Book Description
Quantitative research methods and data analysis are key components of sport, exercise, and health science degree studies. This accessible new textbook introduces the three main areas that a student needs to understand in order to successfully undertake independent quantitative research: project planning and design; data analysis and use of statistics; and interpretation and reporting of findings. Sports and exercise science specific examples are used to illustrate the methodology throughout. ... Read more

Book Description
Advances in genetics have begun to deliver on their promise of new and improved approaches to the prevention and treatment of human disease, including the gene-based therapeutics. The international sports community has begun to recognize the potential harmful use of gene transfer technology by athletes. The task of monitoring and controlling sports doping must be a truly cooperative effort, involving the cooperation of a range of local, national, and international organizations. There are very serious broad social and ethical issues at stake that relate to our definition of sports and its role in our society, as well as the social and ethical principles that are challenged or breached through sport doping, determining which forms of performance enhancementin sport or any other realm of human activityare acceptable, and what makes the enhancement of sport performance different from enhancement in other areas of human activity (e.g., cosmetic surgery, mood and learning enhancement through drugs, and drug-based treatment of physical and intellectual changes in normal aging process). This book tackles all these issues and more, serving as the first such focused treatment of this increasingly important topic, which has broad-based implications for science, medicine, sports, and society. ... Read more

Book Description
Author Rick Wolff has written this book to help parents and coaches avoid the pitfalls surrounding the increasingly competitive environment of youth sports, while helping children enjoy a positive, challenging, and educational sports experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good book, but preaching to the choir?
This is an excellent overview of the proper attitude to have in coaching kid's sports, as well as containing good tips for parents on their role.But I wonder if it needs a chapter on getting the people who need to read it to actually read this book.I think the concerned parent, the one who wants to learn, will seek out this book.It is the unconcerned parent or coach, who thinks they know how to mold champions, that won't even think to read a book like this.

If there is one criticism of this book, it is that it tends to focus on team sports and does not explore the differences of how to interact with a child involved in individual sports (running, swimming, tennis, golf, etc.).Of course, the biggest abuses of poor coaching and loutish parental behavior tend to be in team sports like baseball.But I think the book would be improved with more specific examples related to individual sports to complement the information about team sports

It captures the essence of Rick Wolff's philosophy
I've enjoyed reading Rick Wolff's columns for years - every one seems to be just on the mark. This book is a great compendium of his thinking, caring approach to being a coach and parent. Any parent signing up a childin youth baseball (or any sport) should have to promise to read this book!

A must for all coaches!
I run youth programs in Iowa, and after reading Mr. Wolff's book I feel more educated in the world of youth sports. Not only will this help me in my programs but also at home with my three sons.

Must reading for any parent with children in sports!
Not only does Wolff point out some of the problems with youth sportstoday, he also gives solutions.As a concerned parent and coach for mychildren's basketball, softball and soccer teams, I thought I had a prettygood handle on the important ingredients for coaching and being anencouraging parent.This book renewed me and now my children and theirteams are enjoying sports more and becoming more successful.I re-read thebook prior to every season and get more out of it each time. ... Read more

Book Description
Fully integrated and cross-referenced, this book describes the applications of science and medicine to sports. The book focuses on prevention and treatment of medical conditions and injuries, and contributions from leading workers in sports medicine, including several specialists, are authoritative and outstanding. The second edition of this book is fully updated with a number of revisions and additions, including a new chapter on exercise and immunity. Because the clinical aspects of sports science are stressed, the text comprehensively covers the mechanisms of injury in all regions of the body and the principles involved in their treatment. Topics also included are preventative measures and rehabilitation, children in sports, female athletes, doping, and the problems of the asthmatic, disabled, epileptic and diabetic athlete. ... Read more

Book Description
Coaching Science and Coaching Studies courses are appearing in increasing numbers in many universities. The textbooks used in most of these courses are either theoretically based sports science texts or practically based coaching books. The former are generally lacking in application while the latter rarely have any scientific input. The reader is, therefore, left to make the links themselves.

