Breath control?

Hunter21

This topic is for target shooters and hunters alike.
What do you do to control your breathing? do you inhale or exhale and then fire and how do you relax.

Please give a detailed description of how you usually go about it and a rough time frame.

Id like to compare the methods of target and hunting and the time people take, and use them as tips.

It wasn't me!

Once in position, I look away from the sights, typically at the ground below me, focus on relaxing muscle groups, slowing breathing right down, in terms of intervals and depth, then look back through the sights, exhale onto target, confirm natural orientation and start the squeeze through. Exhalation is about three quarters out for me, maybe a little more.

Spunk84

Hunter21 wrote: »

This topic is for target shooters and hunters alike.
What do you do to control your breathing? do you inhale or exhale and then fire and how do you relax.

Please give a detailed description of how you usually go about it and a rough time frame.

Id like to compare the methods of target and hunting and the time people take, and use them as tips.

I read some article on "snipers breathing techniques" below

"Breath control is of the utmost importance for the sniper. The movement made by the expansion and contraction of the chest cavity during a shot could easily throw a snipers aim off. In order for a sniper to make his shot, he is required to stop breathing for during the natural pause between inhalation and exhalation and make his shot. The natural pause between breaths is usually two or three seconds long. By extending this pause to ten seconds, a sniper has the window he needs to make his shot. Firing should always occur during this forced pause, when the diaphragm and breathing muscles are relaxed. If the sniper does not settle enough to make his shot, the relaxation process is repeated.

This respiratory pause should not be forced or too long. Holding your breath too long results in involuntary movement of the body. Ten seconds is the assumed time limit to make a good shot while holding your breath during the natural pause between breaths. Even after the shot is made, breathing is still important during the follow through. Snipers are trained to keep their muscles relaxed and their breathing regular and steady after the shot."

Also i do this below


Sniper Breathing Technique (for soft air)snipers breathe when they are sniping.. and it's a documented breathing technique that will slowdown your heart, and calm you within seconds... to allow you to achieve that icy coolness you need,whether your sniping or rushing. It works like this. Take a deep breath inhaled through your mouth.Hold it and count to 5.1.....2....3....45

Exhale through your nose.DONT INHALE, hold it and count to 5.1....2....3....45

NOW inhale through your mouth.1....2....3....45

Exhale through your nose.1...2...3...45

Inhale...1...etc etcAnyway its actually funny but this really helps.. Its like you feel the oxygen going to your brain,and your heart just slows.. and you calm down.. This way you dont get an itchy trigger finger, orshaky hands on your controller... It actually works in any situation.. if you run a quarter mile as fastas you can and then do this technique.. it will return your heart to its normal rate within 30 seconds or something like that. Here is something I cut and pasted from a real article on sniping: "Once the shooter has zeroed the scope, and attained an appropriate rested position, the main thing influencingwhere the rifle is pointed will be breathing. The shooter will notice that the crosshairs move on the target in time with heartbeat and breathing. Accomplished shooters learn to slow down theirbreathing (and heartbeat), thereby reducing gun shake." That says it all. And the way you can learnto do it is by following the above instructions. You need to always be calm in Socom so if you findyourself getting too worked up and emotional, this is an easy way to calm yourself and return to that Zen like state and perform your best.

Hunter21

Thanks for the info so far.

It wasn't me! wrote: »

confirm natural orientation and start the squeeze through.

Natural orientation? is that where you leave your breathing adjust the crosshairs up or down or am I miles off the meaning..

lefthooker

Spunk84 wrote: »

The shooter will notice that the crosshairs move on the target in time with heartbeat and breathing. Accomplished shooters learn to slow down theirbreathing (and heartbeat), thereby reducing gun shake

thanks Spunk thought it was just me, like I had a twitch or my pulse was making the crosshairs to jump when on target. May give these techniques a try

It wasn't me!

Hunter21 wrote: »

Thanks for the info so far.



Natural orientation? is that where you leave your breathing adjust the crosshairs up or down or am I miles off the meaning..

You need to set the rifle up and rest it and then get down behind it so that it's pointing naturally on target as a system. If you're holding the rifle forcibly on target, you'll have a much larger hold (the area in which the rifle moves as you aim), you'll magnify errors you make and the rifle will tend to move, and move the shot, back towards the way it naturally rests as you pull the trigger. Much more important in position shooting (not using a rest) than it is if shooting off a bipod or a backpack, but still important there too for shooting really cleanly.

declan1980

Since I shoot foxes mostly at this time of year, and they tend to stop for a couple of seconds and move again, I don't have time to do all that "inhale, exhale 123 crap", I just keep my breaths very short so I don't have a lot of air in my lungs when I'm getting ready to fire. Then when I'm lining up on the fox I just stop breathing, place the crosshairs on the desired spot, and squeez the trigger. This usually results in the process of the fox falling down dead, my going over and cutting the tail off and firing the body in the nearest ditch.
Having a light trigger helps me take the shot quickly, because if i had a heavy trigger I would be squeezing too long and the fox would probably move off

session savage

As Declan pointed out, there's not always time to do breathing exercises. I just breathe in a normal breath and hold, if my heart is beating strong I time my trigger squeeze between beats. Works for me on shots where time is crucial. Usually when the shot needs to be taken quickly my quarry is within 80yds and doesn't present too much difficulty. The farther away the target, the more time you have to take the shot... generally :-P

If its a long distance shot I get myself stable (prone if possible) and take a few slow deep breaths, then with the last deep breath I exhale about 1/4 of it and hold, line up the shot and squeeze. simples!