Cheerleading Stunts - How to do Cheerleading Stunts

Do you know how many celebrities are, in fact, former high school cheerleaders? Lets make a list of 7 of them (7 deadly cheerleaders??)

• Christina Anguilera - North Allegheny Intermediate High School
• Sandra Bullock - Washington-Lee High School
• Jessica Simpson - Richardson North Junior High School
• Reese Witherspoon - Montgomery Bell Academy
• Renee Zellweger - Katy High School
• Madonna - Rochester Adams High School
• Lindsay Lohan

So cool, isn't it? Cheerleading may seem like the most glamorous and popular side of high school. But the most neglected aspect is, often, the difficulty. Let's face it, high school cheerleading stunts are not a piece of cake. Cheerleading stunts require precision, focus, agility and dexterity. Let's see, how to do cheerleading stunts.

College and high school cheerleading stunts need to be practiced regularly, in order to be mastered. So, once you have read the instructions below, I urge you to not consider yourself a professional cheerleader. Always start of with stretching and warm up, before you rehearse, practice or perform.

Cheerleading Stunts # 1 - Prep or Extension Prep
This is a two leg stunt. In this stunt the flyer stands on the hands of two bases facing each other. The bases hold the feet of the flyer at collar - bone level. The flyer is in control of the stunt. She has the option to move the bases closer together or farther apart by, simply, moving her legs.

Cheerleading Stunts # 2 - Extension
This is a two leg stunt as well. In this stunt, the flyer stands with each foot in the hands of a base. Her arms are in an extended overhead position. The backspot can either choose to hold the ankles of the flyer or support the wrists of the bases. In case it is a single based stunt, the base can hold both of the flyer's feet above her head with her arms locked.

Prep and the Extension are the most basic stunts. All the advanced stunts (also known as variations) are mostly done on the basis of these two.

Cheerleading Stunts # 3 - Liberty
No, you don't pose like the statue of liberty in this one. In this stunt, one or more bases holds up the flyer by the foot. The flyer balances weight on the one straight leg. The flyer's other leg is bent and the foot is positioned at about the knee level of the flyer, keeping it alongside the standing leg's knee.

Cheerleading Stunts # 4 - Scale
This high school cheerleading stunt is a liberty variation, facing the side. In this stunt, one or more of the bases extend one of the flyer's feet. The flyer's other leg is held by the flyer in her hand to the side and the leg is fully extended.

Cheerleading Stunts # 5 - Torch
In this stunt, the base group faces forward and holds the foot of the flyer in the side base style. The flyer holds a one-legged extended stunt while facing 90 degrees sideways from the bases.

Another important aspect of cheerleading stunts is transitions, tosses and dismounts. The most basic one of these is the Basket Toss.

Cheerleading Stunts # 6 - Basket Toss
A basket toss is an advanced stunt. In this, the bases propel the flyer upwards by more than 10-30 feet from the loading position. It is a toss by a maximum of four bases, of a top, straight up in the air, so the flyer can perform a trick like a toe touch, ball-out, kiss-out, pretty girl, twist, tuck, kick twist down or a pike, etc and then, land back in a cradle position. The basket is assembled by each one of the bases, grabbing their own right wrist with their left hand and then using their right hand to grab each others' left wrist. The flyer, with some help from the back spot, places her feet on the square created to minimize pressure. Finally, the bases dip, then stand up, again dip and then trow using all their power.

There are several variations that could be tried out with the basket toss.

Cheerleading Stunts # 7 - Toe Touch Basket Toss
During the basket toss, when the flyer is thrown into the air, she needs to stay in the "pencil" position. Once she starts to fall, she does the toetouch jump, quickly pops back into pencil and then, finally into the cradle.

Cheerleading Stunts # 8 - Pretty Girl / Show off
While doing the basket toss, when in the air, the flyer will keep her legs like she would in a liberty and put one hand on her waist, while she keeps one behind her head while laying down.

Cheerleading Stunts # 9 - X - Out Basket Toss
During the basket toss, the flyer can do a tuck. But, while upside down in the tuck, the flyer needs to perform the jump "spread eagle". This will make the body look like an X.

Lastly we come to the end, the Dismount.

Cheerleading Stunts # 10 - The Dismount
It is a dismount when the flyer falls into the bases' and back's hands, immediately. In the dismount, the flyer's legs are forced into a pike position. This is done by the back spot grabbing hold of the flyer's ankles and pushing them forward with all of her strength. At the same time, the two bases whip their hands sideways, which is the opposite direction of the back. This causes the flyer's feet to go in that direction.

Whoa! This has been a cheery article! Anyways, this is where I sign off. Have fun cheerleading, but take care. Go Cheerleaders!!!