Mark Hyman's Blog, page 11

Little League movie is whiffing at the box office

Take the story of a heroic Little League team. Add a sappy love story. Mix in flat dialogue, one-dimensional characters, an ending that's utterly predictable. What have you got? A lousy movie about a heroic Little League team, apparently.

Which brings us to "The Perfect Game, which debuted in theaters last week. Horrible reviews. Interesting (to me) is that the real story of the 1957 Little League World Series champs from Monterrey, Mexico seems infinitely more interesting than the dramatized ...

What a new study ignores re: Tommy John surgery

A new study finds that 95 percent of skeletally mature high school pitchers were satisfied with their Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. Almost as many (94.7 percent) returned to competitive baseball.

This is great news for young players who've been over pitched to the point that their elbows just quit. If they have the surgery, they're likely to be happy with the results. All but a few will get back to playing baseball.

My son had Tommy John surgery in 2006. He returned to baseball and, ...

Why do kids play sports? Peter Barston still asking

Back in January, I wrote a piece for the New York Times about Peter Barston, a young man from Darien, Connecticut who had spent many hours studying the reasons kids play sports.

Peter, 15, put together a survey listing 11 potential reasons. The top answer again and again was the simplest: To have fun. As the article noted, i=t was the top response from football and basketball players, from boys and from girls, and from players in each grade from fourth to eighth. In the basketball survey, 95 p...

What's in a name? A youth sports league is asking

I received this the other day. I was intrigued.

I am not involved in the research and do not know the researchers. But the project seems worthwhile so I am passing it on.

We are currently conducting research for a national youth baseball league to find out how people view the word "Dixie". Would you be willing to help us in our project?

We have a survey of about 10 questions that will take people no longer than five minutes to complete.

This is a link to the survey:...

Fawcett takes issue with extreme sports parenting

Adding another name to the youthsportsparents honor roll. That is, a list that recognizes pro and Olympic athletes for speaking up about sports parenting taken to the extreme.

Joy Fawcett won two gold medals playing for the U.S. Olympic soccer team. Now she has three soccer-playing daughters, age 8, 12 and 15, who play competitively but mostly for fun.

In Saturday's San Jose Mercury News, Fawcett says she often (too often) sees many parents "stomping around on the sidelines." She told the pap...

On Opening Day, Oh say can you see?

What's the most stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner you've ever witnessed at a youth baseball league Opening Day? Nominations are now open.

Here's the winner in the 10-year-old category.

This post originally published at http://www.youthsportsparents.blogspo...

Lamest reason for withholding EKGs? The cost

Before kids at most high schools are cleared to play team sports, they have to undergo physical checkups. Usually they aren't the most rigorous exams and rarely do they include an EKG.

But should they?

Researchers at Stanford say they should. A new study argues that the cardiac test is "reasonable in cost and effective at saving lives."

Why aren't EKGs part of the routine workup, like sticking out your tongue? Money, of course. If the heart tests were mandatory, schools would have to get access ...

Lamest reason for withholding EKGs? The price

Before kids at most high schools are cleared to play team sports, they have to undergo physical checkups. Usually they aren't the most rigorous exams and rarely do they include an EKG.

But should they?

Researchers at Stanford say they should. A new study argues that the cardiac test is "reasonable in cost and effective at saving lives."

Why aren't EKGs part of the routine workup, like sticking out your tongue? Money, of course. If the heart tests were mandatory, schools would have to get access ...

New youth sports mantra, beware the handshake

Times are tough for a venerable youth sports institution: the post-game handshake.

Two examples:

In Greenville County, S.C., handshakes are being cited as the cause of a nasty brawl. It happened last week after a basketball game in which Southside High upset previously unbeaten Abbeville High. Multiple players from both teams began clubbing each others. Fans rushed the court.

From the Greenville News:

"The fight broke out after the game as players lined up and walked by each other to shake hands...

In youth sports games, beware of handshakes

Things are getting tough for the youth sports handshake. In Greenville County, S.C., handshakes are being cited as the cause of a nasty brawl. It happened last week in a after a basketball game in which Southside High upset previously unbeaten Abbeville High. Multiple players from both teams began clubbing each others. Fans rushed the court.

From the Greenville News:

"The fight broke out after the game as players lined up and walked by each other to shake hands,(a spokesman from the Sheriff's ...