results.

Some of the signs you may have reached a golf plateau include:

• Consistency in scoring: You often find yourself consistently scoring within the same range without significant improvement.
• Frustration and stagnation: A sense of frustration and stagnation can take over, leading to a lack of enthusiasm for the game.
• Inability to break par: You may struggle to consistently break your personal par or handicap, even after extensive practice.
• Technique stagnation: You find it challenging to incorporate new techniques or eliminate old habits from your swing.

How to Break Through the Golf Plateau

Once again, we can look toward traditional psychology to learn how to break out of plateaus. You need to get your mind and body back to the associative stage. This involves creating an environment of deliberate practice for yourself.

During deliberate practice, you return to a very structured approach to learning with the intention of improving your skills. You return to coaching or classes, seek new recommendations, get unique feedback, and once again become very critical of implementing these new ideas into practice. During this phase, you should consider your strengths and weaknesses to identify obstacles holding you back.

Here are more ideas about how to push past the golf plateau:

1. Get lessons from a new teacher. A new coach will see your performance differently and notice opportunities for improvement that your first coach missed. Or, sometimes, just hearing advice from a new voice can help you understand instructions differently and better implement techniques that will improve your game.
2. Practice on different courses. If you always tend to visit the same golf course, change up your game by playing somewhere completely different. This will force you to evaluate new challenges and think more about your moves. You can run on autopilot when you haven’t played the course before!
3. Play with a friend who is much better at the game. Find a golfing buddy who is much better than you and ask them to advise you during the game. While they might not have all the skills to be a coach, they may have some ideas to help you improve. Plus, it’s almost guaranteed you’ll think hard about every move since you’re golfing with someone more skilled than you!
4. Join a men’s or women’s golf club. Joining a club and participating in regular tournaments will not only give you more practice, but they will also put a little more pressure on you to evaluate your performance under pressure.
5. Start working out to improve strength, flexibility, and cardio endurance. Strengthening your body can significantly impact your golf game. A fit body enables you to make a more consistent and powerful swing. Incorporate exercises to improve your core strength, flexibility, and balance.

Don’t forget the mental game.

If you notice you’re getting bored or discouraged about golfing, it may be time to work on your mental outlook. Having a positive outlook on your performance will improve your skills and inevitably help you have more fun on the course. Here are a few things you can do to get your mind feeling more positive:

1. Positive Self-talk: Replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations. Encourage yourself, and remind yourself of your past successes.
2. Visualization: Visualize yourself succeeding on the course. Imagine your shots landing where you want them to and see yourself achieving your goals.
3. Stay Patient: Understand that improvement takes time. Be patient with yourself, and avoid getting discouraged if you don’t see immediate results.
4. Stay Relaxed: Tension can negatively affect your game. Relax, enjoy the game, and don’t let frustration get the best of you.
5. Mental Toughness: Work on developing mental toughness. Learn to bounce back from a bad shot or round and maintain your composure.

Let’s work together to get you past your golf plateau!

Regardless of their skill level, every golfer faces plateaus in their journey to improve. The key to breaking through these plateaus is a combination of technical refinement, mental fortitude, and a willingness to adapt and learn. Embrace change, seek professional guidance, practice purposefully, and cultivate your mental game. Our team at the Eagle Point Golf Club is committed to helping you reach your goals and perform at your absolute personal best.

If this information resonates with you, it’s time to schedule a coaching session with our resident golfing professional, Logan Genaw. With decades of experience, Logan will work to understand where you are on your golfing journey and help you bust through any obstacles, like reaching a golf plateau. Call us today at (541) 826-8225 to learn more about our personalized coaching sessions and how we can help you improve your game.