Coaching Science will bridge that gap covering both theory and practice and, most important, showing how theory informs practice. The book will be multi- and, to some extent, inter-disciplinary, as it is not possible to examine the interaction between coach, performer and task from a single discipline perspective.

Each chapter will include overviews of the main theories, but the bulk of the material will be concerned with how such theories can be applied in practice. Good and frequent use of examples will be provided. Throughout, the student will be given problems to solve. At the end of each chapter there will be revision notes, recommended readings and questions on chapter content. ... Read more

Book Description
Science and Racket Sports III will contain the peer-reviewed papers and keynote addresses presented at the combined 3rd World Congress of Science and Racket Sports and 8th International Table Tennis Federation Sports Science Congress.
The conference presents cutting edge research in racket sports science along the five key themes of Notational Match Analysis, Sports Medicine, Biomechanics, Sports Psychology, and Sports Physiology, and embraces a broad spectrum of the issues being examined by contemporary sports scientists. ... Read more

Book Description
Can sports drinks improve the way you play and exercise? Athletes-both competitive and recreational-turn to the consumption of sports drinks to optimize their performance. A volume in the Nutrition in Exercise and Sports Series, Sports Drinks: Basic Science and Practical Aspects provides a review of current knowledge on issues relating to the formulation and consumption of these popular drinks. The only single volume that addresses these subjects, this text also covers in depth the science that underpins the physiological, biochemical and nutritional roles of the sports beverage. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

This book tells you how to be a genius.
I'm not done reading it, but it's painful all the way, but painful in the way of the detail. I'm sure if you try hard enough you could figure this stuff out on your own, like people have done for thousands of years, but to see it there in front of you, it's a real short cut for getting to doing what you're trying to do. It's not some lame motivational book like if some nobody wrote, "How to be Successful," in the hopes of being successful by selling it. No, this is real science. It's doesn't tell you what to do at all, and the language is all technical like a robot, because they're psychologists and that's how psychologists talk, I guess, but it's living robot-matter, and they're talking about what they're doing, which is doing things, so there's a reflective aura all around the words, because it's a meta-subject. This is the subject of all subjects.

Amazing content but not a blue print for trainers
This is an amazing book. .It covers skill mastery in many domains (golf, wrestling, chess, music), showing the commonalities that lie at the heart of exceptional, as apposed to average, performance (e.g. consistent, focused practices over years characterized by high quality feedback, the need for the individual to master self-regulation if he or she wants to increase skill over time, etc.) It also provides a cautionary tale, in the form of a golf pro who developed exceptional skill but who never achieved the type of fame or wealth of say aJack Nicholas.Why? Because skill too narrowly defined, no mater how great, does not lead to achievement.You have to take in the total context (social, political, etc) if you want your "skill" to lead to widespread recognition. At least that's what I took away from my reading.While the book doesn't lay out an explicit "blue print" for applying it's information, it is still a wonderful resource for trainers or teachers looking to develop high level instruction and to mentor those pursuing peak performance.

Perhaps the best education book written
Having been an educator physician for some time, Dr. Ericsson reveals the nature of expertise as opposed to good, OK, mediocre, learners. He also lends insight into the difference between casual practice and dedicated or focused practice - which is the key to mastery. Anyone who wishes to be the best learner or the best teacher should read this book - every year. ... Read more

Book Description
Philosophy and the Sciences of Exercise, Health and Sport answers these questions and others, in a unique interdisciplinary study that calls on researchers working in sport, exercise and health to reflect critically on the nature and aims of scientific enquiry in these disciplines. The book addresses the underlying assumptions and development of both the very idea of science itself and what shape scientific enquiries ought to take in the fields of exercise, health and sport.
Written by a range of prestigious and internationally respected philosophers, scientists and social scientists, each chapter addresses a key issue in research methodology. Questions raised by the authors include:
· Do natural and social scientists need to understand philosophy of science?
· Are statistics misused in sport and exercise science research?
· Is sport science research gender-biased?
· How do external and commercial interests skew professional guidelines in health and sport research?
· Can scientists make claims without attempting to falsify as well as to confirm their theses?
This unique text serves notice to sport and health researchers to think philosophically about their subject and its scientific bases. It is essential reading for postgraduate researchers seeking to establish a sound theoretical foundation for their work. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Is there a genetic reason that African-Americans dominate professional sports? Even raising the question seems tantamount to heresy. Jon Entine not only raises the question, he strives to answer it in Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We're Afraid to Talk About It.

