So You Want to be a Cheerleader? What Do I Need to learn? Part 1

First, I would recommend searching your local area for cheerleading tryout clinics. Some All Star Cheerleading gyms offer these clinics prior to tryout time for the local schools each year. Second, as you’re doing right now. Get online and learn about the sport. Make sure the websites you are reading are reputable. Whenever you are practicing or attempting any skills, always remember its important to remember safety. You must properly warm up your muscles and complete a full stretching session. This will avoid in unnecessary injuries.

Coaches look for cheerleaders that have great attitudes and serve as positive role models. Always arrive to tryouts on time and fully prepared. You should not be chewing gum, wearing jewelry of any kind, and your hair should be pulled back out of your face. Many will use the excuse, “I just got my ears pierced” or “I’m not allowed to take out these earrings.” These rules are set in place for safety reasons and also because organizations that oversee cheerleading in high schools mandate that  things such as jewelry and chewing gum are a violation which could result in a penalty for your school. Wear soft shorts and a shirt that is neither too loose or too baggy. Always maintain your best attitude at practice and tryouts and keep talking to a minimum. Coaches are watching for these things during the pre-tryout practices.

For tryouts you will be evaluated on your motions and how well you execute these motions. Motions are used in cheerleading for cheers, chants, and dances. All cheerleaders must become familiar with basic cheerleading motions and practice. I recommend practicing your motions in front of a mirror, this is the easiest way to see any flaws and correct them. See the  video tutorial below for an overview of basic arm motions. Motions can make or break your cheer, chant, or dance. Motions should be precise, sharp, and placed in the proper position. Some obvious flaws that judges will look for are bent wrists, thumbs sticking out, and overall “sloppy” motions. Motions are easy to fix and perfect with practice.

   Notice bent wrists with the arm motion called a, “high V.” Typically, new cheerleaders will start out this way, however, these motions are easily corrected when the cheerleader is instructed on how to correctly execute the motion. Also, practice placing the arm motion in front of a mirror several times until you repeatedly hit the motion correctly.

 Notice bent wrists in the low V position. You can see the thumbs are not properly placed as well. The hands should be in a tight fist when executing arm motions.

This arm motion is a “T.” In this photo the T is not straight and the girls have bent wrists.

Here is an example of properly placed high V arm motions.

While practicing arm motions, keep these  things in mind:

1. Start with a nice, strong stance. Your feet should be a little more than shoulder width apart; your hands should be in fists and resting on your hips in fists/blades by your side.

2. Keep your shoulders and hips squared forward

3. Keep your shoulders relaxed as you go through the motions (example: do not shrug shoulders as you raise arms to do a high V arm motion)

4. Do not over-extend arms

5. Check in the mirror for misplaced arm levels and placement. Also look for bent wrists and thumbs that are improperly placed. Remember, you hand should be squeezed in a tight fist.

6. Avoid Improper fist direction

7. Avoid bent or cocked wrists

Please see part 2 of So You Want to Cheer to learn more tips to prepare for cheerleading tryouts.

Cheers,

Coach Valarie

Sideline Cheerleading: What is their role?

Sideline cheerleaders serve as positive role models and lead the student body in a positive manner at games. Cheerleaders are the ambassadors for the school they represent. Cheerleaders assist the school and the officials in the promotion of good sportsmanship.  Simply, they are entertaining to the crowd ! Effective sideline cheerleaders can drastically change the atmosphere of the game.

Good sportsmanship should be the foundation of any cheerleading team. Cheerleaders have the responsiblity to treat opposing cheerleaders and players with respect and as a guest. They should be treated how they would like to be treated if visiting another school. Sideline cheers should be positive and offer praise to your team and never demoralize the opponents.

Cheerleaders lead and encourage. It is critical that cheerleaders represent their schools and communities in a positive manner. Through their actions and leadership skills; they should encourage their peers and fans to do the same.

Some examples of inappropriate sportsmanship would include yelling to distract opposing players, interfering with the game officials, booing, directing cheers at the opposing student body and even activities such as tumbling intended to challenge the other team to do the same.

The most important role of the coach in sideline cheerleading is that of “teacher.” The coach should display leadership, poise, timeliness, honesty, and integrity. One of the most important things a coach can teach is good sportsmanship.

Sideline cheerleaders also perform at pep rallies, make banners for the school and/or football stadium or gym.  Sideline cheerleading is fun. It is time to shine in front of your school. Most of these cheerleaders also cheer competitively or on their schools competition cheer team.  Friday night football games are their time to lead the crowd, cheer on their team, and show of their amazing talents.

