How do you breath when you swing?

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Today, most of my swing thoughts were made up of that "run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run" song, resulting in everything from striping it down the middle to booming it hopelessly into 'them' trees over thar'. 'Twas a lovely day, though.

 

Updike will mess you up but good. No wonder you spent time in the woods. Hopefully it doesn't take a month of Sunday's to find your way out.

 

Oh, no, no, no. Updike would, most assuredly, be over-thinking things (btw, by coincidence, my college voice teacher was friends with him). No, it was this little treasure. A perfect accompaniment to a most lovely day in the out of doors...

 

http://youtu.be/SVdoZNxtL8k

[dornstar]

I think I'm worried about my breathing, I'm probably in trouble.

[jbw749]

I think I'm worried about my breathing, I'm probably in trouble.

Well it was fun while it lasted, but your goid golfing days are likely over now...

[jslane57]

Wow, I missed this thread! Dang. For all you haters, go to the range and try hitting a ball with lungs full. Then try hitting a ball with lungs empty. Then try hitting a ball while inhaling. Then try hitting a ball while exhaling. Then try hitting a ball after getting you heart rate up. Then try hitting a ball completely relaxed. This stuff matters to your optimal performance. And it is different for everyone. For me, I perform my best when taking a full breath, exhaling the full breath, then completing my pre-shot routine in a place where the breath is relaxed, not in or out. if the breath goes in or out a little during the shot, so be it,but it is the relaxed mid breath place that works best for me. Good luck PS!

[Dpavs]

I've tried breathing all the three ways possible, just in, just out and both in and out... I think I prefer both in and out the most.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Wow, I missed this thread! Dang. For all you haters, go to the range and try hitting a ball with lungs full. Then try hitting a ball with lungs empty. Then try hitting a ball while inhaling. Then try hitting a ball while exhaling. Then try hitting a ball after getting you heart rate up. Then try hitting a ball completely relaxed. This stuff matters to your optimal performance. And it is different for everyone. For me, I perform my best when taking a full breath, exhaling the full breath, then completing my pre-shot routine in a place where the breath is relaxed, not in or out. if the breath goes in or out a little during the shot, so be it,but it is the relaxed mid breath place that works best for me. Good luck PS!

 

Were you aware of how you breathed during your swing before you started thinking about it?

As interesting as it has become to hear about how people have gone about purposefully breathing, my initial curiosity was about how people breath who let it be whatever it is.

 

Something I don't hear even other singers talking about, much, is the variance of air pressure in the lungs at various stages of breathing. Somewhere in the middle, the air pressure in the lungs is equal to that outside the body. Breath out, the pressure in the lungs goes down. Breath in, the pressure in the lungs goes up. If all the air is out of your lungs, as soon as you stop the action of exhaling, air will come rushing in until you are at neutral (or, in my case, slightly overshoots it). If you take in more air than neutral, as long as you maintain the action of inhalation, the pressure in your lungs will be higher than that outside your body. Once you let go of that inhalation effort, the air will fall out of you until it returns to neutral (no overshooting here). (That may not be exactly right, but it's close enough.)

So, when I swing, I must start out at neutral, or close to it. The winding of my backswing pushes the air out, creating lower pressure in my lungs. As soon as I downswing, the untwisting releases the exhalation action, triggering a return to neutral pressure in my lungs (as a reaction inhalation rather than a purposeful one).

When I've tried to reverse it, I could feel the twisting of my backswing going against my effort to inhale, which was bad enough, but the sudden exhalation on the downswing felt like I had lost all my slack (it's kind of like when someone wrecks your sneeze).

At the time I thought about my breathing while swinging, I hadn't realized it was the twisting of the backswing was literally 'exhaling' for me, so that analysis is retrospective. I didn't understand it then as well as I think I do now, but I didn't need to in order to continue doing so. And as nothing else presented itself as a better alternative, it was that much easier to continue as I had been.