Entine is no stranger to controversy, having worked with Tom Brokaw on the award-winning NBC News documentary Black Athletes: Fact and Fiction in 1989. He's also willing to ask tough questions--and come up with answers that anger people on all sides of the issue. Entine starts off with some statistics indicating that African-American athletes are disproportionately represented in professional sports: for example, 13 percent of the U.S. population is black, but the NFL is 65 percent black, the NBA is nearly 80 percent black, and the WNBA is 70 percent black. He also examines cultural issues, laying to rest the long-held idea that blacks excel in sports because it is the only avenue open for advancement.

Some scholars cry foul at the idea that blacks are physically gifted, seeing this as a subtle way of saying that they are therefore intellectually stunted. Entine carefully argues that historically athletic ability and intellectual prowess were linked--with a positive bias. The "dumb jock" stereotype is a relatively recent construct--perhaps a defensive mechanism that arose when blacks began to participate on a level playing field and gain prominence in the sporting world. There's no reason to suppose athleticism and intelligence are inversely related; Entine quotes respected sports reporter Frank Deford: "[W]hen Jack Nicklaus sinks a 30-foot putt, nobody thinks his IQ goes down." The issue of physical superiority is further complicated by fears that a genetic explanation results in a belief that blacks don't succeed because of hard work, dedication, and drive, but rather (in the words of Brooks Johnson, who doesn't believe Entine's claims) "because God just gave 'em the right gene."

Is the fear of sounding racist hindering legitimate scientific inquiry? Entine believes so, noting that, "Anyone who attempts to breach this taboo to study or even discuss what might be behind the growing performance gap between black and white athletes must be prepared to run a gauntlet of public scorn, survival not guaranteed." Taboo is destined to make most of its readers uncomfortable. Hopefully this discomfort will serve as a wedge to open up discussion of an issue too long avoided. --Sunny DelaneyBook Description
Now in paperback, the book that jump-started a debate that shows no sign of ending. "Could well be the most intellectually demanding sports book ever written."-Washington PostAward-winning journalist Jon Entine's Taboo: Why Black Atheletes Dominate Sports and why We're Afraid t Talk About It created enormous controversy when PublicAffairs released it in hardcover in the fall of 1999. Rarely does a book so highly lauded by critics also elicit letters to the editor so passionately praising or damning the author for even daring to raise a subject.Drawing on the latest scientific research, and addressing all the major sports of North America, Entine persuasively shows why biology and ancestry are significant components of the stunning ascension of black athletes. He offers a gripping history of blacks in sports and a fascinating examination of the circumstances that have made addressing the facts so difficult and controversial. Artfully, and carefully, combining science, sports history, and sociology, Taboo has already proven to be one of the most controversial and illuminating books in recent memory.Paperback edition includes new Afterword by author. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (46)

Pretty thin soup
And I might be a little generous with the second star.

I, as a few other reviewers, note two problems off the top of the bat.

One is Entine's uncritical handling of "The Bell Curve."

Two is that he ignores the many sports that don't have a lot of black athletes.

Beyond that, he gets selective within some sports that he does address, such as seeming to focus on track more, and field events less.

Also, he ignored the rise of non-American white and non-black athletes in several sports in recent years.

I think of the white Europeans in the NBA, and the non-black Caribbean players and a few Japanese in MLB.

