Ready...all together now...ommmmmm...and swing!

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Golfers will do almost anything to improve their game, including spending countless dollars on gadgets, and countless hours watching the Golf Channel.

But a better game could be just a few yoga poses away.

A program called YogaGolf is designed to use Hatha yoga to enhance one’s golf game -- not that bizarre a concept when you realize that yoga is all about balance, breathing, concentration and muscle control, elements that apply to golf as well.

Here’s the deal: Sign up for the two-hour clinic at Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Coast (near Newport Beach in Orange County) and you’ll first go through some basic drills, then have your golf swing videotaped and analyzed. A small group yoga class comes next, with an emphasis on your issues, be they improving balance, range of motion, or tight shoulders. A golf lesson follows on Pelican Hill’s driving range.

‘Yoga helps you with mental focus, staying in the present and learning to breathe,’ says Marie Friedlander, a certified Baptiste Power Vinyasa yoga teacher, who conducts the clinic with PGA pro Glenn Deck. ‘If you’re on a tee getting ready to make a shot and you’re nervous because people are watching, you need to learn how to breathe and focus. Yoga helps it to come together.’

It can also build hip and leg strength, she adds, plus improve flexibility, which are important in swings. Yoga can develop better body alignment as well.

The cost is $200, and more lessons can be arranged as needed. Doing headstand poses on the golf course are not required.

-Jeannine Stein

Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images