Choreography for Cheerleading

Image via Wikipedia

Choreography is the foundation for success! The stunts, tumbling, sequences or combinations in your routine can make or break your success. It is important to be familiar with your score sheet outlines, the legalities and the expectations within your division of cheerleading competiton. It would prove extremely disappointing to perform a flawless routine and have huge deductions for a stunt or tumbling sequence that was interpreted as illegal. Preparing in advance can prevent this from occurring. Rules for competition vary from high schools, recreation, and all star divisions. As a coach and a choreographer you must know these legalities and expectations. Be familiar with each competition you will be attending and their individual rules. Their score sheets are typically available online  or you can request a copy. Review these prior to competitions and make adjustments as necessary. Make sure your team and your parents are familiar with the rules, therefore, no unnecessary deductions will occur.

Professional music is essential. When selecting music, keep in mind that judges often do not only want to hear the latest trends of music. They actually get tired of hearing the same overused songs.  Of course, the music needs to be upbeat and complementary to the routine. Customize the music to fit the style and image of your team. Theme’s are fun from year to year, for example, add an 80’s year and have all your teams have a touch of eighties music.

It is essential to remember that choreography should be “pleasing to the eye”. Treat your team as a unit instead of individual cheerleaders. Visualize the full picture and instead of focusing on one stunt that is going on in the center. This is what the crowd, fans, and judges see. Your routine should be a showcase of your team’s strengths and hide its weaknesses. Make the routine explosive and exciting. Remember your routine should also reflect your style. Be original. The crowd, fans, and judges want to see originality that reflects your image as a choreographer and your teams image.  Here are some Do’s and Don’ts to consider when choreographing your routine.

DO

levels

directions

ripples

a variety of team jumps; series

turns

transitions

formations

tumbling-series and standing tumbling.

stunts-be unique with transitions in and out of stunts, basket tosses, groups, and pyramids

check score sheets to ensure your routine will help you achieve the best possible score

Research, stay in touch with the latest trends in the world of cheerleading. Modernize your routine.

Place cheerleaders in a position in the routine that best highlight their strengths. Do not over utilize one cheerleader.

The goal is for the team to appear strong and skilled as a team and not just one cheerleader.

 

DON’Ts

Stay in the same place throughout the entire routine

Add elements that your team has not perfected

Walk from one formation to another

Use moves that are too suggestive

Repeat dance sections and overextend your cheer section (utilize time for skill performance)

Use trendy music that is often over played

Replicate another teams routine

 

Below is a video that highlights a variety of exciting choreography from another one of my favorite teams!

Tumble Safe!

Many Cheerleading injuries have occurred due to the increase in gymnastics skills used within the sport. Catastrophic injuries and critical injuries have occurred from unsafe landing from airborne tumbling skills and collisions into another tumbler. There are few rules that should be reviewed and set forth prior to any tumbling session whether it be for a high school, college, all star or recreational team.

First, the tumbling that is used in Cheerleading is similar to what you see gymnast perform during a floor exercise routine. Cheerleaders perform series tumbling passes such as round off back hand springs, round off back handspring tucks, and fulls. Cheerleaders also perform standing tumbling skills such as a standing back handsprings, standing tucks, and/or standing fulls. Additionally, there are several different combinations of tumbling passes that are executed by cheerleaders during competitions, pep rallies, and games. This depends on the safety of the area, the skills of the team, and the ability to execute the skill independently in the given environment.

Clearly, there must be a safe area to tumble, with adequate space that is free from obstructions such as cords, equipment, and other people. Tumbling should never occur on hard surfaces such as concrete, wood, artificial turf, and/or slick or wet grassy areas. Tumbling should be accompanied and supervised by a qualified coach. To prevent injury and soreness, cheerleaders should completely warm up and stretch prior to tumbling.

For a crowded gym, or even a small  team practice, a pre-established “traffic flow”pattern  for the tumbling activity should be determined and explained to the cheerleaders. This prevents cheerleaders colliding with one another  during the course of the tumbling session.

Coaches should ensure athletes progress skills from simple tumbling skills to more complex. It is important to practice basic skills and lead up drills to ensure safety. The following video is one example of lead up drills for a back handspring.

 

Proper attire is required for safe tumbling. The athlete should not wear clothing that is too restricting or too loose. No chewing gum or jewelry should be permitted while tumbling. Coaches should practice safe landing drills with tumblers.

It is important to remember that just because you have mats does not mean an injury can not occur. Under no circumstance should you land on your head, neck, or back onto any type of mat. Serious injuries could occur. Those who are trained and responsible for spotting tumbling should be aware that the primary concern is protection of the athlete’s head and spine. (which is the neck and back).

The following video is one of my favorite all star cheerleading teams Maryland Twisters. In this video, you can see several examples of tumbling skills cheerleaders perform. You can also see the difficulty level and the importance of maintaining safety.

Cheers

 

Preparing for competition: a varsity cheerleader’s perspective

I recently interviewed a varsity cheerleader at the local
high school about their perspective on what it takes to 
prepare for competition. I asked them to write a short
paragraph highlighting what they feel are the most important
things to do to prepare your team for competition 
and to prepare yourself as a cheerleader.
 