Finally, contrary to his claims otherwise, all too many children of all colors who are lower down the socioeconomic rungs tend to focus on sports as salvation. Unfortunately, more of these children are minorities.

Surprisingly short on substance
There is some interesting information here, but ultimately much of this book is simply a history of African-American athletics, which is not exactly obvious from the book's title.Hey, I'm as interested in the story of Jack Johnson as the next guy, but does the treatment he received really belong in this book?Given that the book weighs in at 400 pages, you've got to wonder what his editor was thinking about some of these anecdotes.

On another note, I'm tired of seeing Tiger Woods be referred to as a "black golfer."For the record, Tiger is 1/2 Asian, 1/4 black, 1/8 white and 1/8 Native American.Why does his black ancestry somehow trump the other 75% of his heritage?

Misleading title, doesn't even address the topic
After hearing the controversy surrounding this book, I decided to shell out twenty bucks and pick up a copy myself. As a social scientist with a strong interest in racial inequality and identity, and especially as a major sports fan, I figured that this would be a rather intriguing book. It certainly is, but in a different way than which the author/publisher market it.

Entine provides very little evidence and data to explain to us "why black athletes dominate sports." Mostly, he gives us a collection of statistics on the number of black players at the so-called speed positions in various sports (providing a numerical relationship, but no explanation). Quite disappointing - With such an adamant title, I was expecting the author to give us the concrete, infallible scientific proof explaining "why black athletes dominate sports," but I guess my expectations were too high.

Entine has a point up to a certain extent. Body form is, in fact, a major factor in calculating competitive advantage in certain sports. For example, a 5'3" man can forget about playing center in the NBA, just as a seven-footer has no shot at being the winning jockey at the Belmont Stakes. But to assume body form to some innate, hard-wired, racial sports gene is absurd and ultimately undermines the valid points that Entine does bring up.

I half think that Entine chose such a title for this book for the sensational reaction he knew it would garner. Sports consists of much more than speed and running, and clearly, black athletes do not dominate in sports such as weight lifting, skiing, field, wrestling, gymnastics, or hockey. By the title of this books, blacks rule the entire world of sports - which is not the case.

Something else also comes to mind. I find it quite amazing how people are always quick to point out that the high proportion of African-Americans in the NBA is scientific proof that blacks are genetically gifted basketball players. However, those folks must remain oblivious to the fact that after the United States, the basketball powerhouse nations are found in Eastern Europe...NOT western Africa! If African-Americans' ancestry to equatorial west Africa was responsible for their basketball abilities, then we should expect to find the nations of Nigeria, Ghana, and Zaire winning international basketball medals over the likes of Lithuania, Germany, Russia, Croatia, and Serbia. The fact of the matter is that growing numbers of NBA players are comming out of the former communist bloc of Europe. In 20 years, I believe the NBA will be 50 percent European. Even sports reporter Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star has bemoaned the fact that African-American players are "losing their jobs" to foreign players.

Also, Entine attributes the pheonomenal success of Brazil in World Cup Soccer to the African ancestry of most players on the national roster. This is quite ironic, since Germany, Italy, and Argentina are also soccer powerhouses and have accomplished this with few African-descent players on their respective clubs. England, Colombia, and Mexico each have far superior soccer squads than any national teams from West Africa (the area of the world where the nature's most gifted athletes trace their ancestry, according to Entine). And if any sport ever relied on speed, quickness, explosiveness and agility, certainly it is soccer.

I bring up these points to illustrate the absurdity and inconsistencies in attributing innate racial abilities of any particular group of people with regards to any particular sport. If African-descended players dominate basketball and baseball for their superior speed and agility, then why does this fail to yield results in soccer? "Racial realists" can not have their cake and eat it to.

Despite the failure to produce scientific evidence for black athletic superiority, I do like this book for one big reason. Entine provides an excellent account of the history of racism and racial politics of sports, from the days of Jack Johnson and the Negro Leagues of baseball up until the steroid scandals of communist East Germany and the USSR in the 1980s. We are given chapters on Joe Louis, Jewish basketball teams, Jackie Robinson, and the social significance of all of these historical events.

