Cheerleading Stunts

Safety First!! 

Stunting is an integral part of cheerleading.  While the actual cheers are what get the crowd pumped, stunts are used to wow the crowd and demonstrate the physical prowess of the athletes.  When practicing cheerleading stunts, always have a coach on hand and watching at all times.  If anyone demonstrates the slightest hesitation or lack of confidence in the stunt, don’t take any chances.  

Equally, all cheerleads must be focused and concentrating when undertaking a stunt.  If anyone is taking the stunt lightly and laughing during its execution, take a break and resume practice when everyone is ready to take things seriously.  Always practice all stunts on a soft surface such as grass or cheerleading mats.   

Are you a Base, Flyer or Spotter?

When selecting cheerleading stunts for your squad, first you have to evaluate the strength levels of your cheerleaders to determine which stunts they will be able to perform and which ones are too difficult.  Cheerleading stunts are comprised of three types of cheerleaders: bases, flyers and spotters.  

Bases are people responsible for holding the weight of the flyer.  The flyers should be the smallest girls on the squad who are not afraid of height.  The spotters are the squad members who help the flyer get up into the stunt and catch the flyer on the way down.  The spotter is also responsible for keeping count during the stunt.    

Trust is the most important aspect of performing a good, safe stunt.  Flyers must place complete trust in spotters and bases.  In turn, spotters and bases should never take their eyes off the flyer to prevent accidents from occurring.  Without this element of trust amongst all squad members, stunting turns into a dangerous activity where injury is inevitable.    

Get Up, Stand Up 

When adding stunts to your squad’s repertoire, try beginning with one of the simpler cheerleading stunts such as a shoulder stand.  To execute a shoulder stand, the base performs a deep lunge with her right leg to the side at a 90 degree angle.  Make sure the lunge is deep enough that the base could balance a glass of water on her thigh.  

The flyer stands behind the base and places her right foot on the base’s thigh as close to her hip as possible.  This area, which is commonly used in cheerleading stunts, is known as the pocket.  Once the flyer’s foot is solidly in the pocket, she jumps up using her grounded left leg, pushing on the base’s shoulder to help herself up.  The flyer swings her left leg over the base’s left shoulder, followed by her right leg over the right shoulder.  Once the flyer is securely in place, the base stands up and you’ve successfully done a shoulder stand!  

At first, if the flyer is having trouble keeping her balance, the base can use place her hands on the front of the flyer’s thighs to keep her from wavering.  To dismount from the shoulder stand, the base grabs the flyer’s hands and holds them under the flyer’s legs.  The base then helps the flyer pop off backwards, and she lands squarely on both feet.     

Stunt Pod Demo Video

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