Using the breath during stroke

Learning to breath the right way is no different than learning the right eye patterns etc...etc. You do it until it becomes "automatic".

I was taught "box breathing" while in the military.

Box breathing works wonders when done correctly.

Jeff
 
That’s a pretty standard technique in just about any physical activity or sport. Whether you’re throwing a ball, weightlifting, playing golf, tennis, pool, etc... For the most part it tends to be pretty natural to inhale on the backswing/backstroke, and exhale on the forward or power stroke.

Just try to consciously reverse it sometime, and see how unnatural it feels…
 
Sorry if this is too much info for some but the subject comes up often so....

Breathing is central to most-self regulation techniques. Breathing is the only part of the autonomic nervous system that is under voluntary control when we are conscious. There is a natural braking mechanism built into all mammals referred to in medicine as the respiratory sinus arrhythmia linked to the baroreceptor reflex. We send a message to other systems in the body via the vagus nerve including the cortex of the brain through the mechanics, rate and volume of respiration. So if you intentionally hyperventilate you will quickly feel the effect. This is seen as also seen as slowing of heart rate when you are relatively calm when you slowly exhale. The heart rate stays steady and we lose this reflex when you are too aroused as a survival mechanism. Some years back we discovered in a study of over 1000 experts in mind body control that when asked to create a state in which they were calm, centered and resilient to stress they all surprisingly brought and maintained the tempo of respiration to within a 1/2 second of 6 breaths per minute. Subsequent to this study It was concluded that this caused a resonance or amplification of this built in breaking reflex and with several months of daily practice you could actually strengthen the reflex. Although powerful, simple and useful to various disciplines, it is most widely used in sports psychology for many sports beyond the obvious such as shooting (or pool) and has positive effects on multiple networks beyond quieting, most interesting for pool is quieting self-talk or busy-mind. A recent user and proponent of this technique is Bryson Dechambeau. I would recommend that if you chose to incorporate this into your PSR, to practice when not playing to the level of not having to think about it and stroke during the 5 second exhale.

If you want to try it I use the app "Breathing Zone" and set the settings to voice: off sound: indian bansuri session length 10 minutes breathing rate: 6.0 start breathing rate: off breathing pattern: equal breath daily goal 20 minutes.

Try to use your diaphragm to breathe and find the right volume of air that feels comfortable but fit it into this tempo like music. If you get sleepy after a few minutes your probably dialed in. It's a temporary sleepy that goes away when you move around. you can also practice when going to sleep and if you fall asleep in the process the app will shut off in 10 min. enjoy
 
garczar said:
Most commonly used breathing technique in shooting is to take a breath, let half of it out, take the shot. This gives you a small time-window when you will be shake-free. My dad was a NRA bulls-eye pistol shooter and i was taught this early on. Works for pool, guns, darts anything where you want to have pretty much motionless concentration.
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Do you mean hold your breath at the halfway point or just take the shot at the midway point of a continuous exhale?
 
SulcoPete said:
Do you mean hold your breath at the halfway point or just take the shot at the midway point of a continuous exhale?
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Inhale, let some out then pull trigger while still holding some in. During that 'hold in' period it allows you to shoot 'shake free'. Snipers/precision shooters have been using this for eons.
 
garczar said:
Inhale, let some out then pull trigger while still holding some in. During that 'hold in' period it allows you to shoot 'shake free'. Snipers/precision shooters have been using this for eons.
Click to expand...
This is obviously part of the shooting routine, but to address a non-routine holding of breath--don't do it. I think this happens even with experienced players when attempting a "low-confidence" shot, it leads to a tightening of the body, which dominoes into bad execution. For example, when trying to pull off a power-draw, when it has not been practiced to an acceptable level of success.

IIRC, Wayne Rainey, a former Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing champion, considered holding one's breath as unnatural for the body, so not breathing (while riding/racing) was bad form. Possibly from his book, "The Soft Science of Roadracing Motorcycles", my riding buddy would quote to each other, "Remember to breathe". We did this whenever we were attempting something in which we were unsure of the result--motorcycle related or not.
 
heater451 said:
This is obviously part of the shooting routine, but to address a non-routine holding of breath--don't do it. I think this happens even with experienced players when attempting a "low-confidence" shot, it leads to a tightening of the body, which dominoes into bad execution. For example, when trying to pull off a power-draw, when it has not been practiced to an acceptable level of success.

IIRC, Wayne Rainey, a former Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing champion, considered holding one's breath as unnatural for the body, so not breathing (while riding/racing) was bad form. Possibly from his book, "The Soft Science of Roadracing Motorcycles", my riding buddy would quote to each other, "Remember to breathe". We did this whenever we were attempting something in which we were unsure of the result--motorcycle related or not.
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you only hold it long enough to shoot. its a short time span. i'm not saying to hold your breath like you're diving under water.
 
Yes, that is why in my first sentence, I specified "part of a shooting routine", and then went on toe specify "non-routine holding of breath". I understood you completely.

Edit: I just realized that my post also paints holding one's breath as the cause of attempting something unusual, when it really is the result. Holding one's breath does not create tension, but tensing up does make one stop breathing (naturally). The point is, that if you "remember to breathe", then the body is more likely to work naturally/smoothly.
 
Island Drive said:
I just pause during the shot, at a comfortable time when I pull the trigger. Most often after I exhale.
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Then I'm doing the opposite, effective immediately.

But in all reality, I regret to inform
Humans aren't actually smart enough to have two things at the front of their minds simultaneously.

Whatever you do, it needs to be secondary to making the correctly aligned cue travel on the correct path at the correct speed to execute the correct choice.

Balls in holes. Make it happen.
 
garczar said:
Inhale, let some out then pull trigger while still holding some in. During that 'hold in' period it allows you to shoot 'shake free'. Snipers/precision shooters have been using this for eons.
Click to expand...

I personally like to exhale then get down into the shot, less tension in my body, easier for me to get down correctly. If you watch the tip closely you can see when the stillness comes. It's almost like you can see your heartbeat in the tip. Maybe I'm just weird... probably. :)
 
garczar said:
Most commonly used breathing technique in shooting is to take a breath, let half of it out, take the shot. This gives you a small time-window when you will be shake-free. My dad was a NRA bulls-eye pistol shooter and i was taught this early on. Works for pool, guns, darts anything where you want to have pretty much motionless concentration.
Click to expand...
When shooting at really, really long distances you do this and fire between heartbeats.
 
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