 

Hm! I just thought of this (the 'over-thinking' police may wish to exit at this point, though, I don't know why you'd still be here, anyway). So, if you breath like I do (twisting all the air out on the backswing, reactive inhalation on the untwisting of the downswing), could we use when in the downswing we feel the air rush in as a way to monitor how or, at least, when we're unwinding (assuming that's something you care about)? It'd be similar to turning a club upside down to listen if the 'swish' happens before the ball, or after.

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Wow, I missed this thread! Dang. For all you haters, go to the range and try hitting a ball with lungs full. Then try hitting a ball with lungs empty. Then try hitting a ball while inhaling. Then try hitting a ball while exhaling. Then try hitting a ball after getting you heart rate up. Then try hitting a ball completely relaxed. This stuff matters to your optimal performance. And it is different for everyone. For me, I perform my best when taking a full breath, exhaling the full breath, then completing my pre-shot routine in a place where the breath is relaxed, not in or out. if the breath goes in or out a little during the shot, so be it,but it is the relaxed mid breath place that works best for me. Good luck PS!

 

Were you aware of how you breathed during your swing before you started thinking about it?

As interesting as it has become to hear about how people have gone about purposefully breathing, my initial curiosity was about how people breath who let it be whatever it is.

 

Something I don't hear even other singers talking about, much, is the variance of air pressure in the lungs at various stages of breathing. Somewhere in the middle, the air pressure in the lungs is equal to that outside the body. Breath out, the pressure in the lungs goes down. Breath in, the pressure in the lungs goes up. If all the air is out of your lungs, as soon as you stop the action of exhaling, air will come rushing in until you are at neutral (or, in my case, slightly overshoots it). If you take in more air than neutral, as long as you maintain the action of inhalation, the pressure in your lungs will be higher than that outside your body. Once you let go of that inhalation effort, the air will fall out of you until it returns to neutral (no overshooting here). (That may not be exactly right, but it's close enough.)

So, when I swing, I must start out at neutral, or close to it. The winding of my backswing pushes the air out, creating lower pressure in my lungs. As soon as I downswing, the untwisting releases the exhalation action, triggering a return to neutral pressure in my lungs (as a reaction inhalation rather than a purposeful one).

When I've tried to reverse it, I could feel the twisting of my backswing going against my effort to inhale, which was bad enough, but the sudden exhalation on the downswing felt like I had lost all my slack (it's kind of like when someone wrecks your sneeze).

At the time I thought about my breathing while swinging, I hadn't realized it was the twisting of the backswing was literally 'exhaling' for me, so that analysis is retrospective. I didn't understand it then as well as I think I do now, but I didn't need to in order to continue doing so. And as nothing else presented itself as a better alternative, it was that much easier to continue as I had been.

 

Hm! I just thought of this (the 'over-thinking' police may wish to exit at this point, though, I don't know why you'd still be here, anyway). So, if you breath like I do (twisting all the air out on the backswing, reactive inhalation on the untwisting of the downswing), could we use when in the downswing we feel the air rush in as a way to monitor how or, at least, when we're unwinding (assuming that's something you care about)? It'd be similar to turning a club upside down to listen if the 'swish' happens before the ball, or after.

 

Do you sleep with your chin above or under the sheet?

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Wow, I missed this thread! Dang. For all you haters, go to the range and try hitting a ball with lungs full. Then try hitting a ball with lungs empty. Then try hitting a ball while inhaling. Then try hitting a ball while exhaling. Then try hitting a ball after getting you heart rate up. Then try hitting a ball completely relaxed. This stuff matters to your optimal performance. And it is different for everyone. For me, I perform my best when taking a full breath, exhaling the full breath, then completing my pre-shot routine in a place where the breath is relaxed, not in or out. if the breath goes in or out a little during the shot, so be it,but it is the relaxed mid breath place that works best for me. Good luck PS!

 

Were you aware of how you breathed during your swing before you started thinking about it?

As interesting as it has become to hear about how people have gone about purposefully breathing, my initial curiosity was about how people breath who let it be whatever it is.

