Is breathing a specific way important or overkill?

philly said:

Why complicate things ...?

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It's about excellence.

There are a plethora of things going on in an expert's game that you only learn to see later on. Some people never do and they just cheer either, "USA!", or, "Europe!", and never really see how these people got to where they are.

It all depends on how good you want to get. If you're happy where you're at, then congratulations for reaching your goal. Mine is perhaps a few more miles down the road from where I'm at and it's nice to be surrounded by like-minded people looking to find one more tool to help reach further.

Tin Man said:

I don't think there is a way anyone has to breathe, but it's helpful to avoid taking shallow breaths when nervous. I like to do two things:

1) When nervous I take a few deep breaths and release.
2) During my preshot routine when I address the ball just before getting in stance I take a deep breath and release.

I feel that number 2 really helps me relax before shooting. It also minimizes my need for taking deep breaths when I'm down on the shot which helps avoid moving too much. So I don't hold my breath, but I can breath shallow because I just took a big breath already.

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There is a audio program about then mental side of pool called a mind of steel. It has some good info. https://drstankovich.com/products/downloadable-mp3s/

He talks about one of the way to help with nervousness is to take a deep breath before shooing.It has some good practical tips concerning the mental game from a professional sports psychologist .

CocoboloCowboy said:

But if you taking a very long shot 200 yards or more, and little movement will cause a miss. Soo Sniper area train to be perfectly still, breat a certain way, and then do all sorts of correction for tempeture, wind, humidity. Long range shooting is very very precise.

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200 yards is long shot?
In Finnish army we did shoot to 150 meters in 7.62 RK 62 assault rifle and i did shoot 18 out of 18 in 2€ area. Snipers are shooting a tad longer shots imo...
maybe you meant 2000 yards?

200 meters

Poolmanis said:

200 yards is long shot?
In Finnish army we did shoot to 150 meters in 7.62 RK 62 assault rifle and i did shoot 18 out of 18 in 2€ area. Snipers are shooting a tad longer shots imo...
maybe you meant 2000 yards?

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I wasn't going to say anything but at 200 meters the military is still using iron sights training, or were last I knew. They do seem to be in love with toys now.

Police snipers are unlikely to take a shot for real. If they do it will probably be sub 200 yards or meters. A police sniper shot a gun out of a guy's hand, the shot was only sixty or seventy yards and his confidence was high enough to take the shot.

I have lost track of the military long range kill record, it was about two miles last I knew. At one time the record holder had two confirmed kills at the maximum range. He used his first hit as a sighter and quickly fired again.

The military guys usually have a spotter with them on a computer, sometimes the scope is packing it's own computer. No "Kentucky Windage" you dial in the setting on the scope and trust the optics to settle before the first shot. More trust in a "snake" than I have but then again, they don't have much choice.

They are dialing in scopes the way we used to dial in loads shooting benchrest. Made the range owner crazy watching me load 28 pieces of brass or less, shoot, reload the brass, shoot, cycles over and over. I could wear out a barrel before I wore out those thirty pieces of brass even shooting loads above 70,000PSI. I have a backyard I can shoot over 200 yards in now, wish I had my BR equipment back! It ended up in good hands.

Hu

My take on this - Number one, it's beneficial to take a deep breath before shooting a difficult shot. You are bringing oxygen to your brain and it gives you a little more clarity, and like Tin Man said, it is relaxing. You will see many players do this before attempting a difficult shot. Number two, you don't want to be thinking about your breathing when you are down to shoot. You want your entire body to be relaxed and still. Not rigid, but still. Big difference. Your mind should be clear of all thoughts as much as possible. Once you figure out how you want to hit the ball, then just get down and do it! As for me, I do know my breathing is very light when I'm down on the ball and I'm not inhaling or exhaling when making my final stroke.

Your best pool is played at a very subconscious level, where there is not a great deal of thinking about each shot involved. You play more by instinct then by intellect. You see the shot and "feel" the way you want to hit it. Then you translate that feel into your interpretation on the table. I hope this makes sense to some of you. Some things are not easily explainable.

Jim...The pros, for the most part, have no idea what they do. #1...NEVER EVER hold your breath to shoot. We do teach deep breathing to settle yourself. What you described is probably a good way to go!

Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour

Buzzard II said:

In bullseye pistol or precision rifle it is very important. Incorporating a breathing pattern into your PSR could only help. By how much? That would be interesting subject matter for Dr. Dave. Maybe Scott Lee and Randy G. could work it into their teachings with eye pattern. Intake on set, with a hold at pause and release at finish. Something like that.

A scientific analysis of top pro's might be most insightful.

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Yeah, it like shooting a gun, hold in breath and squeeze the trigger. Same in darts. Does not apply to running.

if you carry this to the extreme you might pass out!