These 18 papers show how far the study of the mechanics of the human body has come, and the extent of the application of that study to medicine, particularly the medicine of sports. With a wealth of illustrations and case studies, contributors fully describe assessment and its association with the modification model and include descriptions of talent identification and athlete profiling. They show how to apply biomechanics to such factors as absolute body size, somatotyping in sport, body composition, proportionality, posture, strength, power, speed, flexibility, balance and agility. They also describe techniques of modeling physical capacity, of analyzing effort and efficiency in sport, and image analysis and performance, the use of biomechanics to improve performance, and special applications, including some directed at the resolution of disabilities. Included is a very good case study of biomechanical processes, analysis and modeling techniques in pole vaulting. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)