BOOK REVIEW
© by IAAF
Sport Mechanics for Coaches (2nd Edition)
by Gerry Carr
nderlying athletic accomplishments
U are complex mechanics and physics
working in perfect synchronisation.
Therefore, an acute understanding of sport
mechanics can mean the difference between
average and elite sport performance. Without
this knowledge, teachers, coaches, and per-
formers are seriously disadvantaged in select-
ing the best techniques to use, observing
faults and identifying their causes, and devis-
ing ways to make corrections. Yet many
coaches and athletes have avoided studying
sport mechanics because they’re intimidated
by the scientific terminology and mathemat-
ics traditionally associated with the subject.
It’s the absence of these complexities that
may be responsible for the excellent response
which the first edition of Sport Mechanics for
Coaches by Gerry Carr, which appeared in
1997 (see review in NSA 3+4/2000), received
from coaches, physical educators and stu-
dents of biomechanics alike. This positive
reception is also the reason why many aspects
of this second edition have remained
unchanged from the first. As with the first
edition, the primary purpose of this new edi-
tion is to assist readers in understandng how
the laws that control movement apply to
techniques used in sport.
Instead of difficult calculations and formu-
las normally expected in a book dealing with
biomechanics, readers will find in every chap-
ter boxed, sports-related, and interesting
facts about athletes, world records, and
equipment advances – all updated from the
first edition and increased in number. In addi-
tion, there are more interesting explanations
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and improved illustrations and photographs
to highlight the discussions of sport skills and
sport techniques. Where appropriate, expla-
nations have been updated to reflect the
changes that have occurred both in sport
technique and equipment in recent years.
Important terms and concepts are highlighted
where they are discussed in the text and list-
ed at the end of each chapter; concise defini-
tions are supplied in a glossary provided at
the back of the book.
Divided into two parts (Part I: “Understand-
ing Mechanics and Sport Technique”, Part II:
“Putting Your Knowledge of Sport Mechanics
to Work”), the book includes nine chapters
altogether. Following the introductory first
chapter (“Making a Smart Move”), which
deals with general aspects of sport mechan-
ics, mechanical principles, technique, teach-
ing good technique and failure of traditional
training methods, Chapter 2 (“Starting with
Basics”) looks at some basic mechanical con-
cepts that affect athletic performance: Mass,
weight, speed, acceleration, and velocity, ath-
lete’s center of gravity, force, force vectors,
projectiles. Chapter 3 (“Getting a Move on”)
gets readers involved with athletes and
objects in motion. The mechanical principles
discussed in this chapter are: momentum,
impulse, mechanical work, power, energy,
rebound, and friction. Chapter 4 (“Rocking
New Studies in Athletics • no. 1/2005
and Rolling”) is about rotation, and it’s the
longest chapter in the book. The size of this
chapter is an indication not only of the
importance of rotation but also of its pres-
ence in all sport skills. Chapter 5 (“Don’t be a
Pushover”) discusses the importance of bal-
ance and stability in the performance of sport

skills. Chapter 6 (“Going With the Flow”) deals
with how the forces of air and water help or
hinder an athlete. Of course, the focus is on
making the most of the flow. Chapters 7
(“Analyzing Sport Skills”) and 8 (“Identifying
and Correcting Errors in Sport Skills”) are
closely linked and show how to put one’s
knowledge of sport mechanics to work. The
reader will find advice on how to break a skill
into smaller parts. Chapter 8 gives examples
of observation techniques and teaches how to
select errors that need correcting. In the last
chapter of the book (“Mechanics of Selected
Sport Skills”), a number of sport skills are
analysed to show how technique and
mechanics ar inseparable. These pages are a
good review of the mechanical principles
New Studies in Athletics • no. 1/2005
dealt with earlier in the book.
The new book incorporates updated expla-
nations and more than 125 illustrations and
photos. It also contains more sidebars
explaining techniques, achievements, and
equipment related to the mechanical concept
Book review
discussed in each chapter. End-of-chapter
review questions and practical activities allow
coaches and sport science students the
opportunity to conduct hands-on experi-
ments on concepts such as torque, momen-
tum, inertia, and lift. Answers and solutions
appear in the back of the book.
As was the first edition, this second edition
of Sport Mechanics for Coaches is well worth
buying, reading, and thinking about. Even
readers who are in possession of the first edi-
tion will benefit from this second one.
Reviewed by Jürgen Schiffer
Gerry Carr
Sport Mechanics for Coaches (Second Edition)
Champaign, Ill.: Human Kinetics, 2004, 236 pp.,
ISBN: 0-7360-3972-4, $ 32.00
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