Currently Team: EVHS Varsity
Cheerleaders Age: 15.5 (Madelyn)
Years in Cheerleading: 10
Tumbling: Round off handspring tuck, round off tuck, 
standing handsprings
 
What vital positions do you perform in the routine and
during your cheerleading season?  I am a tumbler, so 
this year I am doing a lot of tumbling. I am doing
more tumbling passes this year than I have before.
I usually am a flyer and that's what I love. I am 
doing both in the competition routine this year. 
I am excited about doing a kick basket toss in the
routine. My favorite stunt is a scorpion and most
people like my scale. We have some new flyers on 
our team this year and I love teaching them and helping
them.
 
What is the one thing that you feel is the most important
thing you do to prepare yourself for competition? I honestly
can't just say one thing. During competition
season, I make sure I am at every practice. 
I eat healthy and make sure I get plenty of
sleep. I do everything I can to gain new skills 
that can be added to our routine. I also try to be 
happy and nice to everyone on my team so we can work
together as a team.
 
 
Madelyn's perspective on how to prepare for competition:

I am a sophomore and this is my second year on varsity. I
 cheered
for the competition team at my school last year too. There are A LOT
of things you need to do and cover before you will be ready for competition.
You have to train, do cardiovascular workouts, follow drills that help with
stunting and tumbling, and learn a new routine. It is important to practice
the routine over and over and be in good shape to perform the routine at competition.
Flyers must stretch constantly because the judges score us on our flexibility with our
body positions in our stunts. Bases must lift weights and do stunting drills to be strong 
enough to advance our stunts. If we start stunting drills early in the season our stunts will
be stronger and more advanced. This will make sure the stunts hit 100% of the time. At practice we
should do everything you can to your fullest extent. When our coach is teaching something or saying 
something please listen. Constantly run your routine full-out. Pay attention to what your coach is 
telling you. I feel it is helpful when coaches listen us about any suggestions they may have. It works best
if the coach is always the leader and not a select few of the cheerleaders on the team. One thing, that is 
essential is that you go over the score sheet. So when you are making up your routine (choreography), review 
the score sheet to make sure your team will have a chance to place by being able to score the max amount of
points in each category. Your team should lose points in areas they have the biggest strength in. Treat each
member of the team equally, no favoritism. Each team member should be used to their fullest. When you are 
choosing stunt groups, make sure you spread the wealth ( by wealth I mean strength ). The reason for this
is so you will have each stunt group equal and won't have 1 or 2 stacked with the strongest bases and 
the rest struggling. This causes hard feelings among the team. Most importantly, the coach should make the 
decisions and lead the team. All cheerleaders should get enough sleep during the competition season and eat
healthy. This way we don't get sick and miss practices. When someone is missing, there may be a stunt group 
that is unable practice. We work long and hard to perform for 2 minutes and 30 seconds and we want to make 
sure we have the best chance. We have to do our part by cooperating and working hard and our coaches do
their part by knowing all the rules and guidelines so we have the best chance. 
<3 Madelynn

Competition season for high schools is a difficult but yet fun time of the year for these girls.
They often practice up to 16 hours per week preparing for their competition. In addition, they
cheer for their school football and basketball teams and carry their academic load.

So You Want to be a Cheerleader? Part 2

Remember that being a cheerleader is just as much about who you are as what you are. Cheerleaders are athletes, leaders, ambassadors, and role models. They assume roles of both a teacher and a student. Cheerleaders are idolized by many and heavily criticized by others. Most criticism in my opinion comes from those who are unaware of what the sport entails. In “So You Want to be a Cheerleader? Part 1,” we covered  arm motions and the importance of  working hard on perfecting your motions. The next thing we’re going to cover is jumps.

Most tryouts will ask that you do a toe touch, herkie, hurdler, and/or a pike. Some schools may request other jumps, however, if you master these jumps; the remaining jumps will be easy.  Having a clean jump will make you stand out at tryouts, games, and at competition. There are several strategies and drills you can use to help with your jumps. Working to perfect and learn jumps takes time and you should be patient as you learn. Below are some strategies to prepare, practice, and improve your jumps.

Prior to beginning any exercise or skill practice it is important that you warm up your muscles and stretch. Never stretch cold muscles. Stretching after your workout session and/or practice is essential.

Cheerleading Jumps 101

1. Warm up your muscles and stretch regularly. For example, for a toe touch jump, one of the best stretches would be to sit in a straddle position (point your toes and make sure your knees are facing the ceiling or up) and stretch over your right leg, left leg, and then stretch and reach through to the center.  FLEXIBILITY is vital!

