How can we predict the trajectory of a baseball from bat to outfield? How do the dimples in a golf ball influence its flight from tee to pin? What forces determine the path of a soccer ball steered over a defensive wall by an elite player? An understanding of the physical processes involved in throwing, hitting, firing and releasing sporting projectiles is essential for a full understanding of the science that underpins sport. This is the first book to comprehensively examine those processes and to explain the factors governing the trajectories of sporting projectiles once they are set in motion. From a serve in tennis to the flight of a ’human projectile’ over a high jump bar, this book explains the universal physical and mathematical principles governing movement in sport, and then shows how those principles are applied in specific sporting contexts. Divided into two sections, addressing theory and application respectively, the book explores key concepts such as: friction, spin, drag, impact and bounce computer and mathematical modelling variable sensitivity the design of sports equipment materials science. Richly illustrated throughout, and containing a wealth of research data as well as worked equations and examples, this book is essential reading for all serious students of sports biomechanics, sports engineering, sports technology, sports equipment design and sports performance analysis.

How can we predict the trajectory of a baseball from bat to outfield? How do the dimples in a golf ball influence its flight from tee to pin? What forces determine the path of a soccer ball steered over a defensive wall by an elite player? An understanding of the physical processes involved in throwing, hitting, firing and releasing sporting projectiles is essential for a full understanding of the science that underpins sport. This is the first book to comprehensively examine those processes and to explain the factors governing the trajectories of sporting projectiles once they are set in motion. From a serve in tennis to the flight of a ’human projectile’ over a high jump bar, this book explains the universal physical and mathematical principles governing movement in sport, and then shows how those principles are applied in specific sporting contexts. Divided into two sections, addressing theory and application respectively, the book explores key concepts such as: friction, spin, drag, impact and bounce computer and mathematical modelling variable sensitivity the design of sports equipment materials science. Richly illustrated throughout, and containing a wealth of research data as well as worked equations and examples, this book is essential reading for all serious students of sports biomechanics, sports engineering, sports technology, sports equipment design and sports performance analysis.

Of considerable interest to applied mathematicians as well as sporting enthusiasts is the mathematical theory underlying the many sporting activities documented here, ranging from the high jump to frisbees and soccer to table tennis.

The first systematic collaboration between cognitive scientists and sports psychologists considers the mind–body relationship from the perspective of athletic skill and sports practice. This landmark work is the first systematic collaboration between cognitive scientists and sports psychologists that considers the mind–body relationship from the perspective of athletic skill and sports practice. With twenty-six chapters by leading researchers, the book connects and integrates findings from fields that range from philosophy of mind to sociology of sports. The chapters show not only that sports can tell scientists how the human mind works but also that the scientific study of the human mind can help athletes succeed. Sports psychology research has always focused on the themes, notions, and models of embodied cognition; embodied cognition, in turn, has found striking confirmation of its theoretical claims in the psychological accounts of sports performance and athletic skill. Athletic skill is a legitimate form of intelligence, involving cognitive faculties no less sophisticated and complex than those required by mathematical problem solving. After presenting the key concepts necessary for applying embodied cognition to sports psychology, the book discusses skill disruption (the tendency to “choke” under pressure); sensorimotor skill acquisition and how training correlates to the development of cognitive faculties; the intersubjective and social dimension of sports skills, seen in team sports; sports practice in cultural and societal contexts; the notion of “affordance” and its significance for ecological psychology and embodied cognition theory; and the mind's predictive capabilities, which enable anticipation, creativity, improvisation, and imagination in sports performance. Contributors Ana Maria Abreu, Kenneth Aggerholm, Salvatore Maria Aglioti, Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, Duarte Araújo, Jürgen Beckmann, Kath Bicknell, Geoffrey P. Bingham, Jens E. Birch, Gunnar Breivik, Noel E. Brick, Massimiliano L. Cappuccio, Thomas H. Carr, Alberto Cei, Anthony Chemero, Wayne Christensen, Lincoln J. Colling, Cassie Comley, Keith Davids, Matt Dicks, Caren Diehl, Karl Erickson, Anna Esposito, Pedro Tiago Esteves, Mirko Farina, Giolo Fele, Denis Francesconi, Shaun Gallagher, Gowrishankar Ganesh, Raúl Sánchez-García, Rob Gray, Denise M. Hill, Daniel D. Hutto, Tsuyoshi Ikegami, Geir Jordet, Adam Kiefer, Michael Kirchhoff, Kevin Krein, Kenneth Liberman, Tadhg E. MacIntyre, Nelson Mauro Maldonato, David L. Mann, Richard S. W. Masters, Patrick McGivern, Doris McIlwain, Michele Merritt, Christopher Mesagno, Vegard Fusche Moe, Barbara Gail Montero, Aidan P. Moran, David Moreau, Hiroki Nakamoto, Alberto Oliverio, David Papineau, Gert-Jan Pepping, Miriam Reiner, Ian Renshaw, Michael A. Riley, Zuzanna Rucinska, Lawrence Shapiro, Paula Silva, Shannon Spaulding, John Sutton, Phillip D. Tomporowski, John Toner, Andrew D. Wilson, Audrey Yap, Qin Zhu, Christopher Madan

Modern Exterior Ballistics is a comprehensive text covering the basic free flight dynamics of symmetric projectiles. The book provides a historical perspective of early developments in the 19th century, the technology leading to World War I and that through World War II into the modern post-war era. Historical topics include the first ballistic firing tables, early wind tunnel experiments, the development of free flight spark ranges and the first supercomputer, ENIAC, which was designed to compute artillery trajectories for the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory. The level of the text requires an undergraduate education in mathematics, physics, and mechanical or aerospace engineering. The basic principles of ballistic science are developed from a comprehensive definition of the aerodynamic forces that control the flight dynamics of symmetric projectiles. The author carefully starts with the basic vacuum point mass trajectory, adds the effects of drag, discusses the action of winds, simple flat fire approximations, Coriolis effects and concludes with the classic modified point mass trajectories. Included in the discussion are analytical methods, change of variables from time to distance, numerical solutions and a chapter on the Siacci Method. The Siacci Method provides a historical perspective for computing flat fire trajectories by simple quadrature and is used in the sporting arms industy. The final six chapters of the book present an extensive physical and mathematical analysis of the motion of symmetric projectiles. The linearized equations of angular and swerving motion are derived in detail. The effects of mass asymmetry, in-bore yaw, cross wind and launch in a slipstream are discussed. Special consideration is given to the derivation and explanation of aerodynamic jump. These subjects are then expanded to include a complete chapter on nonlinear aerodynamic forces and moments. The final chapter in the book presents an overview of experimental methods for measuring the flight dynamics of projectiles. The great forte of Modern Exterior Ballistics is the author's effort to provide many fine specific examples of projectile motion illustrating key flight behaviors. The extensive collection of data on projectiles from small arms to artillery used to substantiate calculations and examples is alone a valuable reference. The ultimate joy of the book is the incomparable comprehensive set of flow field shadow graphs illustrating the entire spectrum of projectile flight from subsonic, through transonic and supersonic. The volume is a necessary addition to any undergraduate or graduate course in flight dynamics.

This text incorporates programming aspects of strength and conditioning including training methods to develop muscular strength and power, flexibility, and the development of effective warm-up regimens. Performance analysis techniques in sport are introduced while the constraints-led approach to motor skills acquisition is presented as a framework that can guide the development of practices for the strength and conditioning practitioner. The biomechanical and motor skill acquisition concepts introduced in the text are then applied to fundamental movements including jumping, landing, and sprint running.