Stunting is pretty much the main thing competitive
cheerleaders do during their routines. Every
position in a stunt is very important.
The positions of stunts are flyer, main base, secondary base, back spot,
and front spot. When I was a competitive
cheerleader, I was either main base or secondary base. A flyer is the cheerleader that is on top of
the stunt; he or she is who the judges mainly look at when a team is
competing. Flyers are the cheerleaders
that get thrown in the air. They have to
have very good balance and be very tight while in the air. He or she has to have a lot of trust in their
bases. Main bases or secondary bases are
the cheerleaders that mainly support the weight of the flyer. They are the people that throw the flyer in
the air and have to catch the flyer as he or she comes down. Back spots are the cheerleaders that give
support in the back of a stunt. A back
spot catches a flyer if he or she falls.
Front spots give support to the front of a stunt. These cheerleaders catch the flyer if he or
she was to fall forward. Every single
position has a different job and are all important.
One of the basic stunts a cheerleader first learns is called
an elevator. This stunt requires all
positions to help. In an elevator the
two bases hold the flyer by her feet, chest level. The flyer stands on the bases hands. The front spot holds the flyers shins, and
the back spot holds the flyers ankles.
Front spots are not always used in elevators because they can be done
without the front spots help. The
elevator is the base stunt to any higher level stunt.
Another basic stunt is called an extension. This stunt is more difficult than an elevator
stunt. An extension is basically an
elevator that is raised up. All
positions are also required except the front spot can be taken out. The big difference between and elevator and
an extension is that the bases now hold the flyers feet above their heads with
their arms extended and locked. The back
spot supports the flyer by her ankles still.
The front spot supports by holding the bases front wrists. By holding the bases wrists helps the flyer
not to toe and fall off the front of the stunt.
The first source I chose for this post is a picture of some
cheerleaders doing an elevator stunt.
This picture portrays everything about an elevator stunt that I
explained in the post above. It shows
what all the positions are supposed to do while performing this stunt. As you can see, this is a very basic stunt.
I chose this picture as one of my sources for this post
because I talked about the elevator stunt being the basis to all higher level
stunts. I thought it was important to
show the reader a picture of cheerleaders performing the elevator stunt. Cheerleaders have to be able to perform this
stunt before attempting more difficult ones.
My next source for this post is an article I found that is
filled with tips for cheerleaders who are main and secondary bases. All of the tips in this article are very
accurate and helpful. If someone were
trying to learn to be a base, I would recommend him or her to read this
article.
I chose this article as one of my sources for this post
because I personally was a base so it not only connected to me but I also
talked about basing in this post. This
article has a lot of good and helpful information that I would even take into
consideration if I were still a competitive cheerleader.
The third source I have chosen to represent this post is a
picture of some cheerleaders doing an extension stunt. This picture shows how every position does
their job to execute this stunt. It also
shows how an extension differs from an elevator. An extension is just an extended form of an
elevator.
I chose this picture as my third source for this post
because I talked about how an extension stunt is performed. I think it is important for the reader to
understand and see the difference between the elevator and extension
stunts. Cheerleaders are usually taught
this stunt after they learn how to do an elevator.
There are different levels of competitive cheerleading. The levels are distinguished by what types of
tumbling and stunts that team are allowed to do. There are 5 levels in competitive
cheerleading. Level 1 is the most basic level;
while level 5 is the top level a cheerleader can be on. Most of the rules differ extremely from one
level to another. Cheerleaders can move
up levels once that can do the required tumbling and stunting skills.
Level 1 rules are that the cheerleader has to stay in
contact with the floor at all times during tumbling. Extended stunts are prohibited except during
pyramids where all the flyers are braced by each other. Only basic straight cradles are allowed to
dismount from a stunt. Single leg stunts
can only be performed below shoulder height.
Level 2 rules are the cheerleaders are allowed to do front
and back handsprings. Jumps cannot be
followed by a handspring. All extended
stunts are two legged except during pyramid when all the flyers are braced by
each other. Single leg stunts must be
below extended level. Cradles are
permitted from extended single leg stunts in pyramid. All types of tosses are allowed with straight
body ride toss.
Level 3 rules are the cheerleaders are allowed to do series
front and back handsprings. Front tucks
and round off back handspring tucks are allowed. Single leg extended stunts are allowed. Hanging pyramids must remain up right. One full twist cradle is allowed from a
single leg extended stunt.
Level 4 rules are the cheerleaders are allowed to do
standing back tucks. They are allowed
one twisting or flipping skill after a round off back handspring. Single leg extended stunts are allowed. Extended inverted stunts are allowed. Two full twist cradles is allowed from two
legged stunts. One full twist cradle is
allowed from a single leg extended stunt.
Up to two twisting rotations allowed in tosses. Tosses may not be thrown over another stunt.