2. Next, begin to work on drills that will warm up your ankles and work on your ability to jump higher, assist with your balance, form, control, and help with the overall execution of the jump. Refer to the steps on the link below from Varsity for excellent jump drills.

http://www.varsity.com/event/1161/cheer_jumps.aspx

3. Begin with your feet together, make your prep for your jump a good first impression. Avoid slouching, looking down, cocked hips, or legs apart.

4. Don’t drop your head during the jump, remain looking forward (or slightly up)

5. Don’t flex your feet, always keep your toes pointed. This is one of the easiest things to fix.

6. Don’t drop your chest, keep your chest up.

7. Don’t make a habit of reaching for your toes, this will actually make your jump look lower than it really is.  For example, for a toe touch jump you want to kick your legs up behind your arms (arms are typically in a T motion during the jump).

8. Don’t bend your legs on the way down.

9. Don’t land with your feet  apart. Always land with your feet together. This may take practice at first, however, the key is to speed up the way you snap your legs back down after you hit your jump. Stick your landing. After you land, hold your landing for a few seconds. This shows strength and execution of a solid jump.

10. Keep your motions solid and crisp throughout the jump. Remember to always keep your toes pointed, chest up, and bring your legs up by not reaching out to touch toes. Keep your head up throughout the jump process.

Stunting Drills

Stunting drills are effective tools for building strong cheerleaders with an emphasis on safety before progression.
I have used these drills with all star teams before and the results were enormous. You can never underestimate the power of repetition. By building muscle and muscle memory; drills are key to building a team with the strong ability to stunt. As muscle memory is developed, coaches will see a noticeable difference in both bases and flyers. These skills start with the basic skills. By holding the key positions that are executed throughout the stunting process; the essential muscles are conditioned and trained.  The following video is an example of a similar drill that includes the entire stunt group. These drills prepare cheerleaders through conditioning and by holding key positions that are used while stunting.  The repetitive use of these drills will help cheerleaders perform advanced stunts.  These basic skills are repeated several times, consecutively over the course of the practice duration.

Specific muscle memory and muscle “quickness” to perform stunts; rely solely on strength and repetition.  It has been my experience that by beginning the season with drills such as these; cheerleaders progress to advanced levels of stunting at a faster and safer pace. By beginning with basic stunting, and holding a flyer in various basic positions for 8 second counts, the bases and flyers build muscle, quickness, coordination, and muscle memory.  This training also offers increased safety as beginner stunts are mastered prior to progressing to more difficult stunting. These practices are difficult and should be concluded with stretching. Difficult conditioning days are better accepted by teams when they are broken up with team bonding activities such as theme days. This adds fun in addition to working hard to build a solid and consistent team that works well together. Without teamwork, the effectiveness and success of the team struggles.

Cheers,

Coach Valarie

Stunting! What is the hype all about?

You could ask just about any cheerleader what one of their favorite things are about cheerleading and almost undoubtedly they would say,“stunting!”
So what is all the hype? What stunts do cheerleaders do?
There are so many different categories of stunting and levels of difficulty within the world of cheerleading its unbelievable! Stunting is what makes the crowd say “wow!” Stunting is one of the many things that impresses its’ audience. Stunting requires strength, flexibility, repetition, and teamwork. Cheerleaders perform stunts while cheering on the sidelines, during pep rallies,and during competition.

There are basket tosses, basic half’s, full extension’s, liberty’s, scorpion’s, scales, arabesque’s, cupie’s, and a bow and arrow. These are among the most popular and most crowd pleasing. Most of these stunts are considered intermediate or advanced levels of stunting.

There are many different transitions in and out of stunts that can make your choreography unique. In a later post, I will discuss the many ways you can transition in and out of stunts and basic drills that I feel are effective builders for strong consistent stunting. I will outline the essential positions and skills that are required for stunting.

Stunting skills must be practiced, performed, and mastered in a safe environment. Cheerleaders should not progress stunting difficulty until beginner level stunts are mastered. When performing stunts, it is essential that each member of the stunt group, coaches, and all spotters are aware of the skill that is going to be attempted.

Cheerleaders should not practice new or dangerous skills without the supervision of a trained cheerleading coach and/or the presence of adequate spotters.

Any media attention regarding cheerleading has increasingly been focused on the “dangers” of the sport and the perceived lack of athleticism. We must maintain our integrity by educating the public about what we do and ensuring we are 100 percent compliant with our safety and prevention strategies. I know all to well how much we love to perform and master awesome skills. I like to take a few seconds before the skill to call out exactly what skill is to be performed and call the spotters out by name. For example, “we are going to do a half, double down; Ann and Lynn are spotting, is everyone ready?”

This may seem tedious to some, however, if you’ve ever witnessed an injury; a few seconds is worth it.

Cheers for now 🙂

toe touch basket toss!

scorpion!

bow and arrow!

scale!

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