Expert: Chris - 4/11/2011

Question
My cheer tryouts are in a month and it is going to be very competitive (or so I've heard). I cheered last year and I hope to cheer again this year. I was wondering if there is a certain tumbling pass that I could do that would give me a better chance at making it. I can do anything from a cartwheel up to a layout. I cannot do a double back or full.

Answer
First, by double back do you mean double toe touch tuck? I'm just checking because some people have different terminology. Also, do you have the opportunity to do standing and running tumbling or is it just one or the other? Well, I'll give you a few examples of things to try and then you can take your pick, use any combination of these, or ask a follow-up. The ones with an * are the hardest passes. And you can also add a back handspring or back handspring step-out in the middle of any of these passes to increase difficulty.

Front walkover, round off, back handspring, layout
Front walkover, round off, back handspring step-out, round off, back handspring, layout
*Round off, back handspring step-out, round off, back handspring, layout
Front walkover, round off, back handspring, back handspring, layout
*Standing back handspring, back handspring step-out, round off, back handspring, layout

These are just some ideas. Obviously you could do a tuck instead of a layout, but it would decrease the difficulty of the pass. If it were me, I would make sure to do a layout regardless of what else is in the pass. For example, a round off, back handspring, layout would be better than a front walkover, round off, back handspring step-out, round off, back handspring, back tuck. Anything with a front walkover or step-out would give you an advantage because then it would make your pass a specialty pass.