The Hunger Games - and Breathing Techniques

[iacas]

Under Armour did. Dave and I also attended a talk with some other company doing a similar mouth guard.

I don't doubt that there's some decent science behind it. But I'm skeptical that you need a $2k mouth guard and can't just train yourself, or that the benefits are at all significant.

[Sclaffer]

I know the thread is old - should I have started a new one?

Anyway - just being working on breathing while chipping. Got 5 different google results: 1. Breathe out during backswing and downswing (David Leadbetter) 2. Dont even think about it 3. Breathe in before backswing and hold until after contact 4. Breathe in on backswing and out on downswing 5. Breathe out before backswing and do not breathe in again until after contact. 

After monitoring myself I realised that I was option 5. But there is more to it. The crucial point was that the trigger for the start of my backswing was a normal breath out. Sometimes my mental focussing on the shot coincided with the breathe and sometimes not. I found I was sometimes starting the backswing before I was ready to hit the shot; just because I had breathed out.

By consciously taking a couple of longer, slower breaths and then exhaling, I could be ready to start the backswing at the same time as breathing out. This has resulted in more relaxed and consistent chipping.

Unless you are lucky enough to follow option 2, I think option 5 is the most logical (at least for short game) as it should lead to more consistent geometry and a more relaxed state.

Keen to hear other views.

   

[Bonvivant]

On 8/21/2012 at 8:27 AM, iacas said:

Sad that this didn't get discussed. Bit busy catching up but hoping bumping it will be enough to do this.

 

Lots of people are unaware but something as simple as how your jaw is aligned (or how relaxed the muscles in your face are) can change motor patterns, muscle efficiency, etc.

OT but I can tell how solid of a cue someone is (billiards and pool) by looking at their face. No clenched jaw or other excessive face muscle use is a sign of a good player more often than not.