Breath Control and Shooting
Posted by John Buol on June 18, 2008
Myth – “Breath Control is the critical component of marksmanship fundamentals.”
Fact – Shot placement is determined where the barrel points, as indicated by the aligned sights, when the trigger is pressed.
It is common, especially in military circles, to believe that breath control and/or breathing has some mystical effect on shooting and will magically cause shots to go high or low.
Any movement, whether caused by breathing or any other factor, will show as motion in the sights. While the hold may wobble, the shot will always be where the aligned sights indicate when the trigger breaks (assuming a good zero and ignoring trajectory, of course.)
All breath control does is pause the shooter’s respiration while executing shot(s), thus helping to minimize movement. That’s it! Pause breathing while pressing the trigger and breathe normally at any other time.
The problem is novice shooters often tend to hold too long, over-staring the sights, holding their breath until blue in the face, and probably inducing a flinch just to be rid of the chambered round. Breath control alone can’t cause shots to go high or low. Even if it somehow could, the shooter can see that aiming error with the sights. This assumes the shooter can call shots and fire without flinching.
Breath Control does have one important contribution to improved marksmanship: If you’re on a range and over hear “advice” such as “Watch your breathing” you can probably ignore anything that person says about marksmanship because he has just identified himself as someone who doesn’t understand the subject.
david said
You just overgeneralized all military branches in the US? Breathing is but one factor taught us to control accuracy, it wasn’t the only one. We were taught psychological aspects as well. Maybe you were referring to your country’s inferior military training.
Semper Fi
John Buol said
>> Breathing is but one factor taught us to control accuracy, it wasn’t the only one.
Right, and far from the most important. Yet, too often, this gets regurgitated as critical when it usually isn’t an issue at all. A shooter (or Marine or Soldier) could be flinching, have a poor/inconsistent position or a host of other fundamental problems, but some non-shooter on the range will flippantly remark “watch your breathing” even when it isn’t the cause.
>> Maybe you were referring to your country’s inferior military training.
Yes. Army, Marines and every other branch is guilty here.
mark said
>> All breath control does is pause the shooter’s respiration while executing shot(s), thus helping to minimize movement.
So you spend a whole article denouncing the importance of breathing discipline, and 2 sentences admitting it’s necessity in every shot. It’s not everything, but you do need to control it. What do you have against the military? Very ignorant to believe they only teach breathing techniques to their shooters. That makes no sense.
John Buol said
>> Very ignorant to believe they only teach breathing techniques to their shooters
Read response #2 on this page that you ignored prior to posting.
>> What do you have against the military?
I enlisted in 1990 and was on active duty from 2003 to 2009. I’ve spent the majority of my service involved in small arms training and competition. Too many myths and misunderstandings are regurgitated by folks who simply don’t understand shooting. This is true in the military and civilian world.
The level of shooting needed for qualification is, by necessity, minimal and basic. These myths become evident after getting involved in higher level marksmanship events such as competition and learning how truly skilled shooters perform.