I really want to make my High School Cheer Squad..?

Question

I need help. A LOT of help. I can barley do a cartwheel. But, my sister best friend made th compition cheer and all she could do was a round off and cart wheel. I want to know how to do the splits, a cartwheel, a round off, and maybe some basic jumps. By next spring. Can you help? Im really skinny and small, so I think I could be a flyer. I know mos of the hand motions and stuff, and I can knida do a hurkey ( not a good one, beacuse I cant do the splits) I have a trampoline availible Wed, thu, Fri, Sat and Sun morings. I cant do tumbling classes, beacuse there are no close ones. Can you please help, Ive wanted thsi FOREVER!! My mom and grandma USED to be cheerleaders, so they can help! : ] I also used to ice skate, so if you can compare anything, that would be amazing! THANK YOU!

Answer 1

The first step to being a cheerleader is flexibility. And the only way to get this is from stretching. Remember all the stretches you did for skating? Do those now. Everyday. Stand up and touch your toes. Work so that eventually your hands are flat on the floor. Sit with your legs as wide as possible and lean to each side, then the middle.

Once you have flexibility, work your jumps. Make sure your form on approach is perfect, and look into what your school uses. There are various methods of approaching jumps, and it's hard to unlearn one after you're used to it. With that I would recomend doing jumps over and over, concentrating on pointing your toes, rotating your hips, and keeping your chest up. Do some exercises like leg lifts and crunches to make them even better.

If you want to be a flyer, I highly suggest you try yoga or some other way to improve your balance. If this isn't available, work on basic things. Step up onto a stair with one leg and hold it until comfortable, then picking up the leg into a lib position. Search the internet for similar balance drills.

Make sure to practice, practice, practice. When you're doing motions, make them tight. If someone was to walk up and feel your arm, it shouldn't move. Also make sure all your technical aspects are perfect. In a touchdown your arms should touch your ear. Make sure your high Vs aren't to wide or narrow, and slightly in front of you. These things make you stand out from the crowd.

Finally, make sure you're spirited. You want to look happy while cheering! Smile, work on facials, and work on spiriting. Spiriting includes kicks, jumps, yelling "go team! Let's hear it! Go Indians!" etc. One note: cheerleaders do not "woooo!"

For information on tumbling, exercises, stretches, and almost anything else cheer I strongly recomend this website: http://aescougarcheer.com/index.htm

It helped me out quite a bit when preparing for tryouts. I really hope this helps, and good luck!