Empty-headed blondes with short skirts who yell and jump. Is that really all a
cheerleader does? Cheerleading is not as easy as most people would like to think. It is a
highly competitive sport which has highly dedicated athletes. Undoubtedly fans don't
know of the sweat and blood that goes into making the routines, throwing up stunts, and
tumbling across the floor. There are three key points to being a good cheerleader and
they are, rigorous training, squad bonding, and school spirit .
In order to carry your weight on the squad, you must be trained in the basics. As
an athlete flexibility is important because without flexibility you would not be able to do
the splits, jumps, and kicks. Another essential skill is tumbling. Every squad after Jr.
High School requires at least a round-off, if not a back handspring, not knowing either
of these skills you will slow the whole squad down. Last but not least, a cheerleader
needs to be able to perform the basic jumps, such as toe touches, right herkies, and left
herkies. These skills are just the basics that everyone needs to know. A section from a
routine preformed to Ricky Martin's "She Bangs" has the following sequence of moves:
half of the squad runs on doing round-off back handsprings as the other half waits for
the second half of the eight count to run in doing round-off back handspring. It continues
with the cheerleaders filing into their designated positions There is then a ripple effect of
toe touches there is then a dance combination that involves a kick, full turn sequence
ending in the splits. That is just one to one-and-a-half minutes of a six minute routine. At
the end of that six minutes the squad files into a new formation to perform a cheer
ending with a complicated stunt, full basket toss back tuck, which is basically where
three to five cheerleaders toss one cheerleader as high as possible and as the flyer
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