The Art of Sprinting: Techniques for Speed and Performance

To deep for a 3rd grader to use.

I got this for my granddaughter because she's in high school track. I decided to read it and was blown away by the amount of thought that training for sprinting can entail. Recommended for the serious sprinter who may not have access to professional training.

I love this book. The author provides intricate details and backs up all claims with the science behind it. Great for coaches or athletes coaching themselves.

Superb gift for runners

This book, published in 2009, reflects the experience of the author - six decades of experience. Based on the description, I was expecting something like the insights of the nerdy expert in "Moneyball" but instead got pearls of wisdom like those dispensed by the aging scouts at the beginning of the movie.Although this book has a lot of detail, most of it seems self-evident: "Stay out of the sun as much as possible if it is hot during your meet." Other recommendations are simply no longer up to date. There are recommendations for static stretching before a race (not something we do these days), but hardly anything on weight training other than push-ups. The author says that he is not aware of an exercise that prevents hamstring injuries - well I know one: Nordic hamstring curls, the research has clearly shown, reduce hamstring injury rates considerably. In short, there are much better books on sprinting by now that reflect the research of the last decade.