Expert: Tessa Denen - 8/21/2009

Question
I have a nine year old daughter involved in cheerleading.  She is still working on tumbling (cartwheels).  She is also working on being a flyer.  I am trying to figure out what activitlies will help her all around.  Just a tumbling class or a gymnastics class that uses all the equipement (balance beams, uneven bars).  I need to know what will help her the most all around.  She is weak in the upper body but timy.
Thanks

Answer
Hello,

Thank you for the question!  First of all it is awesome that she's getting involved at a young age.  She's going to be a star before long!  To be honest, cheerleading is all about coordination and body control.  Tumbling is very helpful, so is gymnastics.  Gymnastics will give her a wider variety of skills that could essentially help her as a cheerleader, especially as a flyer.  Beam helps you work on balance, bars help you learn how to squeeze all of your muscles and be tight tight tight, and vault teaches how to explode through your toes and through your shoulders, both of which are used in every stunt.  Gymnastics is a great way for a flyer to learn how to control and squeeze her muscles, which is important not only in stunting, but also in regular motions and dance.  It can also increase her flexibility which is very helpful in all aspects of cheerleading.  If you aren't interested in gymnastics, I would suggest maybe putting her in a dance class in addition to her tumbling.  Those two classes combined would be extremely beneficial.

I hope this helps!  Let me know if you have any further questions.