Question by Lucky: How do i have perfect cheerleading jumps by April?
I am going to try out for cheerleading in April. I need to have all my jumps perfect before April.ANY HELP??
Best answer:
Answer by cheerQueenCG
Always stretch out your legs. Next, just put your arms in a ‘T’ motion. Keep your legs straight and point you toes as you lift them up behind your arms without bending them or moving your arms.
This helps your jumps by making it easier to pull up your legs
Hope this helps!
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
stretch, stretch, stretch. make sure your motions are in the correct place for the desired jump. keep your torso and head up during the jump. never bring your body to your legs!!!! that’s the number one mistake of every cheerleader. do your best to bring your legs to you, this will make your jump look higher. always, always point your toes, no matter if it’s a spread eagle/X jump, or if your doing a pike. if your doing herkies or toe touches, be sure to rotate your hips outward. and most importantly, be confident in your jump! smile and be ready. practice a couple of each jump everyday, and once you feel confident, ask another cheerleader to watch your jumps and critique. don’t stress if your jumps aren’t where you feel they should be, just keep your motions tight and where they should be, keep your toes pointed, keep your legs locked, and smile! gooooood luck!
Luckily you have tons of time!! You’re actually in a great position with at least 8 months before try outs – this will give you ample time to perfect your jumps! Start off by stretching and conditioning every day. Both flexibility and strength are key in achieving great jumps – don’t favor one over the other because both are equally important.
You should stretch every day to increase your flexibility. Heres a list of stretches I do to help with jumps (lots are known by other names so I’ll try to explain the best I can)
1. Pike Sit – Sit with your legs out in front of you and reach to touch your toes (make sure you keep your legs straight the entire time and don’t let your knees come off the ground). Just go as far as you can but once you get to the point where you can actually touch your toes with your legs straight, drop your elbows to the ground while still holding onto your feet. Then you can bring your elbows back up and pull your toes back so that the heel of your foot is no longer touching the ground.
2. Straddle Sit – Sit with your legs in a straddle and go down to each side (right, left, center) for 30 seconds each. Keep your legs straight and make sure your knees are pointed up toward the ceiling.
3. Stretch for splits
4. Splits – right, left, and straddles (hold each for at least 30 seconds)
5. Lay on your back and while keeping one leg straight and on the ground, pull the other one towards your head while also keeping it straight. Switch.
There are tons of stretches out there – look around and pick what works best for you!
Conditioning…everyone hates it at first but trust me it pays off quickly! Conditioning is something you should do 3 – 5 times a week – ideally, it is best to do a conditioning workout every other day. It is very important, however, that you don’t do it every day – your muscles need at least a 24 hour resting period in which they can rebuild. There are so many exercises out there for you to choose from but it is key that you work every muscle in your body, while focusing intently on your abs, legs and a little on the arms.
1. Running is good for legs (bleachers will do wonders for your leg strength – if you don’t have bleachers then run up and down your steps a good 20 – 30 times)
2. The hundred is good for abs as are crunches http://pilates.about.com/od/pilatesmat/ht/PilatesHundred.htm shows you how to perform the hundred.
3. One great exercise for your arms is to put your arms shoulder width apart on a bench or something about that height then move your feet out in front of you to a comfortable distance where your legs are still bent. Now bend your arms and dip down 8 times. Next lift your left leg straight out and bend your arms and dip down 8 times. Then do another 8 with both feet on the floor. Then 8 with your right leg straight out and another 8 with both feet on the floor. Take a break and then repeat.
There are so many exercises out there – you’ll find a lot of good ones if you look for pilates exercises, or even take a pilates class. Also, here is a cheerleader workout designed specifically for cheerleaders: http://www.oakharborcheer.com/Workout.html
Next are the actual jumps! This is a great article to help with cheer jumps – especially your toe touch!
http://www.sfucheerleading.ca/index.php?page=10&sub=9&method=view&id=12 I know the lady seems insane for suggesting you do 100 jumps a day but it really does help (although cutting it down isn’t a bad idea 🙂
Technique is also really important. If you know some experienced cheerleaders at your school it would be good to get together with them and see how they do their jumps – where their arms are, how they prep, etc. In the meantime you can google how to do basic cheer jumps like the toe touch, pike, right hurdler, left hurdler, right herkie, left herkie, etc. Youtube is also helpful because you can watch cheerleaders do the jumps and learn their technique.
Practice your jumps in front of a mirror so you can watch yourself. If you stretch, condition, and practice, practice, practice you can have amazing cheerleading jumps by April. Good Luck!!!