Expert: Kimmi - 2/18/2009

Question
Hi, I'm a 7th grade cheerleader. My mom and my sister- in- law are the coaches. My sister- in- law was a cheerleader from 7th grade until her senior year. Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what stunting level we are and what stunts are legal.  We can do regular basket tosses, hitches, elevators, and we just learned extentions.  We live in stockbridge michigan 49285. I was also wondering if you could tell me how to teach a flyer to twist cradle. my sister in law can teach us backing, basing, and spotting but she was never a flyer so she can't teach us the flyers job. It would be really helpful if you could answer this. Thank you.

Answer
Hi Hope,

  Thanks for amending the question to tell me where you are located! The agency that makes your rules is the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) Their website is www.mhsaa.com. For competitive cheer you follow the high school rules unless they have a separate set of rules for the junior high level. This is the general guidelines they have listed for jr. high seasons

<B>COMPETITIVE CHEER<B>
Junior high/middle school competitive cheer teams are limited to a maximum of eight competitions during their competitive
cheer season. A team is limited to one competition per day and no more than two competitions per week (Monday
through Sunday).
1. The competitive cheer format consists of a Required Round and an Open Round.
2. During competition a maximum of 16 team members are allowed on the floor for competition in either round.

Here is the link to the official rulebook that you should print

http://www.mhsaa.com/sports/chr/09manual.pdf


Ok, twist cradles (or full downs) are taught through many, many drills. The first should be straight cradle drills. The flyer should ride the cradle and yell "twist" or "top" when she hits the very top of the stunt (the "top" being the point where you stop rising up and begin coming back down) This drill needs to happen successfully about 20 times to make sure that the flyer knows when the twist should start and to make sure that the bases are tossing high enough.
The next drill is for the flyer to begin twisting. Find a "big bertha" (or giant squishy mat) and the flyer can work on jumping and initiating a twist.
Now, when the flyer twists from the cradle she should not jump at all. Her feet should not cross at the ankles - her feet have nothing to do with the twist. When in the air, ready to start the twist, the flyer should initiate the twist by tucking her head into her right shoulder. Her left hand should cross to her right thigh, and her right hand should be by her behind. As soon as she comes around, she should open back up into the cradle position and land.
There is no difference for the bases or backspots. All they do is a nice high cradle.


That should be everything you need to know! Good luck to you and your team!

Happy Cheering,
Kimmi