| Want to work on your tumbling skills away from the | | | | a foot off the ground at the same time. Try to keep |
| gym? Trying to get your toe touches up there? There | | | | your legs straight. Repeat this 10 times, release and |
| are lots of things you can do at home to improve your | | | | relax for a count of ten, then repeat. Do three sets of |
| cheerleading. Just make sure you always start with | | | | these. |
| good stretches, for at least five to ten minutes, and | | | | - Squat jumps will help you gain height and strength to |
| that you don't try anything you haven't been trained to | | | | improve your toe touch. Squat down, touch your |
| do. Having an adult or another responsible person | | | | fingertips to the floor, and jump up. Bring your arms up |
| around in case something happens is also a necessity, | | | | as if you were doing a jump with your arms overhead. |
| especially for cheerleading drills that require a cheer | | | | As soon as you land, return to the starting position. Try |
| spotter. | | | | to do 20 of these to start, gradually increasing as they |
| A forgiving surface is also required. Practice | | | | become easier. |
| cheerleading drills on wood floors, yoga or tumbling | | | | - Next, put your arms in a T or high V and kick your |
| mats, carpet, or grass. Don't practice cheer drills on | | | | right leg up five times. Repeat on the left side, adding |
| pavement, gravel, or other hard surfaces unless you're | | | | reps as you get stronger. |
| looking to get injured or have unsightly road rash. Falling | | | | - Finally, do some tuck jumps with no break in-between |
| is part of practicing cheerleading stunts, jumps and drills | | | | them. Just jump, land, and jump again. Do at least five |
| so make sure you do it safely. | | | | in a row. These work your stomach and your leg |
| For the youth cheerleader, the drills below should be | | | | muscles, which are key to improving your abilities as a |
| practiced over and over again to gain cheerleading | | | | cheerleader. |
| proficiency. Besides checking out the below tips, you | | | | Tumbling Drills |
| can also learn the fundamentals from free | | | | - Most tumbling stunts are not safe to practice without |
| cheerleading video tutorials on sites like Weplay.com, | | | | a trained cheerleading spotter unless you've really |
| where top coaches and pros like Debbie Bracewell | | | | mastered them. Front rolls, back rolls, and cartwheels |
| answer questions and show the proper way to | | | | are safer to work on alone though. It is important to |
| practice cheerleading drills. | | | | work on straightening your legs and keeping your body |
| Cheer & Dance Strength Drills | | | | straight. Any tumbling that involves flying through the air |
| - Bridge bends are important for the flexibility you will | | | | should only be practiced with the help of a trained |
| need for scorpions and other cheerleading stunts. | | | | cheerleading spotter. |
| Make sure you also stretch your wrists and ankles | | | | - Tumbling requires upper body strength so you can |
| before practicing other cheer drills. If you can't do a | | | | alse improve by doing a lot of handstands to improve |
| bridge bend without a spotter, work on regular bridges | | | | your arm strength. This is one of the basic building |
| alone. Also, add in some push-ups to strengthen those | | | | blocks for all tumbling. Challenge yourself to do ten in a |
| arms in to support your weight in more complex | | | | row and then more and more handstands every day |
| cheerleading stunts. | | | | until you can easily do fifty or so. If you can't yet do a |
| Perfect Your Cheerleading Jumps | | | | handstand, use a wall as a support to increase your |
| - You've seen cheerleaders with impressive toe | | | | balance and strengthen those arms and wrists. |
| touches. With practice, you can get up there too. The | | | | To be successful in cheerleading competitions it is |
| trick is a strong core and flexibility, so don't relax on | | | | critical that you practice your cheer routines over and |
| your stretching and core exercises. A good exercise | | | | over in advance. Marking your routines is a great way |
| for this is the straddle-up. Basically this is a jack-knife | | | | to get your timing down and make the routine second |
| sit up but you put your legs to the side, rotating your | | | | nature. Marking is basically just walking through the |
| hips up, as you do the sit up. Keep your arms in a T, | | | | routine, doing the cheerleading stunts you can do alone |
| your body upright, and practice rotating your hips up. | | | | and "faking" the ones you can't. If you can get a copy |
| Essentially, you are doing a toe touch on the ground. | | | | of the music do so, as this will help with timing and |
| Do 10 to 15 reps and make your core do all the work. | | | | rhythm. |
| - A second cheerleading drill is to sit on the floor in a | | | | Good luck and remember to have fun with your stunts, |
| straddle position with your hands behind you on the | | | | jumps and cheers! |
| floor as well. Lean back slightly and lift both legs about | | | | |