Summary

When working with sports men and women, the biomechanist is faced with two apparently incompatible goals: reducing injury risk and improving sports performance. Now in a fully updated and revised edition, Sports Biomechanics introduces the fundamental principles that underpin our understanding of the biomechanics of both sports injury and performance, and explains how contemporary biomechanical science can be used to meet both of those goals simultaneously.

The first four chapters of this book look closely at sports injury, including topics such as the properties of biological materials, mechanisms of injury occurrence, risk reduction, and the estimation of forces in biological structures. The last four chapters concentrate on the biomechanical enhancement of sports performance including analytical techniques, statistical and mathematical modelling of sports movements, and the use of feedback to enhance sports performance.

Drawing on the very latest empirical and epidemiological data, and including clear concise summaries, self test questions and guides to further reading in every chapter, this book is essential reading for all advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students with an interest in biomechanics, sports injury, sports medicine, physical therapy or performance analysis.

Visit the companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/bartlett

Choice Review

This book is intended primarily as a textbook for third- and fourth-year undergraduate students or graduate students who have already completed a course in biomechanics, using Bartlett's Introduction to Sports Biomechanics (1997). That said, though Bartlett and Bussey (both, Univ. of Otago, New Zealand) offer limited mathematical equations, many undergraduate students in the US, who typically take only one course in biomechanics, may not have the necessary mathematics skills or physics background. The book has been updated extensively since its first appearance (CH, Oct'00, 38-1005); almost half the references cited in this second edition were published after the first edition appeared. There is a new chapter on performance analysis, but it may seem a little extraneous and an impediment to the flow of the text. But on the whole the material is presented in a logical, clear, coherent fashion. Each chapter provides expected learning outcomes, study tasks, and a glossary of important terms. Students accustomed to colors, pictures, learning tips, study guides, keys to understanding, practical applications, and so on may find the work somewhat spare as a textbook. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Graduate students and above. D. W. Hill University of North Texas