 

Something I don't hear even other singers talking about, much, is the variance of air pressure in the lungs at various stages of breathing. Somewhere in the middle, the air pressure in the lungs is equal to that outside the body. Breath out, the pressure in the lungs goes down. Breath in, the pressure in the lungs goes up. If all the air is out of your lungs, as soon as you stop the action of exhaling, air will come rushing in until you are at neutral (or, in my case, slightly overshoots it). If you take in more air than neutral, as long as you maintain the action of inhalation, the pressure in your lungs will be higher than that outside your body. Once you let go of that inhalation effort, the air will fall out of you until it returns to neutral (no overshooting here). (That may not be exactly right, but it's close enough.)

So, when I swing, I must start out at neutral, or close to it. The winding of my backswing pushes the air out, creating lower pressure in my lungs. As soon as I downswing, the untwisting releases the exhalation action, triggering a return to neutral pressure in my lungs (as a reaction inhalation rather than a purposeful one).

When I've tried to reverse it, I could feel the twisting of my backswing going against my effort to inhale, which was bad enough, but the sudden exhalation on the downswing felt like I had lost all my slack (it's kind of like when someone wrecks your sneeze).

At the time I thought about my breathing while swinging, I hadn't realized it was the twisting of the backswing was literally 'exhaling' for me, so that analysis is retrospective. I didn't understand it then as well as I think I do now, but I didn't need to in order to continue doing so. And as nothing else presented itself as a better alternative, it was that much easier to continue as I had been.

 

Hm! I just thought of this (the 'over-thinking' police may wish to exit at this point, though, I don't know why you'd still be here, anyway). So, if you breath like I do (twisting all the air out on the backswing, reactive inhalation on the untwisting of the downswing), could we use when in the downswing we feel the air rush in as a way to monitor how or, at least, when we're unwinding (assuming that's something you care about)? It'd be similar to turning a club upside down to listen if the 'swish' happens before the ball, or after.

 

Do you sleep with your chin above or under the sheet?

 

Yes. At least, they’re properly fitted sheets.

[jslane57]

Wow, I missed this thread! Dang. For all you haters, go to the range and try hitting a ball with lungs full. Then try hitting a ball with lungs empty. Then try hitting a ball while inhaling. Then try hitting a ball while exhaling. Then try hitting a ball after getting you heart rate up. Then try hitting a ball completely relaxed. This stuff matters to your optimal performance. And it is different for everyone. For me, I perform my best when taking a full breath, exhaling the full breath, then completing my pre-shot routine in a place where the breath is relaxed, not in or out. if the breath goes in or out a little during the shot, so be it,but it is the relaxed mid breath place that works best for me. Good luck PS!

 

Were you aware of how you breathed during your swing before you started thinking about it?

As interesting as it has become to hear about how people have gone about purposefully breathing, my initial curiosity was about how people breath who let it be whatever it is.

 

Something I don't hear even other singers talking about, much, is the variance of air pressure in the lungs at various stages of breathing. Somewhere in the middle, the air pressure in the lungs is equal to that outside the body. Breath out, the pressure in the lungs goes down. Breath in, the pressure in the lungs goes up. If all the air is out of your lungs, as soon as you stop the action of exhaling, air will come rushing in until you are at neutral (or, in my case, slightly overshoots it). If you take in more air than neutral, as long as you maintain the action of inhalation, the pressure in your lungs will be higher than that outside your body. Once you let go of that inhalation effort, the air will fall out of you until it returns to neutral (no overshooting here). (That may not be exactly right, but it's close enough.)

So, when I swing, I must start out at neutral, or close to it. The winding of my backswing pushes the air out, creating lower pressure in my lungs. As soon as I downswing, the untwisting releases the exhalation action, triggering a return to neutral pressure in my lungs (as a reaction inhalation rather than a purposeful one).

When I've tried to reverse it, I could feel the twisting of my backswing going against my effort to inhale, which was bad enough, but the sudden exhalation on the downswing felt like I had lost all my slack (it's kind of like when someone wrecks your sneeze).

