How Do Quarterbacks Throw a Perfect Pass?: The Biomechanics and Physics Behind Sports

​Have you ever wondered how hockey players skate on ice without falling or how soccer players can kick a ball around other players?

It’s time to get your head in the game and learn all about the science of some of your favorite sports including baseball, football, swimming, and so much more through diagrams, illustrations, and informative and engaging text. Each of the six questions examined in the book are given a silly answer before the true answer is revealed making this an approachable way to learn nonfiction. Back matter includes a glossary and activities to further learning.

Questions answered in the book:

- How do baseball players throw super-fast pitches? Learning the biomechanics of their pitch improves their game!

- How do soccer players kick a ball around other players? They rely on physics to make the ball curve.

- How do flying discs fly so far? Understanding proper technique and forces like gravity and drag can help you go far.

- How do quarterbacks throw a perfect pass? They throw the ball in a spiral and rely on angular momentum.

- How do Olympic swimmers swim so fast? Reducing resistance and staying buoyant help swimmers in the pool.

- How do hockey players skate without slipping on the ice? They know how to use friction in their favor!

About the How Do series: These fully illustrated nonfiction picture books are a great introduction to various STEM topics. Each title includes facts and figures, simple diagrams and hilarious illustrations and is written in a question-and-answer format to encourage readers to ask questions and guess the answers before exploring the science behind the correct answers.

Clayton Grider is a University of Tennessee Knoxville alumnus, yet his love for birds began much earlier. Equipped with his mother’s binoculars, a young Clayton would watch the robins, blue jays, and cardinals outside his house eating from the bird feeder. In college, his interest in birds broadened to the environment they live in and Clayton took many environmental and water management classes. These experiences inspired him to write his first book How Do Birds Sing a Duet? Since then, Clayton has written a number of How Do? books exploring various topics he finds just as fascinating as birds. Today, Clayton is pursuing a teaching career in statistics in Nashville, Tennessee.

Srimalie Bassani lives and works in Mantova, Italy. Her mother has always encouraged her artistic expression, and she is the inspiration for her passion. Her work is full of surprises. She always tries to diversify her style based on every story she illustrates. It’s almost impossible to remove her from her writing desk, where she keeps a stack of books and teacups of many colors.