The physics of sports / Michael Lisa, The Ohio State University.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. Primary Chapters : -- 1. Warm-up: Basic concepts -- 2. Racing, Mathematically -- 3. Net Force: Dwight Howard illustrates -- 4. Punts, the Fosbury Flop, and Other Projectile Motions -- 5. Curveballs, Foul Shots, and Bent Kicks -- 6. Game Changers: Collisions in Sports -- 7. Energy in Sports: Bursts of Power -- 8. Energy and Timing in Elastic Equipment -- 9. The Physics of Cycling -- 10. Twisting Athletes in Flight -- Part II. Supplementary Chapters : -- 11. Lines of Action on the Line of Scrimmage: The Torque Wars -- 12. A Barry Bonds Home Run -- 13. The Pole Vault -- 14. Is It Better to Run through First Base or to Dive? -- --

Part I. Primary Chapters : -- 1. Warm-up: Basic concepts -- 1.1. Quantifying the World of Sports -- 1.2. When We Don't Have Exact Numbers -- 1.3. The Center of Mass -- 2. Racing, Mathematically -- 2.1. Phelps in Beijing -- 2.2. Bolt in Berlin -- 2.3. Rope-Climbing and Diving -- 3. Net Force: Dwight Howard illustrates -- 3.1. How Things Interact: Forces -- 3.2. The Physics of a Dwight Howard Dunk -- 3.3. Sideways Traction -- 3.4. More-Complex Situations -- 3.5. "Imaginary Forces" in Sports -- 4. Punts, the Fosbury Flop, and Other Projectile Motions -- 4.1. The Math: Simpler Than You Think -- 4.2. Football Punt: Range, Hang Time, and Compromise -- 4.3. Shot-Put -- 4.4. Human Projectiles -- 5. Curveballs, Foul Shots, and Bent Kicks -- 5.1. Overview -- 5.2. Immersion in Fluid: Buoyancy -- 5.3. Moving Through Fluid Drag -- 5.4. Sideward Forces from Asymmetries -- 5.5. Aerodynamic Forces, One at a Time -- 5.6. More Complicated Aerodynamics in Sports -- 5.7. Not All Air Is Created Equal -- 6. Game Changers: Collisions in Sports -- 6.1. What a Collision Is and How to Think About It -- 6.2. The Physics of a Football Tackle -- 6.3. Gentler Pursuits: Bowling -- 6.4. A Happy Medium: Dribbling and Driving -- 6.5. Off-Center Hits: Spinning the Ball -- 7. Energy in Sports: Bursts of Power -- 7.1. Bouncing Basketball: The Whole Process -- 7.2. Efficiency -- 7.3. The Athlete: The Energetic Starting Point -- 7.4. Keeping Score: Energy Accounting in Sports -- 7.5. Uncle Rico's Hopes Dashed -- 7.6. Behdad Salimikordsiabi's Clean and Jerk -- 8. Energy and Timing in Elastic Equipment -- 8.1. The Physics of Archery I: Energy Storage and Transfer -- 8.2. The Physics of Archery II: Fire Power -- 8.3. The Physics of Archery III: Archer's Paradox -- 8.4. Zdeno Chara's Slap Shot: Fast Storage, Faster Release -- 8.5. Bungee-Jumping Brides and Quadratic Equations -- 9. The Physics of Cycling -- 9.1. Input to the Bike: Sustained Human Power -- 9.2. Power Output -- 9.3. Talansky Drives the Bike -- 10. Twisting Athletes in Flight -- 10.1. Human Rotation -- 10.2. Backward Giant Circle -- 10.3. Figure Skating: Spinning on Ice -- 10.4. Rotational Action and Reaction -- Part II. Supplementary Chapters : -- 11. Lines of Action on the Line of Scrimmage: The Torque Wars -- 12. A Barry Bonds Home Run -- 12.1. Ball-Bat Collision: Speeds, Impulse, Force -- 12.2. Batted Ball Speed -- 12.3. Focus on the Bat -- 13. The Pole Vault -- 13.1. Origins -- 14. Is It Better to Run through First Base or to Dive? -- 14.1. The Story according to Sport Science -- 14.2. Too Close to Call -- 14.3. Diving Speed -- 14.4. What's Really Happening: Torque and Impulse -- 14.5. Other Issues -- 14.6. Concluding Remarks.

"There is a large and growing number of excellent books on physics and sports. While these books are well written, educational, and often entertaining, they are simply not textbooks. Physics concepts such as force, velocity, and torque, come into the discussion. Interesting facts are given, and occasionally a formula is applied. However, the focus is typically on conveying interesting physics related facts about a particular sport, rather than developing a general appreciation and facility for scientific reasoning. This book is intended as a textbook for a 1 semester or a 1-2 quarter undergraduate course, for students not necessarily intending to major in Physical Science, Engineering, or a related field. With this course, it is hoped that a student's natural interest in athletics and the direct relevance to concrete material will bridge the gap for students turned off by the seemingly abstract stuff covered in many undergraduate physics courses. The discussion being completely centered around real life examples, allows students to understand sports by talking about Physics."--Publisher's website.