Mark Hyman's Until It Hurts Is Worth Reading

I just finished Mark Hyman’s Until It Hurts. It is a quick although sometimes disturbing read.  Almost 150 pages, the book takes a hard look at youth sports and the adults who often manage to screw it up.

While the whole book it worth reading, here are some interesting points:

Just 5.8 percent of high school football players, one in seventeen, will suit up for a college squad.  The odds are bleaker for men’s soccer (5.7 percent), baseball (5.6%), women’s basketball (3.1 percent) and men’s basketball (2.9percent).

The average scholarship for a Division I or Division II scholarship in 2003-2004 was half the cost of attendance at some state universities and about a fifth of the cost of private universities.  Hockey was on the high end with covering nearly 80 percent while the low end included sports such as volleyball, soccer and men’s wrestling.

A great quote form a parent in the book: “When goals come before everything else, that’s when sports become work.  These kids are too young for that.”

Each year, as many as half of all youth sports injuries are the result of overuse – a regimen of sports play and training so intense that a child’s body rebels.

By introducing variety, moderation, and rest into an everyday sports routine, a child’s risk can be cut to nearly zero.

Most frightening thing in the book:  There is apparently a successful business selling DVDs for kids three months and older to help them learn golf, soccer, basketball and more.  The DVDs are $16.99 and are 30 minutes long.

It took me three or four hours to read the book.  It was worth it.  You can learn more about the book here.  Mark’s blog, Youth Sports Parents, is on the Blogroll.

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