At one time, the most promising swimmer in the Phelps family was not Michael. His older sister, Whitney, was a national champion at age 14. But by 16 her best days were behind her. When Michael was winning his eight gold medals in Beijing last year, Whitney was a spectator in the stands.

 Whitney faded from glory because of a chronic back injury, the result of too much swimming practice in her early teenage years -- so Mark Hyman reports in "Until It Hurts," an indictment of America's over-intense and even abusive youth sports culture. Mr. Hyman is especially hard on the coaches and parents who have engaged in what he calls a "hostile takeover" of child's play. Athletics for the young today, he believes, is often joyless, hyper-competitive and nerve-racking, and it results in a rash of injuries, not least in "overuse" injuries, like Whitney's, that are entirely avoidable.

To make his point, Mr. Hyman offers examples of the harm that sports have done to young bodies and psyches. We learn, for instance, about a 10-year-old girl in Atlanta who is rising in the Georgia state junior tennis rankings but who also has an aching shoulder. An orthopedic surgeon detects a stress fracture and recommends a six-month break from tennis. His recommendation sends her mother into a screaming rage -- the family's goal is for the girl to reach a number-five ranking within two weeks -- and the woman insists that physical therapy is all that's needed.

Read on...

DAN ACKMAN

Wall Street Journal