At the time I thought about my breathing while swinging, I hadn't realized it was the twisting of the backswing was literally 'exhaling' for me, so that analysis is retrospective. I didn't understand it then as well as I think I do now, but I didn't need to in order to continue doing so. And as nothing else presented itself as a better alternative, it was that much easier to continue as I had been.

 

Hm! I just thought of this (the 'over-thinking' police may wish to exit at this point, though, I don't know why you'd still be here, anyway). So, if you breath like I do (twisting all the air out on the backswing, reactive inhalation on the untwisting of the downswing), could we use when in the downswing we feel the air rush in as a way to monitor how or, at least, when we're unwinding (assuming that's something you care about)? It'd be similar to turning a club upside down to listen if the 'swish' happens before the ball, or after.

I only started thinking about breathing way back when playing competitively and wanting to stay calm in stressful situations. I like the neutral place. I'd say that if the air is being pushed out in the back swing, you may have too much pressure build up going on. Either through loss of posture or the idea of wind up. But then, I like a zero pressure back swing, a smooth forward swing, and for that, neutral air works great. How does one breath with the sheets over their mouth?!? You're breathing in your old air, shutter...

[gretch]

I make sure not to think how I breathe when swinging, and instead I make sure to just watch my shadow closely.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

I'd say that if the air is being pushed out in the back swing, you may have too much pressure build up going on.

 

No idea why you would think that? Air moves in and out of the lungs, very easily, when it's unimpeded. Any movement, which reduces the area of the lungs, will push air out, unless one has locked the glottis.

[jslane57]

I'd say that if the air is being pushed out in the back swing, you may have too much pressure build up going on.

 

No idea why you would think that? Air moves in and out of the lungs, very easily, when it's unimpeded. Any movement, which reduces the area of the lungs, will push air out, unless one has locked the glottis.

You answered why I think that. If reducing the area of the lungs on the back swing, I think something is not staying in line.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

I'd say that if the air is being pushed out in the back swing, you may have too much pressure build up going on.

 

No idea why you would think that? Air moves in and out of the lungs, very easily, when it's unimpeded. Any movement, which reduces the area of the lungs, will push air out, unless one has locked the glottis.

You answered why I think that. If reducing the area of the lungs on the back swing, I think something is not staying in line.

 

At the very least, if your shoulders turn more than your hips in the backswing, you will unavoidably and, likely, unnoticeably reduce the area in your lungs. If you twist while holding your breath, then you’ll feel pressure.

[Jim Waldron]

My preference is for students to inhale through both slightly open mouth (keeps the jaws and neck muscles from tightening) and nose on the backswing, and exhale through both for the entire forward swing.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

My preference is for students to inhale through both slightly open mouth (keeps the jaws and neck muscles from tightening) and nose on the backswing, and exhale through both for the entire forward swing.

 

What’s the reasoning behind your preference.

[gvogel]

I use a pivot driven breathing pattern lol.

 

Me too. We should writer a book about that. Would probably make us millions.

[Petunia Sprinkle]

I use a pivot driven breathing pattern lol.

 

Me too. We should writer a book about that. Would probably make us millions.

 

You think anyone would reader it?

[dap]

Asking your opponent if he breathes in or out during the swing is one of the best gamesmanship ploys around. Why do it to yourself?

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Just asked a partner what I do today. I tend to take a breath before my shot and exhale on the backswing and breath in on the follow through.

 

[Petunia Sprinkle]

Asking your opponent if he breathes in or out during the swing is one of the best gamesmanship ploys around. Why do it to yourself?

 

You could ask your opponent about his secondary tilt, if he keeps his hips level during the backswing, how he solved his problem with early eja...uh, extension, or any of the other subjects discussed in painful minutiae on these forums, so why the concern over breathing, especially since we’re not playing together (and we may never be granted so wondrous a privilege, oh well...)?

 

 

Just asked a partner what I do today. I tend to take a breath before my shot and exhale on the backswing and breath in on the follow through.

 

Whoa! We’re probably cousins.