It is said that the most dangerous sport in the world is cheerleading, but many people say that it is not a sport at all. Just because cheerleading seems to be a bunch of girls in uniform cheering on different sports does not mean it is not just as hard as any other sport or that that’s all it is made up of. There is a difference between cheering on the sideline and competitive cheerleading. Ask yourself if you could lift a girl or guy, who weighs as much as you, above your head multiple times, dance, tumble (flip), jump, yell, and do motions non-stop for two and a half minutes.
Building or stunting is when cheerleaders lift their fellow cheerleaders. You can have four possible bases, or people who lift the athlete, and the person being lifted is the flyer. There are two side bases, a front spot, and a back spot. Of the two side bases there is a main base, who holds all the weight of the flyer, and a secondary base who helps lift. In two legged stunts the weight is distributed equally among the two bases. The side bases hold the feet, the front spot holds the wrist of the side bases, or the legs or ankles of the flyer, and the back spot holds the bottom, waist, ankles, or legs of the flyer in the stunt. What the bases hold is all depending on the stunt, and what part of the stunt they are doing.
Before you can do any other type of stunt, you first have to learn to do a prep, or elevator. The first thing you would do is to set, or get ready for the build. The side bases and front spot spread their legs, bend them, put their hands in front of their waist, and get ready to catch. The flyer would put his/her hands on the side bases shoulders while the back spot puts his/her hands on the flyer’s hips. Next, is the load. The flyer jumps into the side bases hands, lifts herself/himself up by pushing down on the side bases shoulders, and pulls his/her legs up with bent knees. The back spot lifts the flyer by his/her waist into the side bases hands, and then the back spot moves his/her hands to either underneath the flyer’s bottom or the flyer’s ankles. The front spot would grab underneath of the thighs of the flyer or the flyer’s ankles. Lastly, there is the actual prep, or elevator. The side bases use their leg power to pop the build up to shoulders. They straighten their legs, and turn their wrist to hold the ankles and toes of the flyer, and lift him/her to shoulders. The back spot either lifts up on the flyer’s ankles or pushes up on the flyer’s bottom, and catches the flyer’s ankles. The front spot lifts up on either the ankles of the flyer or the thighs of the flyer. The flyer pushes himself/herself up off the side bases shoulders, stands up, and squeezes her body tightly. Now, that is how to do a prep/elevator.
There are many other types of stunts that you can do, and many variations of each. Other two legged stunts are extensions, split stunts, awesomes, show-and-goes, etc. Some one legged stunts are libs, heel stretches, arabesques, scorpions, bow-and-arrow, scales, torches, bottle rockets, show-and-goes, etc. There are also cradles or fulls that are ways you can end a stunt, or transition from one thing to another. That is when the flyer is thrown up into the air, and then caught. Pyramids are stunts that are connected to more than one build. Basket tosses are when the flyer is thrown very high into the air, and then caught. At the very top of the height the flyer is thrown, in a basket toss, the flyer can do something like a toe touch, pike, kick, or something else. With stunts, there are millions of different things you can do, and it is never easy.
Dancing is a part of cheerleading that anyone can do, but not everyone can make look effortless or good. Usually, in a competition routine, the dance portion is only about twenty seconds. Although it is very short, it is also very fast, and catching to the eye. Usually there are many ripples, or the same motions done on different counts. Most of the time the dance portion is the cheerleaders favorite part of the whole competition routine, because it gives them a chance to have fun, and put their personality in it.
Another part of competitive cheerleading is flipping or tumbling. Tumbling is a very important part of cheerleading, because it takes years to learn, and not everyone can do it. The more cheerleaders on a squad that can do the harder skills are shows that that squad is more advanced. Front rolls, cartwheels, and round-offs are the easiest skills. The harder skills are backhand springs, front tucks, back tucks, layouts, fulls, front handspring, etc. They are even more advanced when connected together. It is amazing to see twenty girls whipping their bodies in ways that seem impossible.
In addition to these many important components of cheerleading competition routines, there is also a jump portion. Jumps are very tiring and hard. Good jumps are level to your waist and awesome jumps are when your legs are above that. For example, when doing a toe-touch, above level would look like your legs were in a “V.” A toe-touch is when you jump with both legs spread apart from each other. Other jumps that are done in competitions are front hurdles, pikes, and hurkeys. Front hurdles are when you jump when on leg is straight up in front of you, and the other is bent behind you. This jump is usually done at a diagonal to the audience and your arms are in a touch-down motion. Pikes are done with the side of your body facing the audience and both feet are together straight in front of you. The arms are usually straight in front of you also. A hurkey is done to the front like a toe-touch, but one leg is bent. Your arms are in a “T” motion. Jumps are the hardest part to get together in routine, because not everyone’s jumps are on the same exact level. Once they are, it is amazing.
The cheer is the core of the cheerleading routine. It can contain all the skills cheerleading are made up of in one part of the routine. The cheer is the most original part of cheerleading, because that is why it was made, to cheer on sports. The louder you are the more impressive it is, and the more crowd involvement the more points you will get. Yelling words, doing motions, stunts, tumbling, and jumps all rolled into a short cheer is what makes the cheer the most tiring, and hardest component of the whole routine.
When a cheerleading squad goes onto the floor to perform their routine, something they are doing the whole time is facials. This is when you smile, or make other facial expressions. Would you rather watch a squad that looks excited, or one who looks unhappy or mad the whole time? Everyone would most definitely have more fun watching an excited squad. The more excited the squad looks the more excited the crowd and judges will be. With the judges being excited; this will mean the more points that squad will get. Facials are the way to go in cheerleading.
While the cheer is the hardest component, remembering every single count of the two and a half minute routine and when to do each, and every part on the exact count is what makes competitive cheerleading so hard. Each component of cheerleading is tough enough to do by itself, but connecting all of it seems almost impossible. Finding time to breathe in between doing each part also seems almost impossible. Two and a half minutes does not seem long, but it takes months to put together, and even longer to remember enough to do all together. No matter what anyone says, cheerleading is a sport and a hard one at that.
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