breathing & pool stroke

berlowmj

berlowmj

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Manuals on bullseye pistol shooting suggest careful patterns of breathing to be coordinated with sight alignment, target acquisition etc.

What comparable patterns of breathing are recommended for executing the pool stroke?
 
Good Question

berlowmj said:
Manuals on bullseye pistol shooting suggest careful patterns of breathing to be coordinated with sight alignment, target acquisition etc.

What comparable patterns of breathing are recommended for executing the pool stroke?
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I would like to see the replies from Master Instructors here.:smile:
 
tucson9ball said:
I would like to see the replies from Master Instructors here.:smile:
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I don't know what the Master Instructors will say, but I personally subscribe to the pattern of breath in ....breath out...breath in...breath out. ;)


Seriously there is not necessarily anything wrong with developing a breathing method of some sort....(not necessarily for aim but for actual oxegen)

Some players...(under pressure) stop breathing or their breathing becomes very shallow and by the end of a rack limits the amount of air and can have an effect on thier play....(I have been guilty of this)
 
Zen Archery covered some of this, it takes a little bit to figure out the timing for each different phase of the shotmaking process. But once you have it down I believe it settles your nerves, plus anything that regulates your pre-shot routine should make you more consistent and less prone to folding under pressure.

At least that is what I got from the reading and practicing that I have done over the past couple of years.
 
Oh PLEASE don't give me one more thing to think about. I watched Jerry Briesath's How to Shoot Pool Right DVD and then shot my worst game ever, because I was thinking about my elbow and thinking about right or left follow and how high.

Today I walked in and played my best ever because I focused on two things only: Aim and a s l o w s t e a d y stroke. Once I am able to do that without sapping 100% of my concentration, I will focus on follow, draw, position, etc..

Jerry said when pros have problems with their game, it's usually the basics they need a refresher on...... and that's all I know about pool....
 
Breathing

I never really gave it much thought, about breathing while shooting. Just figured if you are relaxed and going at your own pace, everything seems to fall in place.
I am curious if any players at the top of the food chain have some way of breathing that they think is key to shooting great?
 
Oddly enough I pay attention to my breathing when I shoot, but not so much when I'm playing pool.
 
My .02

Keep your rhythm. We all have one. When we walk, breath, and stroke, it should stay the same. When you do, your play becomes like a dance. you can see it when a player seems to just fire the rock in with ease. Get into your rythhm and stick with it. JMHO
Peace, Purdman :)
 
Oh yea

I understand that if you have a big gut and are a pool player that you are to relax your gut and let it hang while you are stroking the cueball.

In addition I will have to check whether I breath in or whether I breath out while I am swing my golf club.

In all seriousness I think you are added a variable that need not be concerned about while you are shooting pool.

Kevin
 
Only bad breathing is bad

I think breathing correctly is critical to your sport, especially pool, shooting, and golf. I would like someone to tell me the correct way to breathe and make it part of my stroke because I do think your breathing needs to complement your stroke, not work against it. What I have found from practice is that on certain shots, I do it wrong, and I think it contributes to missed shots.

When I have a difficult shot to take, I notice that I used to take a deep breathe in, which tenses me up, on my backstroke. Not only does this tense me up, but I can feel a shift in the stroke line because my lungs are fully expanded, which pushes my shoulders out. So until I learn the "correct" way to breathe when playing pool, right now I try to avoid doing it wrong.
 
Surly said:
Oh PLEASE don't give me one more thing to think about. I watched Jerry Briesath's How to Shoot Pool Right DVD and then shot my worst game ever, because I was thinking about my elbow and thinking about right or left follow and how high.

Today I walked in and played my best ever because I focused on two things only: Aim and a s l o w s t e a d y stroke. Once I am able to do that without sapping 100% of my concentration, I will focus on follow, draw, position, etc..

Jerry said when pros have problems with their game, it's usually the basics they need a refresher on...... and that's all I know about pool....
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Thinking about your breathing may be what distracts you from thinking about all the "other" things.

I read that Jack Nicklaus would try and have one ket "swing thought" that he would use. He said that thinking about that one thing distracted him from thinking about everything else and it just worked properly.

Perhaps you "practice" over and over your mechanics, but when it becomes game time you think only about proper breathing and let the mechanivs just "happen"

There could be other swing thoughts that you could use to accomplish the same thing...(just like you described above)

For a while I had built in an "exhale" into my shot process so that I would stay down on my shot better and be "relaxed"...when I did that it seemed to help me tremendously in staying down on my shot....Over time the exhale became more natural to the point that I have "forgot" to do it....and I recently have noticed myself jumping up again much more often.

I doubt many pros will say they have a specific breathing pattern that they think about....but I suspect all of them have at least one specific key "swing thought".
 
First off I am not a great player, very few break&runs but I do practice a lot and I've considered this because I'm a shooter too (hand gun, long range rifle, etc)

Its like others in this thread have mentioned if you focus too much on one aspect of your stroke your likely to mess up another, this needs to come somewhat natural before it is really helpful just like shooting, if your just focusing on breathing you may not get a clean pull and jerk off to the side or if you focus on the pull your breathing might not be right until you've practiced and it comes somewhat natural.
 
Use it as a sharking move. Ask your opponent if he breathes in or out when he pulls the trigger.

I was joking around with a guy one night and tried this. Couldn't stop laughing because I sharked myself.
 
JohnnyP said:
Use it as a sharking move. Ask your opponent if he breathes in or out when he pulls the trigger.
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LOL! It's beautiful in it's simplicity...
 
JohnnyP said:
Use it as a sharking move. Ask your opponent if he breathes in or out when he pulls the trigger.

I was joking around with a guy one night and tried this. Couldn't stop laughing because I sharked myself.
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That is similar to a golf hustler move also.......After they roll in a couple Birdies on you.......Next time he gets in birdie range ....as your walking on the green ask him...

"You are putting well today....Tell me....Do you Push or Pull the putter on takeaway"
 
I had to think about it...

It was one of the best moves ever put on me when I was on a straight pool run against Johnny Marco...and asked me if I was breathing in or out when I hit the cue ball...

Excepting a physical limitation...the last thing you need to be thinking about is your breathing...

Mike
 
Discontinue during execution...........do not 'hold' your breath, momentarily stop.............
 
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