Hold your breath?

[goodatgolf]

Hold your breath?

That's the question. In a lot of other precision sports specific breathing patterns are very important.

e.g. biathlon, swimming, shooting etc.

So do you have a specific breathing pattern in your preshot routine? Have you even ever thought about that?

By using google you can find a lot of information related to this topic.

I just started experimenting myself. Taking a deep breath and holding my breath just before striking the ball gets my mind and my muscles focused.

And I think it's helping my swing.

So what are your experiences?

[pgawest]

I exhale as the last piece of my setup routine just before I pull the clubhead back. I inhale on the takeaway, but I'm not sure if I exhale on the downswing. I think I do. I'm not trying to hold my breath, I think that would make one's muscles tense. People who do yoga focus on their breath, so doing it in golf is probably a good thing.

[saevel25]

I don't think about it.. Though i might naturally exhale right before i walk up to the ball to take my stance

[kahuna80]

Definitely don't hold it; your muscles will be more tense if you do.

One of the best tips I got was to try to keep my mouth slightly open during the swing so as not to hold my breath and tense up.