cheerleading...?

Question

so i want to try out for high school cheerleading. i have no prior experience, not flexible at ALL. any advice? cheers i should learn? anything would help. thanks for your time!! =]

(i know this isn't the correct category but i figured i'd probably receive more answers here)

Answer 1

As a past high school and college cheerleader, and current coach and judge for some competitions, I can tell you what we look for in a cheer squad.


First and foremost we stress academics. Being a good cheerleader requires a great deal of practice, and this can sometimes hurt your grade point average. We always stress that you can't go on in life to make a living at cheerleading....you have to have an education to do that. Girls must maintain a 2.5 or better grade point average or risk being dropped from the squad for a season. If the grade point average is not raised, she is dropped for the year.

As for the actual requirements:

Knowledge of routines, cheers and chants: Know them backwards and forwards....well enough to begin them anywhere in the middle of the cheer. I have seen many good candidates dropped due to the inability to start a cheer at any point in the routine. We teach one cheer, one chant and a fairly complex 1 minute dance routine. The girls are given 3 days to learn this with tryouts on day 4. I suggest that you taked a video recorder to tape these lessons. You can then do them at your own pace at home. This saved me lots of grief when I was in your position!

Tumbling/Gymnastics to include cartwheel, roundoff, and back hand spring. Girls who can do a tuck usually get extra points. If you don't have the back hand spring or tuck down, be sure to nail the cartwheel and roundoff...lots of energy and spring!

Flexibility and Posture: Be able to do splits and heal stretch. In a Liberty or heal stretch position, hold your balance for 20 seconds. Extra points are given for girls who can do arabesques or scorpions. You can see examples of this on cheerleading.about.com. The only thing i can suggest to you is to stretch EVERY DAY! Don't bounce when you are stretching and try to reach further each day. You can sit on the floor with your legs in a stradle position and reach for each foot, putting your nose on your knees, and then reach forward touching the floor and putting your nose on the ground. This takes some time, so don't get discouraged. It will come!

Judges always look for personality and smiles as well as how well the contender keeps their movements sharp and in proper form! No sloppy arms, wrists etc. You can lose lots of points in this area.

The girls must do 3 jumps: herkie, toe touch, 1 other. You can work on these first on the floor....stretching yourself just a little bit more everyday until you have proper form. Then work on taking it to the air. When you have your prep and jump perfected, put 1/2 pound weights on each ankle and jump with them on from that point on. When it comes time for tryouts, take the weights off...you'll jump higher than ever because you have become used to jumping with more weight!

Most of all, the judges are looking for girls who have the ability to work as a team and engage the crowd to cheer on their school! make the judges feel like cheering with you by engaging them every time you get a chance.

On tryout day, eat a good breakfast...with complex carbs. Go to the tryouts with your hair up off of your face and in a ponytail, little or no makeup and no jewelry. Let them know that you are a serious contender and not there for a beauty contest!

Again, For pics, help and cheers that you can learn, go to
cheerleading.about.com

hope that helps! Good Luck!

Answer 2

practice flexibility. that can be learned.

practice arm movements in the mirror. They should be straight, sharp, moves should pop.

Practice your voice. Speak from your diaphram. Screaming will wear out your lungs quickly, thats why you have to yell from your diaphram. You know you are doing it right when your stomach (well, it's around your stomach area right above your natural waistline) is hard when you yell.

You can practice jumps on a trampoline or have somebody spot you. To do this somebody stands behind you with there ands on your waist as if they would throw you into the deep end of the swimming pool. Then when you jump they need to give you support in making your jumps higher.

You could also start lifting weights. Cheerleading is not for the weak. Unless you're one of the tiniest on the team you will need strength to lift someone up.

Lastly, you make sure you know the cheers and the dances whenever it comes time to try-out. Nothing is a bigger turn-off than someone who forgets the routine.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I am a cheerleader my self. If you want to get more flexible, stretch. If you can write a poem, then you can write a cheer.Cheerleaders always smile. It gets the crowd's attention. Plus, you need to be able to cheer. Anything else, email me at [e-mail]

Answer 4

well i dont know what to tell you if your not flexible but if you can dance then you'll probably have a shot. but smile and be sharp with your moves good luck :]