Today, the ultimate transformation moment speaks to parents who are looking for the best way to prepare their children for sports activities in the coming school year. The key to your child’s performance is their preparation.

Summer is a perfect time to provide your child the quality and focused instruction that will help them improve in their respective sports. You want to provide the child the best environment that will tap into his or her own potential and confidence, and which will allow better performances.

When selecting a program, look for one that places an emphasis on the following areas: Flexibility, base conditioning, speed and agility. These few areas of concentration are central to sports performance enhancement and safety.

First and foremost, flexibility is key. The child should get in the habit of stretching everyday.

Flexibility elongates the muscle, which helps it become more efficient. It also becomes stronger and therefore has greater endurance. The muscle is then able to provide more efficiency while performing technique drills associated with the specific sport. Flexibility also significantly reduce, if not prevents, injury.

Additionally, summer tends to be the time for significant growth spurts. Children are playing in the sun longer, resting more, eating more fruits and vegetables. This is the time to focus on stretching. Make sure the back, shoulders, hips and pelvic girdle, are stretched daily. Stretching will help them with the discomfort of these spurts. It will also assist with their coordination, because they can grow an inch or more, during the summer.

Conditioning is the second key focus area. Base conditioning is the foundation of performance in all athletic activity. Cardio conditioning, anaerobic and aerobic exercise is very important to increasing lung capacity and overall endurance. Once cardio stamina is established, it makes perfecting skills respective to the sport easy to achieve.

To establish a conditioning base, children should run. A one-to-three mile distance run builds up and helps establish the baseline cardio capacity,  as well as core strength and muscle endurance.

Running hills is another effective way to establish the base. Vary the distances run, as well as the degrees of hill slope.

Last and certainly not least, is the focus on speed and agility. The goal is to train to get faster, and consequently play faster. Speed is what separates athletes—whether they are in elementary school, the university, or professional sports. Faster athletes compete and perform at a higher level than most of their competition.

The sooner the child begins to work on timing skills, the quicker you will notice a marked improvement in their performance. Speed work is technique training, and it is helpful to seek out the services of a specialist for this skill.

The key to performance is preparation, and the establishment of the foundation of that preparation is key. Your child should thoroughly enjoy the summer, while laying a strong foundation built on flexibility, conditioning and speed that will be victoriously displayed in the school year to come.

That’s our ultimate transformation moment. Peace and be more.

Erich Nall is the owner and founder of Ultimate Transformations Training in Los Angeles, Calif.
The certified trainer, nutritionist, motivational speaker, and dedicated life coach is a regular guest and commentator on KJLH 102.3 FM’s the “Front Page with Dominique DiPrima.”