Yoga is an important part to a training or sports program. Yoga develops flexibility, strength, endurance, and mental clarity that are necessary for successful athletes. However, some athletes stay away from yoga because of its philosophical connotations. Sport yoga is the solution. It uses traditional yoga poses without combining prayer, chants, or much meditation. Sport yoga focuses on fitness and athleticism, and can cater to specific sports. 

For baseball and softball players, batting, running, and throwing are essential. The key to batting is opening the hips as widely as possible to follow through with the swing. Therefore, these players need to work with postures that rotate the hips. Such postures include the Warrior group of poses. Warrior I offers a beginning stance. Warrior II opens up the hips and adds a practice in balance. Warrior III opens the ribs and the side. Warrior IV would again rotate and opens the hips. All four postures offer balance and coordination exercise. Flexible hamstrings are necessary to run without causing injury. Both Standing and Sitting Forward Bends stretch the hamstrings. Also, Triangle pose along with Warrior I and IV stretches the hamstring and strengthen the quadriceps. 

For throwing, athletes need flexible and strong shoulders and arms, and a keen sense of balance. To work the shoulders, athletes can warm up with Small Arm Circles and move on to Large Arm Circles and Throw Downs. Downward Facing Dog also works to strengthen shoulders, especially when combined with the movement back and forth from Upward Facing Dog or Cobra. To work the shoulders and back, Cat and Dog pose work well. 

For basketball players, ankles and shoulders are the most used parts of the body because these athletes play the game by constantly running and shooting the ball up and away from them. Lotus and Child’s Pose help to stretch the ankles. These athletes may use the same poses that the baseball players would find helpful for their shoulders. 

For bowlers, their shoulders and back are the key elements to their activity. In addition to Down Dog and Cobra, these athletes may incorporate a warm up of Side Twists and Hip Rotations. Also, the Bow would be helpful in strengthening and stretching the back. 

Sport Yoga can be incorporated into any training program for athletes. The series of stretching and strength postures would be helpful before weight training. When conducted for a longer period of time, about an hour, Sport Yoga also offers a cardio workout. Any meditative or surrendering postures can be helpful after weight training or aerobic workouts. Meditation can also play a key role in relaxing and allowing athletes to focus both before and after a game. However, meditation is not the focus of this kind of yoga. The focus here is the athlete and building the better body for the sport.