Breathing

Does anyone give any thought to breathing? Yes we all do it, but I mean in a shooting context.

When I was rifle shooting you could have written a book on the subject because  it is so important to get it right but what do we clay shooters do, if anything, is it important?

I have never thought about it before but I have recently become aware that I don't want to be caught breathing in when I'm taking my shots, I think an inward breath before calling pull then continue breathing out while taking the shots seems to work for me. Am I giving it too much thought? what do you guys do?

I would say it’s not much thought about with clay shooting. I would say that I take a decent breath as I load the gun, then about a half lung full, enough to be comfortable and call pull, so the shot is taken with almost empty lungs. Certainly won’t be taking a breath while taking the shot. 

Agree with Will, it's not something you want to be too consciously building into your routine, I think I tend to call on exhaling, after that I've never been aware of much else. 

Thanks for your thoughts gentlemen, I don't know why I have started thinking about it after decades of shooting, I may just be slipping into bad habits. Your replies have reinforced my own thoughts but it's good to know what others do.

no idea  i have never ever thought about it   while shooting !!

Couple slow, deep, inhale through nose and exhale through mouth serves me well as a relaxing technique just before competition round + fills the blood with more O2 that has more benefits down the road.

Dont go down the route of introducing something into your pre shot routine unless its necessary is my opinion. I like to keep things simple and i do not believe breathing in a specific manner such as one needs to do when rifle shooting is necessary at all.

Nowadays, IF I can just KEEP breathing it is a bonus   !   

There is a benefit to being old Westley , I’d cry if the quack ever stopped my beta blocker 

MartynB said:

There is a benefit to being old Westley , I’d cry if the quack ever stopped my beta blocker 

Click to expand...

Problem is I breathe IN through my nose/mouth and OUT through another orifice   !   

Sorry to go off track...

Westley, check your whats app

One of my better rounds of trap came after I thought I had missed my start time. I had to run up a steep incline for about 250 m carrying gun and cartridges in 30C + temps only to find I was actually just slightly early! It gave me about two minutes to regulate my breathing from that of a St Bernard in a sauna down to something more like normal... don't know if it was the panic but something made me focus shot a nice 24 with sweat running off me!

jwpzx9r said:

One of my better rounds of trap came after I thought I had missed my start time. I had to run up a steep incline for about 250 m carrying gun and cartridges in 30C + temps only to find I was actually just slightly early! It gave me about two minutes to regulate my breathing from that of a St Bernard in a sauna down to something more like normal... don't know if it was the panic but something made me focus shot a nice 24 with sweat running off me!

Click to expand...

“like a St Bernard in a sauna” will take some beating! 

Having something else to think about is bound to help your shooting.

FreeShot said:

Couple slow, deep, inhale through nose and exhale through mouth serves me well as a relaxing technique just before competition round + fills the blood with more O2 that has more benefits down the road.

Click to expand...

Absolutely!  A Lung filling breath thru the nose as the gun is closed interferes with nothing and the blast of O2 for the eyes is an obvious benefit.  I was told that by my pigeon shooting mentor and I never had cause to doubt anything he told me.  Besides, it's true.  Breathing is a good thing.

I certainly endorse breathing... I am certain that if I stopped the habit my life would not be the same!

I try not to breathe in through my nose whilst shooting .

Bull excrement smells awful.

Wonko the Sane said:

Absolutely!  A Lung filling breath thru the nose as the gun is closed interferes with nothing and the blast of O2 for the eyes is an obvious benefit.  I was told that by my pigeon shooting mentor and I never had cause to doubt anything he told me.  Besides, it's true.  Breathing is a good thing.

Click to expand...

Did he also tell you to never drive on Interstate 110 or I5  or 110 at any time of day around LA. I've just about given up the will to breath.  :hyper: :hyper:

Aside from the occasional visit to see Lucio Sosta I rarely visit LA.  The 110 has been like that for about 50 yrs or so.  I remember my wife and I being on the 110 on a Harley the nite of the SLA shootout in South Central and seeing the fire and wondering WTF was going on hahahaha     AFA the 15 goes I know it gets a bit close now and then but it was never like that when I lived down there.  I've been away for over 20yrs now and things have changed in a massive way.