Cheerleading Jumps

Whenever people are watching a cheerleading routine or watching a football game, their attention can be pulled towards the cheerleaders jumps. If you use the correct technique and precision, these jumps can look amazing; even if you can only jump a foot off the ground and don't have your splits. A helpful non-fiction book called The Complete Guide to Cheerleading: All the Tips, Tricks, and Inspiration has emphasized this statement often talking about how anyone can be great at jumps if they work hard and practice; but can climb to the top and be the best once that person gains flexibility, height, and endurance.

One of the most common jumps that you will see be used in a cheerleading routine or on the sidelines is called a 'Toe Touch'. This jump is comprised of jumping in the air to a set of counts, and the effect of having both legs flat in the air, as if you are sitting on the ground with your toes pointed out. Many people think that this is the simplest jump to do, and that "anybody can do it"; but it takes more than that. On page 37 of  The Complete Guide to Cheerleading, Christine Farina and Courtney A. Clark instruct us with this jump by saying, "From the start position, jump your legs into a spread-leg-toe-touch position. Although the name of the jump suggests you will touch your toes, hit a nice T-motion at the height of the jump. Be sure to keep your chest and face up" (Clark, Farina).

The instructions on a toe-touch have helped me very much with my jumps; especially my Toe Touch. When I was with my first cheerleading team at a cheerleading competition, we nearly got 1st place; but was placed in 2nd by 1.5 points because of our jump section. I do admit, as a group of 5-12 year olds, our jumps were not perfect. We received less points from our jumps because we did not keep our heads or our chests up; but once I read this section of the book and learned from my mistakes, I have now perfected my technique in my jumps, even though I am not the most flexible, or the highest jumper in the squad. :)

My question for all of my readers of this post is:

What is an example of a skill you have practiced and learned that people often underestimate?

MLA Citation:

Farina, Christine, et al. The Complete Guide to Cheerleading: All the Tips, Tricks, and Inspiration [With DVD]. Ed. Adam Brunner. Minneapolis, MN: MVP Books, 2011. Print.

Warming up your Body

     As a cheerleader, it is always important to stretch your body before you do anything cheer related including cheers, tumbling, dancing, and stunts. This can also be included with any athletic activity or sport! A helpful non-fiction book called The Complete Guide to Cheerleading: All the Tips, Tricks, and Inspiration was quoted as saying "Before practice, prepare your muscles with a 10 to 15 minute warm up. Muscles with good blood flow are more elastic and therefore less prone to injury" (Clark, Farina 78). As a cheerleader on the Kentridge Varsity and Sparkle team, we actually often do 30-45 minutes of warming up our bodies with workouts that include a 2.5 mile run, squats, lunges, push ups, and a generic muscle stretching routine. Because of all of the warming up that we do as a team, we have had far less body pains because of strains, and more blood flow through our bodies during practice and games

 

     One of the many effective stretches that I learned from this book is called the "sit with thigh stretch". This stretch helps to loosen up the joints in out thighs and lower back. Christine Farina and Courtney A. Clark instruct us with this stretch by saying, "Sit with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and your hands behind you for support. Lower knees to one side, and try to keep your knees together as you reach the ground. Rock your legs over to the other side… to loosen up your thighs and lower back" (Clark, Farina 91). This book also mentioned how you should do this stretch multiple times in a row in order to create blood flow and keep loosened muscles loose throughout the cheerleading practice/game/competition, etc.

 

     This stretch has helped me in more ways than I thought that it would throughout my cheerleading career AND my home life. I have suffered from severe lower back pain for the past few months related to cheer, and this stretch was recommended to me by my physical therapist and massage therapist, even though I been doing this stretch for a long time since becoming aware of it from this book. After becoming more strict with my stretching routine and completing them on a daily basis, my pain has slowly decreased because of me loosening my back with this continuous routine, so I recommend doing this stretch before a strenuous physical activity, especially cheerleading.

A personal tip that I have learned from doing this stretch is that you can also stretch your shoulder muscles if you have the tips of your fingers facing the opposite way that you are facing; shown in the picture. You know that a certain stretch is effective if you are able to stretch multiple parts of your body at once with only one stretch. 

     Thank you guys for reading this post and hope y'all have learned something new!

 

My question for all of my readers of this post is:

What are some of your favorite stretches or exercises that you do before you do a physical activity or sport?

 

MLA Citation:

Farina, Christine, et al. The Complete Guide to Cheerleading: All the Tips, Tricks, and Inspiration [With DVD]. Ed. Adam Brunner. Minneapolis, MN: MVP Books, 2011. Print.