Why a Curveball Curves: The Incredible Science of Sports

This was purchased as a gift for a family member who is interested in all phases of baseball. He really liked it.

This book was so interesting that I couldn't put it down- read it in less than two hours. It explains some of the science behind sports, not just baseball, but football, bowling, golf, basketball, and more. It is not too technical, so the average joe can understand it.

As a kid, I was never a big science fan . . . I've now become more interested in the subject and you will, too, if you read WHY A CURVEBALL CURVES--edited by Frank Vizard. This book is a collection of articles from POPULAR MECHANICS by such contributors as Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella, Olympic swimming coach Bob Bowman and Buzz "The Shot Doctor" Graman . . . you'll learn how certain hockey players achieve greater speed on the ice, why swimming is all about reducing drag and even what Babe Ruth had to say about the mechanics of his home-run swing: * Coordination, that is perfect timing and harmony of action, is a great essential. You have got to develop rhythm and full utility of every muscle. My whole body goes with every swing. I swing right from the hips. And those who have seen me take a healthy sock at the ball know what I mean. With that coordination there is the fact that I assume that strength is behind it. Whatever your favorite sport is, you'll probably find it covered in this book . . . baseball, basketball, bowling, boxing, cycling, football, golf, hockey, running, skiing, soccer, swimming and diving, and tennis all get covered in separate chapters, often accompanied by memorable photos. I often found out some surprising information; e.g., about the importance of the follow-through in golf: * Irrelevant. In truth, a golfer could release the club from his hands the moment after impact and it would make no difference--except, of course, to your playing partners, who might not appreciate having your eight-iron embedded between their shoulder blades. Still, a full release of your arms and torso, leading to a classic pose, with your belly button pointed to the target and your hands high above your front ear? Well, that always looks nice for the cameras. And then there was this passage about hockey's Wayne Gretzy that ended with one of my all-time favorite sports quotations: * By his own admission, Gretzky, who played most famously with the Edmonton Oilers as well as several other teams during the 1980s and 1990s, was not the strongest or fastest or most agile player on the ice even though he was named MVP of the National Hockey League nine times. What Gretzky did have was an ability that amounted to being able to see into the future and visualize what was going to happen in the next few seconds. In an article appearing in WIRED magazine, scientists working for the U. S. Olympic team and the Australian Institute of Sport concluded that skills like Gretzky's come from an innate ability to intuitively translate physical cues dropped by opponents that are not apparent to most other athletes. Scientists are at work figuring out how this skill can be taught, but this type of perceptual training is still in its infancy. On the other hand, Gretzky may have just been following his father's advice, given to him when he was a youngster: "Skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been." Methinks

I bought this for my husband and he loves it. He is active in several sports and refers to this as "the book" now. He is a thinker and likes to know the "whys" of things. This book is right up his alley.