The real value of this book is found in its second half, when the author provides a nice account of race in sports throughout the 20th century. The fact of the matter is the right-wing lunatics have no ability to engage in scientific debate on race whatsoever. Their only recourse is to point out correlations, and assume there is a biological explanation. Such is not the nature of science, but the nature of charlatans motivated by personal agendas. Entine's lack of scientific evidence proves he can not discuss this subject matter, and as such, makes a bold claim and then sits back, labeling anyone who challenges him as a politically correct crackpot. The truth is, Entine and his backers are the ones motivated by political agendas.

Talk about false advertising. The book implies it will provide a scientific explanation for athletic performance, and does not even come close to doing anything of the sort.

Thoughtful book
I picked this book up because I run marathons and have become aware of the Kenyan domination of this event. What an eye-opener this book is! Jon Entine has very carefully explained how evolution has shaped different body types. I finally understand population genetics. He doesn't preach and "Taboo" doesn't ignore the cultural impact on sports accomplishments. In fact, if you have little interest in genetics, this book is a gem for understanding the history and travails of the African American athlete in the United States. I was also fascinated by his history of sports in the former Communist East Germany, which built its success on pumping its young women athletes full with performance enhancing durgs. This book is truly indispensible for anyone interested in a balanced look at the range of factors that contribute to the success of athletes. Anyone who suggests this book is "racist" just hasn't read it. It's the opposite -- a thoughtful discussion of why discussing human differences doesn't mean you have to resort to the lowest common denominator. And now I understand why Kenyans and other Eastern and Northern Africans are so dominant in endurance races.

Brave and important writing
Although it's not often discussed, among those who pay attention the wildly disproportionate success of black people in major sports is a reality so obvious it's just taken for granted these days.I've been watching the NFL religiously since I was about 11, and in that time I haven't seen a single successful white running back, and even the number of black quarterbacks is increasing as the game gets faster.Here in Massachusetts, nobody even wonders what country the Boston Marathon winner will come from, just which Kenyan will finish first.And of course, whites in the NBA are virtually nonexistent, except as backup centers.As its subtitle suggests, "Taboo" poses two central questions.First, why are black athletes so overrepresented in the above sports, and several others for that matter?Is it biology or culture?And why can't we have a reasoned discussion of the facts without accusations of "racism" being tossed around?

Fortunately, Jon Entine is committed to providing a comprehensive treatment of race differences and sports, and this book covers its subject with an approach that combines anthropology, sports history, and a bit of sociology to boot.Entine represents the full spectrum of opinion on this issue, giving racial demagogues on both sides enough rope to hang themselves before getting down to the facts. It's not until late in the book, in the chapter "Winning the Genetic Lottery," that Entine really gets into the genetic differences that give blacks an advantage over their peers in certain sports.As he notes, anyone has to put in a lot of work to become a star athlete, but "all the hard work in the world will go for naught if the roulette wheel of genetics doesn't land on your number."And Entine sites all sorts of evidence that that roulette wheel has landed in Africa more than in other places: sleeker musculatures; faster patellar tendon reflexes; higher levels of plasma testosterone; higher percentages of fast-twitch fibers; and in the case of East Africans, most notably Kenyans, much higher levels of running economy.

The book's case for why black athletes dominate sports, or at least many of the more popular ones, is certainly compelling.Of course, the book's second proposition, why we're afraid to talk about said dominance, is a bit trickier.In an effort to get to the bottom of the issue, Entine provides an exhaustive discussion of American sport's racial history and the obstacles that blacks have had to overcome over the past century or so.Around the turn of the century, as Entine shows, black access to sports, and everything else for that matter, was restricted by the common belief among whites that blacks were inferior morally (ummm, probably not), mentally (the jury's still out on that one), and physically (whoops!).Detailing the struggles of legendary black athletes from Jack Johson to Jesse Owens to Joe Louis, Entine writes that while the ultimate success of blacks in sports did manage to shatter the myth of white physical superiority, blacks wound up saddled with a new stereotype: their athletic success was merely a sign that blacks were a more primitive type of human than everyone else, with more brawn and less brains.

