The "Educated" Expert: When common wisdom is neither common, nor wise

So I was reading a prominent local paper the other day and they had a section where there is a health "expert" offering advice.  The article was describing how important it was for children (did not say what age) to be flexible for improvement in sport performance.  The article had a picture of a cute little kid hitting a baseball.

Now, I'll be the first to tell you that I am not an authority on the topic of flexibility, but I have read numerous articles and scientific papers on the topic (written by people that are more brilliant than I am.)  Based on the principles from  many of these articles, I would vehemently disagree with the notion that kids need to improve flexibility.  Most children are fairly flexible already, and increasing flexibility may lead to decreased stability/mobility and subsequent injury.  What I believe most kids need to work on for improved sport performance is improved coordination and skill development.  Besides, how many kids do you know would want to sit and passively stretch as opposed to throw or hit a ball?   


Seeing as this is a local paper that many people read, a large number of people who read these articles will take this and become their own "expert" and blindly lead their kids to believe that increased flexibility will improve sport performance.  Sometimes common wisdom is neither common, nor wise...