Having a good night’s sleep is often overlooked as a fitness strategy for athletic performance. Most athletes know they need the right calories to fuel their bodies, but often overlook the need for sleep.

Many of today’s greatest athletes know how important sleep is for their game. It is often the key to their victories. Sleep experts say that REM sleep provides energy for the brain and body.

Tennis star Serena Williams says she enjoys going to bed early, sometimes as early as 7 p.m.! Cyclist Lance Armstrong challenges athletes to get six to eight hours of sleep a night.

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“Getting enough sleep is crucial for athletic performance,” saidDr. David Geier, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist near Charleston, South Carolina. “Just as athletes need more calories than most people when they’re in training, they need more sleep, too. You’re pushing your body in practice, so you need more time to recover.”

Athletes in training should sleep about an hour extra. You can go to sleep earlier, or take an afternoon nap, said Jim Thornton, head athletic trainer at Clarion (Pennsylvania) University and former president of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.

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Here are six ways that sleep can affect an athlete’s performance:

1. It improves reaction time

Sometimes, seconds mean everything in sports. Sleep deprivation can add seconds to any play, seconds that can make the difference between winning and losing, between a safe reaction and getting hurt.

You may think that just one night of scarce sleep won’t matter, but it can actually reduce reaction time by more than 300 percent. Studies show that fatigue can hurt reactions as much as being legally drunk does.

One study tracked the Stanford University basketball team over a few months. Players added almost two hours of sleep a night. As a result, players increased their speed by 5 percent. Their free throws were 9 percent more accurate. They had faster reflexes and felt happier. Other studies have shown similar benefits for football players and other athletes.

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2. It strengthens focus

We’ve all heard the claim that sports is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. If that’s the case, then mental focus is crucial. Being well-rested means your child can be more alert, which will allow keener focus in the game.

3. It reduces injuries

Studies show that injury rates in youth athletes increase when they slept less than six hours the previous night. Why does this happen? As I mentioned earlier, fatigue affects an athlete’s performance in a few ways: slower reactions can result in injury, a tired body is worn down and more likely to get sick, and less sleep means less time for the body to repair itself after physical exertion. 

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4. It increases coordination

Every athlete knows that muscle memory is important for learning skills. Sleep helps your child’s body with that muscle memory. It helps strengthen the recall that is linked to body movements.

5. It allows for recovery

Not getting enough sleep doesn’t only make you tired. It affects what’s happening inside your body.

Felicia Stoler, an exercise physiologist and registered dietitian in New Jersey, agrees. “Sleep is the time when your body repairs itself,” she says. “If we don’t get enough sleep, we don’t perform well.”

After your child has given their all in practice and games, sleep helps them recover. According to David Knight, sports performance program manager from the University of Wisconsin, while children sleep, their bodies spend less energy recourses on normal awake body processes and put it instead toward helping muscles and tissues recover.

6. Good sleep is needed, but how?

How do you enforce good sleep habits in your child? Athletes are busy with practices, games, homework, and anything else they try to fit in their schedule.

This is where your child needs to understand the importance of a good night’s sleep, as well as the need for time management so they can set priorities and allow time for good sleep. Help them learn how to prioritize, how to say no, and how to make good use of their time so they can get into a regular habit of a good night’s sleep.

Janis B. Meredith is a life coach for parents. She provides resources to help parents raise champions. Learn more about how she can help parents Raise Champions.