Level 5 rules are that the cheerleaders can do standing back
tucks and standing fulls. One flipping
or two rotations are allowed after a round off back handspring. Single leg extended stunts are allowed. Extended inverted stunts are allowed. Up to two twisting rotations cradles are
allowed from any stunt. A flyer may pass
above two persons high during transitions is pyramids. Up to two and a half twisting rotations
allowed in tosses. Tosses may not be
thrown over another stunt.
My first source is a website that contains all the rules for
each level, one through five, of competitive cheerleading. This is a competition website. It talks about all of its events and
divisions. It has information for
parents, participants, and coaches. It
also talks about other events that they sponsor.
I chose this website for one of my sources for this post
because it elaborates on everything that I talked about. There is a tab on the main page of this website
that takes you to all the rules. They
are detailed very well. If a team breaks
any of these rules in competitions, they will have points deducted from their
score or even be disqualified.
My second source is a video of the team Teal from Charlotte
Allstars performing at the Worlds competition in 2011. Worlds is the biggest competition in
competitive cheerleading. Teal is a
level 5 Coed team which means there are boys and girls on it. They won third place at Worlds last year,
which is great.
I chose this video as a source for this post so that the
reader can see what the top level of competitive cheerleading is. Level 5 competitive cheerleading is amazing
to watch. In this video the reader can
see how difficult it can be to be on a level 5 team and all the skills the
cheerleaders have to have.
The third source I have chosen to represent this post is a
picture of some cheerleaders performing a level 1 stunt. This stunt is called a thigh stand. As the reader can see, this kind of stunt is
a lot easier to do than the level 5 stunts that are done in the video above.
I chose this picture as a source for this post so that the
reader can get a clear idea of the difference between level 1 and 5. There are a lot of differences in each of the
levels although I can’t show each difference.
The cheerleaders that are on level 1 teams are usually very young in
age.
Level 5 stunting is the hardest out of all the levels. There is a level 6 but those teams usually do
not perform at the competitions my gym went to.
In level 5 stunting a lot of different things can happen. These stunts are very dangerous but if done
correctly they are awesome to watch.
The first level 5 stunt I want to talk about is the partner
stunts. There are many different
varieties and ways a team can do partner stunts. Partner stunts are usually combined with a
flyer, back spot, main base, secondary base, and sometimes a front spot. The partner stunts are usually about 5 to 6,
8 counts long. A lot of the time there
are two different partner stunts put into a routine. Level 5 teams can also do two man stunts
which is where one base holds both feet of the flyer. They are the only two people who are in a two
man stunt. They can be very difficult so
a lot of practice and repetition is needed.
Another stunt level 5 teams do are called basket tosses. The type of basket tosses they do are called kick
doubles. A kick double is while the
flyer is thrown in the air, she kicks one leg up then spins around twice before
she is caught by the bases and back spot.
Pyramids are another stunt that level 5 teams do. A pyramid is when all the flyers are either
holding onto each other or being thrown over and under each other by the bases. There are a lot of different rules about what
can and can’t be done in a pyramid sequence.
Pyramids are usually the most exciting stunt to watch. The bases have to have a lot of strength to
be able to perform any of these stunts and the flyers have to have good balance
and be tight in the air. All these
stunts are very dangerous and could cause serious injury if something goes wrong,
even death.
There is also another level of stunts I have yet to talk
about in these posts. This level is
called 4.2. The reason it is called 4.2
is because these teams do level 4 stunting, but level 2 tumbling. I think the main reason this level was made
so that older girls who had a hard time with tumbling would be able to
experience higher level stunting. After
a while level 2 stunts can get boring. I
think it was a great idea to have this level available to cheerleaders.
The first source I picked for this post is a video of CC
Champs level 4.2 allstar team. They won
first place at this competition in Myrtle Beach. This team is one of the best level 4.2 teams
I have seen. Most of the squad had the
tumbling and all the stunts were great.
I chose this video to represent this post so that the reader
can see exactly what a level 4.2 team does.
A lot of people didn’t even know there was this level for a long
time. I think it was a great idea to
create this level for allstar cheerleading.
My seconds source for this post is a video of some
cheerleaders doing a level 5 basket toss called a kick double. A kick double is the hardest basket toss a
level 5 team can perform. A kick double
is when the flyer is thrown in the air, kicks and spins twice before being
caught.
I chose this video of the kick double because I talked about
level 5 teams doing it in their routines so I wanted the reader to be able to
see how it is done. The bases have to be
very strong to throw the flyer up high enough so she has enough time do kick and
spin twice before coming back down.
The third source I have chosen to represent this post is an
article I found. This article talks
about the dangers of cheerleading. A lot
of injuries come from cheerleading from a sprain, to death. This article also talks about some terrible
accidents that resulted in death to the cheerleader.
This article was chosen to represent this post because it
can warn people of the risks you or your child are taking when participating in
a cheerleading squad. In this post I
talked a little bit about how dangerous this sport can be so I thought this
article was relevant.
nice2c
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