Breath control can be the key to better, stronger golf swings.

To play your best at any sport, you need a solid training regimen, and you need to warm up before the start of the game. If you're a golfer, you may be interested to learn that practicing yoga can be a great way to do both. Yoga's poses and stretches can prepare your body and mind for a day on the links, leading to mental clarity, stronger swings and an overall feeling of health and well being.

Kim Freesh is a Certified Yoga Therapy Teacher. She has been practicing yoga for ten years and teaching for seven. Here she offers a quick guide to improving one's golf game through yoga:

• Focus the mind.
  According to Freesh, golf and yoga are very similar in that they both involve using the mind.
  
• Forward folds, back bends.
  Yoga poses that are very good for the golfer include forward folds and back bends. It's also important to work the core strength of your body and stretch and relax your lower back.
  
• Warming up and breathing.
  Yoga is also a good way to get your muscles warmed up for a round of golf and to focus your breathing, which can be essential to good play. If your breathing is not in focus, says Freesh, then your body is not relaxed.
  
• Breathing for muscle awareness.
  The breath work of yoga will slow you down and make you more mindful of the muscles that you use in your golf swing. This awareness can lead to a better swing than if you simply slam your neck and back into it.
  
• Longer exhales for power.
  Freesh encourages golfers to take a nice, deep inhale and a longer exhale. This will bring power to your swing and help facilitate a good follow-through.
  
• Yoga for life.
  Using yoga to warm up will not only benefit your golf game, but it will also benefit you throughout your life.

For more information about yoga, check out the following websites:

Yoga Journal
www.yogajournal.com

Yoga International Magazine
www.yimag.com

Yoga Basics
www.yogabasics.com

Yoga for Beginners
www.yogaforbeginners.com

Yoga Movement
www.yogamovement.com