Sportscience: Physical Laws and Optimum Performance

by Peter J. Brancazio

Book Overview

Book by Brancazio, Peter J. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671455842
• ISBN13: 9780671455842
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The science of sports

This book helped my jump shot in basketball! More seriously, for sports nuts, this is a fascinating book. It discusses the scientific underpinnings of sports. The author, Peter Brancazio, notes his personal odyssey in this linkage of science with sports. He earned his Ph. D. in the sciences--and was an amateur athlete. One day, while playing basketball, a fellow player said (page 14): "if you're so smart, how come you stink at basketball?" That triggered a typical academic's response: the author began applying scientific principles to sports and even published articles in professional journals! He notes (page 15): "Best of all, by applying the scientific principles I had deduced in my research, I was able to improve my shooting accuracy and other basketball skills considerably. . . ." With that as background, the book then discusses a series of scientific principles and how these apply to sports. Such as: How do we know how to catch a fly ball while playing baseball? What are the principles of sprinting and distance running? One of my favorite sports is baseball. Here, Brancazio tells us why using a light bat is better than a heavier one in hitting a long ball. Given that Babe Ruth is alleged to have used an exceptionally heavy bat, think what he could have done had he understood the physics of hitting! Do you hear announcers talk about how some basketball players "hang in the air"? Sorry to say, you will be disillusioned by this book. Physically, it is impossible to "hang" in the air. However, there can be such an illusion. Take a look at Chapter 7 for more. How did this book help my basketball shooting? Brancazio notes, for example, that a softer shot with a higher trajectory (arc) is more likely to go in the hoop, for good scientific reasons. I used to use a more line drive Tommy Heinsohn (do I show my age?) type jump shot. When I went to a higher trajectory shot, my shooting percentage improved. So, this is a lot of fun, and it is nice to see how science can be deployed to explain sports phenomena--and maybe improve your performance a wee bit!