Comments on: Cheer Questionn,tryoutss.?

By: boomboom

boomboom — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:04:02 +0000

Nice your dancing will definently be alot of help for you. I think most cheer squads look more for your jumps and cheers than they do the tumbling. I mean yes you needto be able to tumble somewhat but you can still continue to work on it. It sounds like to me that you will be plenty prepared. However unlike dance most cheerleading is more sharp motions than smooth unlike dance. At tryouts you will probably be expected to do your jumps, a cheer and a little bit of tumbling. Like I told the other girl keep your arms crisp and your toes pointed. Also when you do your cheers to make it louder use your diaphragm. REMEMBER as a cheerleader you are suppose to be CHEERY lol so remember to smile. Good Luck and I’m sure you’ll do well.

By: GVcheerl

GVcheerl — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:04:02 +0000

Dancing will help you a bit, not because of the movements, but because of your understanding of 8-counts, timing, and catching on quickly to routines.
Just to let you know, cheerleading competition is much different than dance competition, trust me I’ve done both.
Tumbling is VERY important! Despite what the other person said. Especially on an all-star team. Try and get your round-off with a set (a jump where it looks like your going to back handspring but you just jump and land again). Also try and get a stand back handspring, that might not be too realistic if tryouts are on April 29 but you can try. The hardest thing about back handsprings is locking your arms. In order to that you have to be very strong. Do lot’s of push-ups and weight lifting to get you ready.
You need to be flexible on both legs, but the left leg is most important. The reason is, for bases it is easier for them to have most of the weight on their right arm because it is the stronger one (unless your base is left handed). If the base is holding your foot with their right arm, they have to be holding your right foot, so that means that you left foot is left there in the air, so you need to be flexible on that leg.
At try outs they will ask you to do your best tumbling pass, and see if you meet their minimum standards (usually standing back handspring, or standing back tuck). Then you will do some conditioning tests and endurance tests such as push-ups, sit-ups, and v-snaps. They will also probably test your sprinting endurance of about 1 mile. Then you will move on to stunting, depending on the level of team you are trying out for, but if you have never cheered before, you will probably be doing some double base (aka. elevator, pre-extension, extension-prep) cradles, just to see how you catch on. If you have cheered, depending on the level of the team, you might be doing full-up scorpion, double downs, or twist-up (half twist) extensions full down.
Definitely work on some tumbling and endurance at home. You should be able to do about 100 push-ups in sets of 20 in 5 minutes. That is the average.
Good luck, I think you will be ready if you take all this advice.

By: AZ All Star Cheerleader

AZ All Star Cheerleader — Thu, 07 May 2009 19:04:02 +0000

Yep, you sound pretty prepaired! At tryouts, you are going to go in front of the coaches (and other girls) and show 5 tumbling passes, (or whatever they want to see) then, all the girls will do jumps together(learning a routine.) Once you’ve learned that, one by one you will show your jumps, same woth a dance. You will also be tested on projection, sharpness, and facials. (facials are funny faces you make when you cheer—you may feel stupid at first, but you it will become natural!) The most important thing is not always skill—but if you are positive, preppy tight, a fast learner, but most of all—willing to learn, you can make it! I started way below all the other girls (skill wise) but they still put me on the team becuase they knew i would put 120% into everything i did. Now, I am (if i do say so myself…lol) one of the best!So, Even though skill is A factor, it is not the MOST IMPORTANT one. Good luck, and remeber.—–facials——facials—–fa…