Of course, as Entine puts it, intelligence is "the elephant in the living room" when it comes to talking about race in sports, as black athletic success has led to the stereotype that IQ and athletic ability must be inversely proportional.As the book ultimately concludes, that's why there's so much reluctance to talk about this subject.After the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust, there was suddenly a rush to emphasize the shared humanity of all peoples, and this universalist ethic has ruled mainstream science to this day.Since studies of race differences have been used by people like Hitler to justify so much hateful nonsense, the current orthodoxy goes, it's better to just ignore the evidence of differing capacities even when it's staring us right in the face.Of course, just because racists have often distorted race science for their own nefarious ends doesn't mean it's all invalid.After all, failure to acknowledge reality is itself a prejudice whether it's well-intentioned or not, and nobody benefits when the elites try to prevent an objective analysis of the facts.

Although it can get a bit too politically correct at times, "Taboo" is still largely a candid and thorough analysis of a divisive and compelling topic.Entine's writing sytle is extremely straightforward for such complex subject matter, making the often tricky science of genetics, evolution, and society accessible to just about anyone who's interested.For sports fans it ranks right up there with Michael Lewis's brilliant "Moneyball" in the pantheon of thinking man's sports books.And for those who are just interested in controversial subjects, this book is still worth reading. ... Read more

Book Description
Children are not mini-adults.They are growing and maturing at their own individual rates and their physiological responses to exercise are dependent on a large number of variables as they progress through childhood and adolescence into adult life.Understanding has been limited by the fact that measurement techniques and equipment developed for use with adults are often not appropriate or even ethical for use with young people.These issues are addressed in this book which provides an analysis of physiological responses to exercise in relation to age, growth, maturation and sex. ... Read more

Book Description
Andrew C. Ostrow's Directory of Psychological Tests in the Sport & Exercise Sciences summarizes information on over 300 psychological scales questionnaires and inventories specific to sport and exercise settings. This second edition features test summaries addressing exercise motivation sport motivation aggression cognitive strategies leadership cohesion and anxiety.

-Contains information gathered on 141 additional tests not previously cited.
-Contributions made by 510 test authors.
-Twenty chapters organized by psychological construct-e.g. exercise motivation sport motivation aggrssion cognitive strategies leadership and anxiety.
-Summaries of 314 tests compiled with sections on purpose description construction reliability validity norms availability and references.
-Reference lists expanded from earlier editions. ... Read more

Book Description

This book, published in association with BASES (the British Assocation of Sport and Exercise Sciences), is the only up-to-date, practical guide to using the range of biomechanics movement analysis machines, equipment and software available today.

It includes detailed explanations of the key theory underlying biomechanics testing, along with advice concerning choice of equipment and how to use your laboratory equipment most effectively.

Written by leaders of the field, Bartlett and Payton, detailed study is given to:

• motion analysis using video and on-line systems
• measurement of force and pressure in the laboratory and field
• measurement of power using isokinetic dynamometry
• electromyography
• computational simulation and modelling of human movement
• research methodologies, data processing and data smoothing.

Contributors include world leading researchers and pioneers such as Vasilios (Bill) Baltzopoulos, Adrian Burden, John H. Challis, and computer modelling maestro Fred Yeadon.

Sport and Exercise Biomechanics Testing Guidelines is a must-have text for all biomechanics laboratories and students undertaking research.

Book Description
The dictionary is designed to be a pocket companion, for ready access by students, postgraduates, trainers, and health professionals involved in sport and exercise. It provides definitions and short accounts of terms used and techniques employed in the study and practical application of the relevant anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and psychology, and of commonly associated medical problems and treatments. Illustrations are included in the A-Z text, and appendices provide additional reference information and sources for further study. ... Read more